USD Metadata Done Right: The Schema That Makes an Asset Catalogable
Key takeaways
- Metadata is what the pipeline reads, not the art
- The expected fields are dimensions, poly count, material slots, and a thumbnail
- No metadata means the asset is invisible to the catalog
Why metadata is the gate
The pipeline ingests a USD file by reading its metadata, not by looking at the geometry. A file with perfect art and no metadata is invisible to the catalog — it cannot be searched, sorted, or priced. That is why the metadata check is item one on the pre-launch checklist.
The expected fields
| Field | What the pipeline reads | | Dimensions (bounding box) | The placement and scale in scene | | Poly count | The LOD budget and the category | | Material slots | The texture set and the variant | | Thumbnail | The buyer's first look | | Category / tags | The search and the price tier |
The rule
Treat the metadata as the data sheet that comes with the part. A buyer does not purchase a USD asset the way they do a photograph — they purchase it the way a factory purchases a component, by spec. The metadata is the spec. Fill it and the asset is catalogable; skip it and the pipeline cannot even list it.