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Alembic is an open framework for storing and sharing scene data that includes a C++ library, a file format, and client plugins and applications. It was initially developed in 2010 by teams from Sony Pictures Imageworks and Industrial Light & Magic, and development continues today.
At the highest, most simplistic level, Alembic is "merely" a hierarchical sampled data storage format. It is intended to be used to store a baked representation of scene data, in the same vein as GTO or OBJ. It was designed to facilitate handoff of data between disciplines, vendors, and applications.
At a lower, less simplistic level, Alembic is designed to be very efficient with its use of memory and disk space. Much effort has been directed towards automatic and transparent mechanisms for data de-duplication and reading/writing as little data as possible in order to fully represent the data that has been given to it.
Alembic is not a live scenegraph, an asset management system, a renderer, or replacement for OpenGL.
- To create an open standard for scene data sharing
- To support a baked-data workflow
- enable easy hand-off between disciplines
- enable faster workflows leading to greater productivity
Got questions, comments, or want to show off a cool Alembic workflow?