iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by elkraneo

Geoffrey Bunting @geoffreybunting.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Heaving a very weary sigh— NEW: I spoke to those impacted by layoffs within XBOX's accessibility teams to try and understand the scale of those cuts and what they mean for accessibility going forward. It's all pretty bleak, but there *are* tiny shreds of hope.

blog.geoffreybunting.co.uk

Accessibility teams hit hard in XBOX’s “reset”

Among 1600 jobs cut by Microsoft this week, the axe has fallen heavily on XBOX's accessibility teams.

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Can already be tested in the latest beta of Gantry27 testflight.apple.com/join/1MXM41Wm

testflight.apple.com

Join the Gantry: Scene Converter beta

Available on iOS

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

USDKit beta 2 → beta 3 jump is variants - USDPrim.variantSets - USDPrim.VariantSet - VariantSetCollection.add - VariantSet.add - setSelection, clearSelection, blockSelection - selection, authoredSelection, variantNames - withEditTarget(layer:_:) Also new: USDPrim.transform(at:)

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

For those lucky enough to be on macOS27, here's a TestFlight of Gantry powered by USDkit, we call it Gantry27 (and sure, we put more thought into the app than the name) testflight.apple.com/join/1MXM41Wm

testflight.apple.com

Join the Gantry: Scene Converter beta

Available on iOS

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 28/06/2026

while we wait for the review of the first Gantry27 beta, we kept going and started with the implementation of Spatial Preview so we can start really enjoying the benefits of USDKit

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

Script graphs can now be selected via components in Deconstructed3 #RealityKit #RealityComposerPro3

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Deconstructed3 current state: opens, edits, and re-saves the new .realitycomposerpro project files. Viewport and object tree, lets you move, duplicate, delete, and add objects, and includes a visual editor for "script graphs" with runtime and some samples github.com/elkraneo/Dec...

github.com

GitHub - elkraneo/Deconstructed3

Contribute to elkraneo/Deconstructed3 development by creating an account on GitHub.

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

UPDATE: After a closer look, the beta-2 SDK (27A5209h) does expose this USDKit typed layer in the public .swiftinterface — but underscore-prefixed (_get/_set/_readArray/_writeArray/_getElement), i.e., SPI: linkable today, but not yet finished API and subject to change between seeds.

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

USDKit Beta 1 had no typed way to read or write vector values. Beta 2 adds USDArray<T> for scalars, Float16, GfVec/GfHalf/GfQuat, and GfVec3f with get/set/readArray/writeArray/getElement over attributes, UsdAttributeQuery, layer fields and specs. Not in the public interface yet.

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Reposted by elkraneo

Saddletramp1956 @saddletramp1956.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Now, THERE's a movie I could watch...

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

And just like that, Deconstructed began its third installment

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

I know this will sound martian, but it seems like RCP3 is no longer a USD editor but a RealityKit authoring environment powered by the spirit of Clarisse and The Machinery #WWDC26

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

Gantry v27 beta — powered by USDKit

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

I had a couple of apps that allow downloading transcripts and other resources published during WWDC. I updated them a year ago, and @daveverwer.com pointed out that those tools could better suited for the web, so in case he's right, dunfeyhotel.com

dunfeyhotel.com

Dunfey Hotel — WWDC as data

Every WWDC session since 2014 — categories, durations, code snippets, transcripts and trends. Links to Apple, hosts nothing.

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

In case you were wondering about this year's WWDC focus

Dashboard showing session counts by year and primary topic for WWDC 2026. A yearly bar chart highlights 112 sessions in 2026, while a horizontal topic chart ranks AI and Machine Learning highest with 24 sessions.

Line chart titled “Sessions per primary topic across years,” showing topic trends from 2015 to 2026. A tooltip highlights WWDC 2026 AI and Machine Learning with 24 sessions, the highest visible value.

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

RCP3 plugins are coming later this year, and I honestly hope the API will not look like this by then 🤕

Screenshot of the code presented in session 281 (14:56) this year. It shows what seems to be some kind of C bridging that does not look idiomatic, typed or adopting latest Swift features, given a problematic hotspot that surely it's going to create headaches

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

What Apple's USDKit brings: USDStage, USDPrim, USDLayer, USDValue/USDToken, USDTransformOperation. Stage open/create/save/reload, export, exportFlattened, exportPackage (AVIF textures + mesh compression options); full prim/attribute/metadata/custom Data read-write

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

~17 new RealityKit components: GaussianSplat · MeshDeformer · Lightmap · DiffuseLightProbe · ToneMapping · Bloom · Clipping · LevelOfDetail · OcclusionCulling · RenderLayer · PhysicallyBasedDecal · AnimationGraph · BehaviorTree · Navigation (+Mesh) uncannyuse.com?new=27.0

uncannyuse.com

uncannyuse

Can I use it? Apple platform compatibility for RealityKit, ARKit, Metal, and hardware-gated features.

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

The update before WWDC. We have been working to make Gantry export options better. On macOS and iOS, you can now explicitly select between usd* flavors when exporting, which is extremely useful in many workflows. Imagine going from Sketchfab to RCP but without the pain.

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

just learned about Gorg Vision, and now I can't stop thinking that Apple Vision Pro needs a way to detach the input sensors from the output www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_2A... www.henson.com/jimsredbook/...

youtube.com

Gorg Vision - Jim's Red Book - The Jim Henson Company

YouTube video by The Jim Henson Company

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

Conversion to .usd* from .fbx on #visionOS unlocked...

Gantry running in Apple Vision Pro: a detailed FBX model of a spaceship floats in a volumetric window beside the Gantry app's flat welcome panel ("Drop your 3D model here / Choose file…"), with magenta translation and rotation gizmos visible on the model. The scene is set against Jupiter's immersive environment, conveying that .fbx files now load and display natively on visionOS.

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

And no matter how cool we believe it is to use Gantry on macOS, there is an extra magic when playing with it on iOS youtube.com/shorts/Qw0Le... #OpenUSD #RealityKit #iOS

youtube.com

Gantry: Scene Converter (iOS)

YouTube video by elkraneo

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

Gantry can convert .gltf, .fbx, .obj, .ply formats to .usd(z). It does this natively and on the device, so you are already working on .usd by the time you see the model in the viewport. youtube.com/shorts/nx1ge... #OpenUSD #RealityKit #macOS

youtube.com

Gantry: Scene Converter #openusd #realitykit #macos (1. Convert)

YouTube video by elkraneo

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

Gantry needed to be battle tested before it could be considered a useful converter, so we tried it out with tons of 3D models around. Here's a list of the most useful ones so far: gantry.reality2713.com/models

gantry.reality2713.com

Gantry Model Sammlung — 3D source collection

A curated collection of model sources, sample scenes, and material references for Gantry and Apple-platform USDZ workflows.

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Today is the release day of a tool that we wished we had sooner. Gantry converts 3D formats to USDZ using OpenUSD native tools, exports images, optimizes textures, and makes the whole process look easy. will get a 50% discount during the launch.

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

OpenUSD has a closed, enumerable set of SdfValueTypeNames. Swift's type system is open-ended and Turing-complete. RCP cannot support all Swift types—it supports the USD-serializable subset: Swift types that map directly to SdfValueTypeNames, plus special cases like enums and optionals.

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

I was working outside today, and the terminal was totally unreadable in the sun. Long story short, here is a light skin for Hermes and a skin configurator... hermes-skin.reality2713.com

hermes-skin.reality2713.com

Hermes Skin Generator

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

I am not sure what we are doing with RealityKit. It cannot handle relatively complex models and features; the focus on aesthetics and GUI support is excellent, but we require a robustness and industry-standard iteration

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

We may or may not be dealing with App Store rejections at the moment to get something cool out the door...

A dark, rounded panel on a black background filled with gray monospaced text. Bright pink censorship bars obscure several lines of content, giving a preview of a technical app document about local-first 3D asset inspection.

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

Conversion to .usd from Draco-compressed .gltb unlocked...

Preflight Split-screen comparison of a 3D (NASA provided) industrial gantry tower—wireframe view on the left, solid-shaded RealityKit render on the right. Shows a multi-level launch tower structure with platforms and adjacent buildings.

Interface elements:

• Top toolbar with file info, scale indicator ("2m"), lighting/grid/navigation controls
• Bottom tab bar with "Plan" (selected), "Validation," "Fix Report," and "History"
• Navigation gizmos in the bottom corners of each viewport
• Window has standard macOS traffic lights and a rating/badge showing "8.9"

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

.glassEffect tints depending on the background. This worked for all components in our viewport except for one; after some debugging, it seems that the total area for a view to opt in for this behavior is 4096. Our current theory is that this is related to TBDR tiles

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

I am absurdly happy with this selection outline

A macOS application window showing Gantry, a USD Scene Converter, displaying a 3D forklift model in the RealityKit viewport with orange selection outlines. The left side shows the 3D model "SM_Forklift_Omni" (49.6 MB USD Zip) on a grid. The right panel displays the Material inspector with 32 materials, featuring "M_Forklift_C01_1001" expanded to show USD Preview Surface textures including Base Color, Metallic, Roughness, Normal, Occlusion, Opacity, Emissive, and Clearcoat maps. Several materials show warning indicators for Custom Shader compatibility issues. The interface uses a dark theme with standard macOS window controls.

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

The joy of C++ interoperability with Swift.

Xcode local archive panel for the macOS app target “Preflight-macOS-AppStore-Release.” The left shows the app title, the right column lists many builds in chronological order: each line reads “Build Today, [time],” with a yellow warning badge on the latest entry and red hazard icons for all previous builds, indicating failures for a whole day until it succeeds

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

The components arc of the series is nearly complete... elkraneo.com/deconstructing-reality…

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

I have been upgrading Prelight and Deconstructed to SwiftUsd 6, containing OpenUSD 26.03. This brings new opportunities for validation and diagnostics. I've also continued with the RCP component fixtures and added notes to the Uncannyuse site. More updates coming soon...

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

usdchecker --arkit is deprecated, and usdchecker now uses only the validation framework. usdzip’s ARKit option is also deprecated and explicitly called out as legacy behavior. github.com/PixarAnimationStudios OpenUSD/blob/1818e14bae0036ac4bc7b4e60826b5797076a4fe/CHANGELOG.md

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Reposted by elkraneo

Roxana Nagy @coderox.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

We’re happy to share that Preflight, the quality gate for OpenUSD, is now in public beta! 🛫 Learn more and sign up here: preflight.reality2713.com @elkraneo.bsky.social @reality2713.bsky.social #OpenUSD #USDZ #HydraStorm #RealityKit

Preflight window showing an AI assistant on the left side, a dual viewport of Hydra Storm and RealityKit in the center, and inspector on the right side and a list of validation items on the bottom. The model showcased is a toy plane.

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

uncannyuse now has schema pages for Reality Composer Pro components—showing the exact USDA block RCP writes, field-by-field with types and sparse-authoring behavior, plus annotated fixture examples. 20 components covered so far. uncannyuse.com/features/accessibili…

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

Reality Composer Pro's component inspector looks like a RealityKit editor. It isn't. elkraneo.com/deconstructing-reality…

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

USD syntax highlighting extension for @zed.dev has been officially approved; you can check the source here while it propagates to the official registry 🧊🧊🧊 github.com/elkraneo/zed-usd

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

Imagine using Reality Composer Pro in light mode 😎

Screenshot of Deconstructed App, a Reality Composer Pro UI with a 3D scene in the center viewport showing an orange-outlined polygon mesh; left sidebar displays the scene hierarchy with a Cube item selected; bottom panel shows a grid of asset thumbnails with "UpVectorOnly_Z.usda" selected; right panel shows the asset’s Properties (name and file path) for UpVectorOnly_Z.usda

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

We need a "caniuse" for RealityKit & RCP. That's what @kahunamoore.bsky.social commented after yesterday's post, and it is such a great idea that it had to be done uncannyuse.com

uncannyuse.com

uncannyuse

Can I use it? Apple platform compatibility for RealityKit, ARKit, Metal, and hardware-gated features.

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

RCP exposes less than half of RealityKit's component surface. 28 of 61 types. 5 visionOS-exclusive. There are 6 brand-new components in version 26.0, but none are available in the RCP version yet. Next on the Deconstructed series. observablehq.com/d/4e1ffd6d2df015f9

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

A very basic triplanar shader graph node for Reality Composer Pro lekraneo.gumroad.com/l/cqewo

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elkraneo @elkraneo.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

Deconstructing Reality Composer Pro: Logbook. Things learned so far that are too half-baked for a post but valuable enough to remember. elkraneo.com/deconstructing-reality…

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