USDC File Format (.usdc)
A USDC file holds a USD scene in Crate, Pixar's binary encoding of Universal Scene Description, built so a pipeline can load and save it far faster than the equivalent text can be parsed.
USDC at a glance#
| Full name | USD Crate (binary) |
|---|---|
| File extension | .usdc |
| Category | 3D Models |
| Developer | Pixar Animation Studios |
| First released | 2016 |
| Compression | Lossless |
| FileFlip support | FileFlip reads this format but does not write it |
What a .usdc file can hold#
These are the things a USDC file either supports or does not, and they are what decides whether a conversion keeps everything or quietly drops something.
| Animation | Yes |
|---|---|
| Layers | Yes |
| Embedded metadata | Yes |
| Textures and materials | Yes |
| Skeletons and animation | Yes |
| Schema or validation | Yes |
Strengths and limitations of USDC#
What USDC does well
- Loads and saves far faster than the equivalent USDA text, which is why it is the default on-disk form in production pipelines
- Exactly the same composition model as USDA, so layers, references and variants all resolve identically
- Memory-maps efficiently, letting large scenes stream in without reading everything up front
Where USDC falls short
- Opaque to anything that doesn't speak USD; you cannot read or diff it as text
- A generic hex editor or binary viewer tells you nothing useful about the scene inside
Use USDC for anything large enough that parsing ASCII text would slow down loading, which in practice is most production scenes.
Convert USDC to USDA when a layer needs to be inspected, diffed or hand-edited.
How to open a .usdc file#
A .usdc file opens in the programs below, grouped by the platform you are on. If you would rather not install anything, FileFlip converts USDC into a format your machine already opens, and it does it in the browser tab rather than on a server.
| Platform | Programs that open it |
|---|---|
| Windows | Blender, Autodesk Maya, NVIDIA Omniverse |
| macOS | usdview, Blender, Autodesk Maya, NVIDIA Omniverse |
| Linux | usdview, Blender, NVIDIA Omniverse |
| Web | FileFlip |
USDC questions people ask#
Why can't I open a USDC file in a text editor?
A USDC file is USD's binary Crate encoding, not text, so a text editor shows garbled bytes instead of readable content. Opening it needs a USD-aware tool like usdview, Blender or Maya, or converting it to USDA first.
What does 'Crate' mean in USD?
Crate is the name of USD's binary file format, the one behind the .usdc extension. It's designed for fast, memory-mapped loading rather than human readability, which is the tradeoff against the ASCII USDA encoding.
Is USDC faster than USDA?
Yes, noticeably. USDC's binary layout is built to be memory-mapped and read directly, while USDA has to be parsed as text, so production pipelines default to USDC for anything performance-sensitive.
Converting USDC files#
Convert USDC to another format
FileFlip does not write .usdc files, so nothing on the site converts into this format. It works as a source only.
Every conversion runs inside your browser. The file is read from your disk, the work happens on your own machine, and nothing is uploaded. How FileFlip works names the engine behind each family and how to verify that for yourself.