What are Variant Sets and Variants?

The concepts of Variant Sets and Variants are essential in managing different versions or variations of assets in Universal Scene Description (USD), which is leveraged by Nvidia Omniverse.

Let’s take a bicycle as an example. A bicycle model can have different variations such as color, type of tires, type of handlebars, or the presence of accessories like a basket or bell. Each of these variations can be managed using Variant Sets and Variants.

Here’s a simplified explanation based on this example:

Variant Sets:

A Variant Set is like a category or a grouping of related variations. For the bicycle example, you could have separate Variant Sets for "Color", "Tires", "Handlebars", and "Accessories".

Variants:

Variants are the individual options within a Variant Set.

• For the "Color" Variant Set, you could have Variants like "Red", "Blue", and "Green".
• For the "Tires" Variant Set, you could have Variants like "Road Tires", "Mountain Tires", and "Hybrid Tires".
• For the "Handlebars" Variant Set, you could have Variants like "Drop Handlebars", "Flat Handlebars", and "Bullhorn Handlebars".
• For the "Accessories" Variant Set, you could have Variants like "Basket", "Bell", or "None" (if no accessories are added).

In Nvidia Omniverse, using USD, you would create Variant Sets and Variants to easily switch between these different configurations of the bicycle model. This way, you can manage and visualize the different variations of the bicycle without having to manage multiple separate models.