Hi, I have a model imported (a USDZ, specifically) and I'd like to configure some parts of it to be payloads and save it out as another USD file. That way, when I bring that model back into Solaris, I can make use of the payloads features.

I can't quite figure out how to do it though. Pretty much every resource out there deals with handling payloads that already exist on the incoming geometry.

You could potentially make a new primitive i.e "/MyAsset" drop a bunch of reference lops, reference your file with the reference type parameter set to "payload inputs", and reference primitive set to "Reference Specific Primitive" choosing whatever specific part of your usdz file you want and then setting its primitive path to be "/MyAsset/Part1", "/MyAsset/Part2", etc . From there you can do some smart scene graph restructuring to basically recreate your original asset as an Assembly then reexport as a new usd file. (you might have to do some clever stuff to make sure the materials bind correctly). Just make sure when you export the usd to not flatten the stage if you still want to keep a reference to the original usdz file.

Personally, if i am already going through all this trouble, I would probably just usdimport the file into multiple sopcreates that I can then restructure and cleanup myself to then export as individual USD files. After that its the same thing, just bring them back in as a payloads and restructure them under an Assembly than can be exported as another usd file. This gives you some more flexibility if you want to tweak those individual usd files that make up the assembly down the line, but it all depends on what you are trying to achieve at the end of the day.

Cheers! If you upload your file I an take a look.

I've been sidetracked with other work, but the multiple SOP Creates sounds like an interesting path. I'll give that a try when I can. Thank you for your input.