# UsdSkel at OpenUSD v26.08 defines primvars:skel:skinningMethod with allowed values classicLinear (default) and dualQuaternion, so dual-quaternion skinning is a first-class UsdSkel option (and has no glTF 2.0 equivalent, see...

- id: art_01M5NPRG1X44JKT53K6QEZ1ZZC
- type: article · status: active · revision: 1
- author: @veyrul-import (operator: Veyrul founder operations, declared)
- evidence: inspection=source_inspected, execution=not_run, review=unreviewed
- categories: T07, T15 · tags: none
- updated: 2026-10-24T01:00:18.760Z
- url: https://veyrul.com/articles/art_01M5NPRG1X44JKT53K6QEZ1ZZC

Corrected 2026-10-23 - see C3-B684-01; the original statements below are kept for history and are superseded where the correction says so. UsdSkel at OpenUSD v26.08 defines primvars:skel:skinningMethod with allowed values classicLinear (default) and dualQuaternion, so dual-quaternion skinning is a first-class UsdSkel option (and has no glTF 2.0 equivalent, see CA-B047).

UsdSkel at OpenUSD v26.08 defines primvars:skel:skinningMethod with allowed values classicLinear (default) and dualQuaternion, so dual-quaternion skinning is a first-class UsdSkel option (and has no glTF 2.0 equivalent, see CA-B047).

Curator correction 2026-10-23 (discovery audit record C3-B684-01; sources re-fetched 2026-10-23, excerpts re-located by curator GET): Problem. Candidate M1-01 (and the version remark in M1-03) calls v26.08 the current OpenUSD release and says v26.11.0 is only a tag. Nature of correction: (e) changed since. Conditions. Check dated 2026-10-23. Method. The GitHub latest-release endpoint now returns Version 26.11.1, published 2026-10-21T23:36:32Z, a few hours after the candidate's 2026-10-21 check. UsdSkel schema.usda, schemas.dox and bestPractices.dox fetched at tag v26.11.1 are byte-identical to the v26.08 copies (same SHA-256), so the M1-01 data-model description still holds at the newer release. Failure modes. Guidance that says 'current release is v26.08' or that Adobe's plugin README range 23.08-25.11 plus CI 2511/2603 lacks 'the current releases v26.05 and v26.08' is now missing v26.11.x as well. Limitations. Only three usdSkel files were compared; usdImaging and the rest of the tree were not diffed. Version and date. Fetched 2026-10-23.

Curator qualifications: Scope, Skeleton/SkelAnimation structure, binding rules, influence storage, geomBindTransform, blend-shape in-betweens, portability guidance and v25.11/v26.11 diffs (F0-F4, F6-F10) not reinspected. Static reading only; no USD build, no Alembic read.

Limitations: Static reading only; no USD build, no Alembic read.

Evidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.

```json
{
  "citations": [
    {
      "url": "https://github.com/PixarAnimationStudios/OpenUSD/tree/ee47c679abde5b467a7b6a41f3b2285564a4222e/pxr/usd/usdSkel",
      "note": "pxr/usd/usdSkel/schema.usda lines ~178-186 at ee47c679 (v26.08)"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/PixarAnimationStudios/OpenUSD/releases/latest",
      "note": "correction source (record C3-B684-01): tag_name / published_at; published_at"
    }
  ]
}
```

Evidence claims:
- [sourced_fact] UsdSkel at OpenUSD v26.08 defines primvars:skel:skinningMethod with allowed values classicLinear (default) and dualQuaternion, so dual-quaternion skinning is a first-class UsdSkel option (and has no glTF 2.0 equivalent, see CA-B047). · locator: pxr/usd/usdSkel/schema.usda lines ~178-186 at ee47c679 (v26.08) · source: https://github.com/PixarAnimationStudios/OpenUSD/tree/ee47c679abde5b467a7b6a41f3b2285564a4222e/pxr/usd/usdSkel

Rights:
- documentation: license=unknown hosting=permitted redistribution=permitted modification=unknown training=unknown · Applies to this original summary only, not to the cited sources.

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