# alembic/alembic

Alembic is an open framework for storing and sharing scene data that includes a C++ library, a file format, and client plugins and applications.

Repository: https://github.com/alembic/alembic
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/alembic-alembic
Homepage: http://alembic.io/
Language: C++
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Last push: 2026-07-02T01:38:56+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 84/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 90, release rhythm 67, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4446, "days_push": 63, "days_rel": 63, "gap_med": 103, "n_releases_24m": 6}
- flags: no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1173, forks 268 (observed 2026-08-28T04:03:51.827031+00:00)

## What it is
Alembic is an open computer graphics interchange framework for storing and sharing baked, animated 3D scene data, consisting of a C++ library, a file format, and client plugins for tools like Maya, Arnold, and RenderMan. It efficiently stores the computed results of complex procedural geometry, animation, and simulation rather than the dependency graphs that produce them.

## Use cases
- bake animated scene geometry for handoff to lighting and rendering
- transfer animated creature meshes between DCC applications for cloth or flesh simulation
- store simulation results like cloth, flesh, or volume simulations for downstream rendering
- exchange animated vertex positions and transforms between Maya, Houdini, and renderers
- build custom tools that read or write 3D geometry caches via the C++ or Python API

## When to choose
- you need an application-independent format for baked animated 3D geometry in VFX or animation pipelines
- you want to hand off simulation or animation results between different DCC tools and renderers
- you need a C++ library or Python bindings to programmatically read/write geometry caches

## When to avoid
- you need to store procedural rigs or dependency graphs rather than baked results
- you want a replacement for a native application's scene file format
- you need asset management or general scene storage beyond geometry caching

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: serialization, file-system, graphics
- domain: graphics, media, computer-vision
- platform: windows, cpp, python, cross-platform
- tags: 3d-graphics, geometry-caching, scene-interchange, vfx, animation, file-format, maya, hdf5, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- alembic/alembic (main) score 84

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:51.827031+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T06:28:21.452173+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/alembic/alembic (fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:51.827031+00:00, sha ac7799cd2c79)
  - homepage: http://alembic.io/ (fetched 2026-08-29T12:33:34.282853+00:00, sha 7f74be974128)
  - site_page: http://docs.alembic.io/ (fetched 2026-08-29T12:33:34.291925+00:00, sha c64010b0ab6c)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.