HAnim's "center of rotation" and glTF's TRS (translation/rotation/scale) are solving related but distinct problems, and conflating them causes confusion when converting rigs between the two.

My most recent work developing the RawKee X3D exporter for Maya has been in the area of Physical Based Rendering (PBR - aka the X3D PhysicalMaterial node). Specifically, I've been working to make the export features in this area as solid as possible. The key for getting the most out of the PhysicalMaterial node is to pair it with an EnvironmentLight node and an ImageCubeMapTeture node in its specularTexture field.

HAnim, glTF, and VRM—three major frameworks for representing and animating humanoid characters. 

HAnim, the Humanoid Animation International Standard maintained by the Web3D Consortium, provides a rigorously defined, interoperable framework for representing, animating, and exchanging 3D human figures across tools, platforms, and applications.

Humanoid Animation (HAnim) Overview — Architecture, Strengths, and Strategic Value for Open, Interoperable 3D Human Representation

Through my work with the Laboratory for Digital Realism and Engineering in the Applied Metaverse (DREAM Lab) at the University of North Dakota, I have been given the opportunity to work on a file translator between X3D and USD, hoping to include this into the C++ AOUSD/Adobe File Translator Plugin. This stems from my original work, building an X3D C++ Scene Access Interface Library (X3DCPPSAIL) to meet the requirements of the X3D 4.1 specifications. 

Through the Cesium Ecosystem Grant, the Web3D Consortium is enabling X3DOM to stream massive geospatial datasets—terrain, photogrammetry, buildings—directly into declarative X3D scenes. This work strengthens alignment across X3D, glTF, and OGC 3D Tiles, creating a seamless, vendor‑neutral pathway from data acquisition to web deployment. For users, this unlocks scalable digital twin experiences, richer metadata‑driven visualization, and a more interoperable 3D ecosystem built on open standards that will endure.

Artificial Intelligence is rapidly transforming how 3D content is authored, validated, and optimized. Within the Web3D community, X3D offers a structured, open, and extensible foundation for AI-assisted workflows. But as the paper x3d_mcp: A Model Context Protocol Server for AI-Assisted X3D Authoring shows, raw LLM output is brittle without grounding in the authoritative X3D specification.

Web of Worlds sets the spatial ‑ web vision, X3D/Web3D provides the open 3D standard to build it, and the Metaverse Standards Forum coordinates the broader ecosystem so everything interoperates across platforms and industries. 

Using Compound Nodes in Maya LookdevX

I've been hard at work this weekend, trying to come up with a workflow that will integrate with MaterialX shader exports into RawKee exports.

After feedback from the community, it became clear that there isn't really anything I can do on the exporter side to export Shader content that will be compatible with existing X3D Browser shader implementations.