Hello World: Populate ovstage and Step

This tutorial shows the smallest end-to-end ovphysx workflow: create an instance, populate an ovstage Stage from USD, attach it, step simulation, and clean up resources. You can use this flow as the starting point for larger integrations.

Prerequisites

• Prepare a readable USD file for ovstage population.

Code Language

Python

Install the package first:

pip install ovphysx

import ovphysx
from ovphysx import PhysX
from pathlib import Path

print("Using ovphysx version: ", ovphysx.__version__)

def attach_scene(physx, usd_path):
    import ovstage

    if not ovstage.population.available():
        raise RuntimeError("ovstage population bridge is unavailable")

    stage = ovstage.Stage("ovphysx-hello-world")
    ordinal = 1
    try:
        ovstage.population.open_usd(stage, str(usd_path), ordinal=ordinal, domains=ovstage.PopulationDomain.PHYSICS)
        physx.attach_ovstage(stage, read_ordinal=ordinal)
        print("Loaded scene through ovstage")
        return stage
    except Exception:
        stage.destroy()
        raise

script_dir = Path(__file__).resolve().parent
usd_path = script_dir / ".." / "data" / "links_chain_sample.usda"

# Initialize PhysX
physx = PhysX()
stage = attach_scene(physx, usd_path)

try:
    # Run a simulation step
    dt = 1.0 / 60.0
    physx.step(dt)
    print("Simulation step completed successfully")
finally:
    if stage is not None:
        physx.detach_ovstage()
        stage.destroy()
    physx.release()
    print("Cleanup complete")

C

Download the SDK from the GitHub Releases page and extract it.

CMakeLists.txt

Every C sample uses find_package(ovphysx) and links against ovphysx::ovphysx. Here is the CMakeLists.txt for hello_world_c:

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.16)
project(HelloWorldC C)

set(CMAKE_C_STANDARD 11)
set(CMAKE_C_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)

find_package(ovphysx REQUIRED)

add_executable(hello_world_c main.c)

# Explicitly set the language to C (not C++)
set_source_files_properties(main.c PROPERTIES LANGUAGE C)
set_target_properties(hello_world_c PROPERTIES
    C_STANDARD 11
    C_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON
)


# Add compiler-specific flags to enforce strict C compilation
if(CMAKE_C_COMPILER_ID MATCHES "GNU|Clang")
    # GCC/Clang: Add -Werror=implicit-function-declaration to catch C++ leakage
    target_compile_options(hello_world_c PRIVATE 
        -Werror=implicit-function-declaration
        -pedantic
    )
endif()

if(MSVC)
    # MSVC: Compile as C code explicitly
    target_compile_options(hello_world_c PRIVATE /TC)
endif()

target_link_libraries(hello_world_c PRIVATE ovphysx::ovphysx ovphysx::ovstage)
target_include_directories(hello_world_c PRIVATE "${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/../common")
get_filename_component(OVPHYSX_TEST_DATA_DIR "${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/../../data" ABSOLUTE)
target_compile_definitions(hello_world_c PRIVATE
    OVPHYSX_TEST_DATA="${OVPHYSX_TEST_DATA_DIR}"
)
if(WIN32)
    ovphysx_copy_runtime_dlls(hello_world_c)
endif()

Build by pointing CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH at the installed SDK (refer to SDK Quickstart for details).

Source

#include "ovphysx/ovphysx.h"
#include "ovstage_sample.h"
#include <stdio.h>

static int run(void)
{
  // Create PhysX instance with default args
  ovphysx_create_args create_args = OVPHYSX_CREATE_ARGS_DEFAULT;
  ovphysx_handle_t handle = 0;
  
  ovphysx_result_t result = ovphysx_create_instance(&create_args, &handle);
  if (result.status != OVPHYSX_API_SUCCESS) {
    fprintf(stderr, "Failed to create PhysX instance\n");
  ovphysx_shutdown();
    return 1;
  }

  // Populate ovstage from USD and attach it to ovphysx
  ovphysx_sample_stage_attachment_t stage_attachment = {0};
  if (!ovphysx_sample_attach_usd_with_ovstage(
          handle, OVPHYSX_TEST_DATA "/simple_physics_scene.usda", &stage_attachment)) {
    fprintf(stderr, "Failed to attach ovstage scene\n");
    ovphysx_destroy_instance(handle);
  ovphysx_shutdown();
    return 1;
  }

  // Step the simulation
  ovphysx_enqueue_result_t step_result = ovphysx_step(handle, 0.016f);
  if (step_result.status != OVPHYSX_API_SUCCESS) {
    fprintf(stderr, "Failed to step simulation\n");
    ovphysx_sample_destroy_stage(handle, &stage_attachment);
    ovphysx_destroy_instance(handle);
  ovphysx_shutdown();
    return 1;
  }

  // Wait for step to complete
  ovphysx_op_wait_result_t step_wait_result = {0};
  ovphysx_result_t step_wait_status = ovphysx_wait_op(handle, step_result.op_index, UINT64_MAX, &step_wait_result);
  int step_ok = (step_wait_status.status == OVPHYSX_API_SUCCESS && step_wait_result.num_errors == 0);
  ovphysx_destroy_wait_result(&step_wait_result);
  if (!step_ok) {
    fprintf(stderr, "Simulation step failed\n");
    ovphysx_sample_destroy_stage(handle, &stage_attachment);
    ovphysx_destroy_instance(handle);
  ovphysx_shutdown();
    return 1;
  }

  printf("Simulation step completed successfully\n");

  ovphysx_sample_destroy_stage(handle, &stage_attachment);
  ovphysx_destroy_instance(handle);
  ovphysx_shutdown();
  printf("Cleanup complete\n");

  return 0;
}

int main(void) {
    ovphysx_result_t init_r = ovphysx_initialize();
    if (init_r.status != OVPHYSX_API_SUCCESS) {
        fprintf(stderr, "ovphysx_initialize() failed\n");
        return 1;
    }
  int rc = run();
  return rc;
}

Result

After this tutorial, you can step the simulation from both Python and C and release all resources cleanly.