Autodesk / Autodesk/maya-usd

Inherit Transform Disables upstream USD Xform nodes

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#3,312 0 comments 0 reactions 1 assignee Claimed by @santosg87 View on GitHub
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Description

**Describe the bug**
Inherit transforms disables upstream transform/group nodes in the USD version of the asset when it still works in the Maya data version.

*Hierarchies*
Maya rigged asset: master_trs/shot_trs/aux_trs/model/geo, master_trs/shot_trs/aux_trs/rig/joints+controllers
USD asset: master_trs/shot_trs/aux_trs/model/geo

When exporting the animation from the Maya rigged asset to the USD asset, initially we turned off "inherit transform" on the model layer of the hierarchy. This was to avoid the double transformation incurred by having the skeleton grouped under some world transform controls (since changed to decomp matrix).
When applied to the USD asset it would bring across the animation, however the upstream master/shot/aux nodes would then be locked out from manipulating the asset. This is prevalent even when bringing the asset across to Houdini/other DCCs due to the [!resetXformStack!] that turning off "Inherit Transform" introduces to the USD.

Brings up similar errors in both Maya and Houdini along the lines of "Cannot transform aux_trs node, locked."

**Steps to reproduce**
Steps to reproduce the behavior:
1: Have rigged skinned deforming asset with following hierarchy: 3 world space controllers parented consecutively as master/shot/aux, with geo grouped under it, and USD stage with matching hierarchy.
2: Animate the model/shot/aux nodes with model group having "inherit transform" turned off.
3: select model node, File >> Export >> Export as USDA with animation data on
4: Load sublayer into maya (correct USDAs manually if needed, names in particular with this method need adjusting).

**Expected behavior**
Inherit Transform turned on:
- Double transform on the part of the geometry with regards to the rig position.
- USD asset should move along with the geo perfectly.
- Master/shot/aux nodes should be transformable in Maya and external DCCs that can use USD.

Inherit Transform turned off:
- USD asset should move like the rigged Maya asset.
- The master/shot/aux nodes should be manipulable in Maya and external DCCs that can use USD.

**Specs (if applicable):**
- Windows 10
- Maya 2024.1

**Additional context**
Working out a pipeline with regards to rigging. The current one suggested by the Maya tutorials does not fit our needs hence RnDing this.
See attached files.
sphere_layout defines a sphere prim. It already has sublayered both sphere_anim_inherit_tx and sphere_anim_no_inherit_tx.
sphere_Xform_scene is a maya binary file containing the rigged asset and the USD layers already loaded.
[sphere.zip](https://github.com/Autodesk/maya-usd/files/12539927/sphere.zip)

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