OpenTimelineIO Integration

2026-06-13

8 min read

Overview

OpenTimelineIO (OTIO) is an open-source interchange format and API for editorial timeline information, developed under the Academy Software Foundation (ASWF). It provides a vendor-neutral way to represent and exchange timeline data - shots, clips, frame ranges, media references, and metadata - across different tools in a visual effects and animation pipeline.

Integrating OTIO into a studio workflow brings several advantages:

• Interoperability - timelines authored in one application can be read by any other tool that supports OTIO, without manual re-entry.

• Version-controlled editorial data - by saving OTIO files as Prism product versions, editorial timelines become part of the same versioning and review system as renders and exports.

• Pipeline automation - the Execution Graph can assemble and save OTIO timelines programmatically as part of a larger automated workflow.

• Shot validation - downstream departments can import timeline data to verify frame ranges, shot order, and media references without needing access to the originating application.

Prism integrates OTIO in several places, described in the sections below.

Creating OTIO Files from the Project Browser

The Project Browser lets you create an OTIO timeline from one or more shots directly, without opening any DCC application.

In the Shots tab, right-click a sequence, an episode, or a selection of shots and choose Create OTIO....

When a sequence or episode is right-clicked, all shots belonging to it are automatically included.

When multiple shots are selected and one of them is right-clicked, all selected shots are used.

The Create OTIO dialog will open.

The dialog contains the following settings:

Setting	Description
Target Entity	Click the entity area to open the entity selector and choose the asset, shot, sequence, or episode under which the OTIO file will be saved as a product. The entity thumbnail and name are shown once selected.
Product Name	The name of the product version that will be created (e.g. edit).
Comment	An optional comment attached to the product version.
Add Media	When checked, the timeline clips will be linked to actual media files from the project. A Media Identifier dropdown appears when this option is enabled.
Media Identifier	(visible when Add Media is checked) Select which media identifier to use as the clip source for each shot. The dropdown is populated from all media identifiers found across the selected shots.
Location	The storage location where the product version will be saved. Only shown when more than one storage location is configured in the project.

Click Create to build and save the OTIO timeline. On success, a confirmation dialog offers the option to open the result in the Product Browser or in the file explorer.

Note

The frame rate of the generated timeline is taken from the project's FPS setting.

Open RV

The Open RV plugin supports both exporting the current timeline to OTIO and importing .otio files from the Project Browser.

Exporting the Timeline to OTIO

The Prism Timeline dock panel includes an export button in its toolbar (the arrow/export icon next to the refresh button).

Clicking it opens a menu with two options:

• To Sequence: <name> - saves the timeline directly as a versioned product under the sequence that the first item belongs to, using an automatically generated path.

• Custom... - opens a save-file dialog so you can choose any destination path and filename.

After the file is written, a confirmation dialog appears. Click Output Options... to open the exported file in the Product Browser, reveal it in the file explorer, or copy its path.

Importing an OTIO File into RV

Open the Project Browser from the Prism menu inside RV, navigate to the Products tab, right-click an .otio product version and select Import. The timeline data is read and applied inside RV.

If the Prism Timeline dock panel is open when an OTIO file is imported, it will automatically refresh to reflect the new timeline.

DaVinci Resolve

The Resolve plugin provides dedicated tools for both exporting and importing OTIO files.

Exporting the Timeline to OTIO

In the Prism Tools window inside Resolve, use the Export Timeline... button to open the export dialog.

Select a target entity, a product name, and an optional comment, then confirm. Prism saves the current Resolve timeline as a versioned .otio product in the project.

Importing an OTIO File into Resolve

Open the Project Browser from the Prism Tools window, navigate to the Products tab, right-click an .otio product version and select Import.

The timeline data is loaded into the current Resolve project.

Note

The department and task used in the output product path when exporting can be controlled with the PRISM_RESOLVE_DEPARTMENT and PRISM_RESOLVE_TASK environment variables. These are described in detail on the Resolve plugin page.

Maya

The Maya plugin supports exporting and importing .otio files through the Maya Camera Sequencer.

Note

OTIO support in Maya requires Maya 2027.1 or later.

Exporting the Sequencer to OTIO

Open the State Manager from the Prism menu in Maya and create an Export state.

In the export format options, select .otio as the output format. When the state is executed, the contents of the Maya Camera Sequencer - including camera assignments, shot metadata, audio, and file references - are exported and saved as a versioned product in the Prism project.

Importing an OTIO File into the Sequencer

Open the State Manager, add an Import state, and select a .otio product version.

The timeline data is loaded into the Maya Camera Sequencer, populating it with the shots, cameras, and frame ranges stored in the file.

Houdini

The Houdini plugin supports both exporting and importing .otio files through the State Manager, using Houdini's native timeline bookmarks as the data source.

Exporting Bookmarks to OTIO

Open the State Manager from the Prism menu in Houdini and create an Export state.

In the output type dropdown, select .otio. No node connection is required - the export reads the current timeline bookmarks directly from Houdini.

When the state is executed, the bookmarks are saved as a versioned .otio product in the Prism project.

Importing an OTIO File as Bookmarks

Open the State Manager, add an Import state, and select a .otio product version.

On import, the shot ranges defined in the OTIO timeline are loaded into Houdini as timeline bookmarks, making the editorial structure visible directly in the timeline ruler.

Execution Graph

The Execution Graph plugin includes a dedicated OTIO node category for building and saving OTIO timelines as part of an automated graph.

Four nodes are available:

Create Timeline

Creates a new, empty OTIO timeline object.

Settings:

• Name - The name of the timeline (e.g. Main Timeline).

Outputs:

• Timeline - The newly created OTIO timeline, which can be passed to Create Track or Save Timeline nodes.

Create Track

Adds a new track to an existing timeline.

Inputs:

• Timeline - The timeline to add the track to.

Outputs:

• Timeline - The updated timeline.

• Track - The newly created track, which can be passed to Create Clip nodes.

Create Clip

Creates a new clip and appends it to a track.

Inputs:

• Timeline - The timeline the track belongs to.

• Track - The track to append the clip to.

Settings:

• Source - The file path of the media to reference in the clip.

Outputs:

• Timeline - The updated timeline.

• Track - The track with the new clip appended.

• Clip - The newly created clip.

Save Timeline

Saves a completed OTIO timeline to disk.

Inputs:

• Timeline - The timeline to save.

Settings:

• Timeline - The destination file path for the .otio file (set as a parameter rather than a port connection).

Outputs:

• Result - A value indicating whether the save was successful.

A typical Execution Graph OTIO workflow connects the nodes in this order:

Create Timeline -> Create Track -> one or more Create Clip nodes -> Save Timeline.

Future Support

OTIO support will be extended to additional DCC applications - including Blender and Unreal Engine - as those applications add native OTIO support in future releases.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to install any additional software to use OTIO?

No. The opentimelineio Python package is bundled with Prism and requires no separate installation.

Can I create an OTIO timeline without linking it to media files?

Yes. In the Create OTIO dialog, leave the Add Media option unchecked. The resulting timeline will contain shot names, frame ranges, and the project FPS, but no media file references.

Where is the generated OTIO file stored?

The file is saved as a versioned product inside the Prism project, under the entity and product name you specified in the dialog. You can find it in the Products tab of the Project Browser.

Which DCC applications currently support OTIO?

The following integrations are currently available:

• Project Browser - create OTIO files from any platform

• Open RV - export the timeline via the Prism Timeline panel and import .otio files via the Project Browser

• DaVinci Resolve - export the timeline to OTIO and import OTIO files

• Maya 2027.1 or later - export and import via the Camera Sequencer

• Houdini - export timeline bookmarks to OTIO and import .otio files as bookmarks

• Execution Graph - build and save OTIO timelines programmatically

Support for additional applications will be added as they introduce native OTIO capabilities.

In which Prism version was OTIO support added?

OTIO support was introduced in Prism 2.1.3.