Which option best describes the primary function of an inherit composition arc in OpenUSD?

An inherit arc lets prims receive scene description from a source prim, commonly a class prim, and enables modifications to that inherited source to broadcast to all inheriting prims in the relevant composition context. NVIDIA’s Learn OpenUSD inherits lesson states that after an inherit arc is established, the source prim and its descendants can be modified in a stronger layer, including across references, and those modifications are broadcast and applied to all prims that inherit it. ( docs.nvidia.com )

Option B is correct because it captures the defining production use: central refinement of many related prims without editing every instance individually and without modifying the original referenced asset globally. NVIDIA’s strength-ordering lesson also describes inherits as the arc that allows opinions on one source prim to affect all prims that author an inherit arc to that source. ( docs.nvidia.com )

Option A is incorrect because inherits are not simply a replacement for references; they solve broadcast refinement and reusable opinion-sharing problems. Option C is conceptually adjacent but imprecise: inherits may resemble inheritance patterns, but USD inherit arcs are composition mechanisms, not an object-oriented programming system. This aligns with Composition → Inherits, Class Prims, Broadcast Refinement, Encapsulation, and LIVERPS Strength Ordering .