# Houdini - ShotGrid - Loading publishes You can load in files other people have published by going to the "ShotGrid" -> "Load..." [![houdinifx_eIgN2LHgw9.png](https://docs.vfxim.nl/uploads/images/gallery/2024-10/scaled-1680-/houdinifx-eign2lhgw9.png)](https://docs.vfxim.nl/uploads/images/gallery/2024-10/houdinifx-eign2lhgw9.png) A lot of file types can be loaded into Houdini, but here's a short list of the main loading operations you'll be using: - USD files can be loaded into your stage through a Reference or a Sublayer node. References should be used when the loaded USD needs a new place in your hierarchy, e.g. for assets. Sublayering should be used when the loaded USD is meant as a separate layer in your hierarchy, e.g. our Maya animation publishes, which always go to the Animation layer. - Alembic files can be loaded into your Houdini file as an Alembic node in SOPs, inside a SOP Create in your stage and hooked up to a component builder in your stage (for use in our asset shading workflow). - Published textures can be loaded as MaterialX nodes, which can be automatically turned into a Karma material. Check out [this page](https://docs.vfxim.nl/books/houdini-in-our-shotgrid-pipeline/page/houdini-shotgrid-shading-workflow) for more information on our shading workflow. Loading tools largely unchanged from ShotGrid base implementation.