Add archive primitives to geometry surfaces

You can instance archive primitives on the surface of selected geometry. This geometry includes the default archive primitives located in the xgen\presets\archives folder in the Maya install directory and geometry objects you saved as custom archive primitives. See Create custom archives from selected objects and Create custom archives from scene files.

NoteTo add cached geometry or archive primitives, you must first select a polygon mesh or polygon faces.

To instance archive primitives on the surface of selected geometry

Select the polygon mesh or polygon faces on which you want to add the primitives.
Do one of the following:
- From the XGen Shelf, click the Create Description icon.
- In the XGen Window, select Descriptions > Create Description.
In the Create XGen Description window, under What kind of Primitives are made by the Description?, select Custom Geometry/Archives (see Archive attributes).
Select how you want to generate the primitives:
- Randomly across the surface
- In uniform rows and columns
- At points you specify
  See Use point maps.
Select how you want to control the primitives:
- Placing and shaping guides. See Add Guides to the geometry surface.
- Using Attributes controlled by expressions. See Control primitives using attributes and expressions.
Click Create.
In the XGen Window, click the Primitives tab.
In the Archive Files section, click Add and browse to location of the .xarc file of the archive you want to add.
The default archive primitives that come with XGen are located in the xgen\presets\archives folder in the Maya install directory. For example:

C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Maya2014\plug-ins\xgen\presets\archives

The archive primitives you selected generate on the selected surface.

You can control the shape, size, and the number of primitives generated by:

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