You can now load, save, and play back Maya scenes as Alembic-based cache files. The Alembic file format is an open-source format developed for exchanging complex 3D geometry data. Alembic files are highly portable and application independent so they can be shared, processed, and played back by a number of content creations applications.

In Maya, Alembic caches provide a number of performance improvements, including quicker loading time of large scenes, faster play back of complex character animations, and real-time play back of geometry data with topology changes.

Alembic files also let you easily share large scenes between various areas of your production pipeline without the large memory overhead of fully editable scene files.

• Import and export Alembic files
• Watch: Alembic file import and export