Assign an offline file

You can assign edits exported with the Export to Offline File feature to objects in your scene by referencing or importing them. This allows you to quickly share tweaks between different files.

Maya assigns edits by matching each nodename.attribute in the edit file to the file it’s being applied to. For example, you can export a reference edit for pSphere1.translateX in the scene sphere.ma. This edit is saved in the reference file as <main>:pSphere1.translateX. You can then assign this edit to the scene ball.ma so that ball:pSphere1.translateX is edited.

Assigning edits to a referenced file

To apply offline edits to a referenced object

Open the Reference Editor (File > Reference Editor).
Select the referenced file to which you want to apply the edits.
Select File > Assign Offline File> .
The Assign Offline File Options window appears.
Select Edit > Reset Settings.
Set Apply via to Reference if you want the edits to remain in their own file. Otherwise, set it to Import if you want the edits to be saved to the main scene.
Click Assign Offline File.
A file browser appears.
Navigate to the folder containing the edit file and select it.
Valid edit files appear with the extension .editMA or .editMB.
Click Assign Offline File.
The edits are applied to the referenced file.

If you chose to apply the edits via reference, the offline edits file appears in the Reference Editor at the bottom of the list of references. A reference node for your edits file also appears in the Outliner. To view the reference node you must turn off DAG Objects Only in the Outliner’s Display menu.

Like other referenced nodes, you can load and unload the reference edits file to view the scene with and without the reference edits.

If you chose to apply the edits via import, the offline edits are baked into your scene. No entry for them appears in the Reference Editor, but you can remove them in the Reference Edits window (for more information, see List, copy, or remove reference edits).

Note

Dangling connections (connections to non-exported nodes) and reference edits are saved to the edit file with a placeholder namespace. When applying these edits, Maya replaces the placeholder with the namespace of the reference that the file is being applied to, or ":" for imports into the main scene.

Note

If you make further changes to edited attributes in the main scene and then unload and reload the reference edits via the Reference Editor, Maya restores the original values of those edited attributes.

Assigning edits to the main scene

You can also assign an edits file to an object in the main scene.

To assign offline edits to an object in the main scene

Select File > Assign Offline File > .
The Assign Offline File Options window appears.
Make sure the Reference is turned on.
Turn on Assign offline edits to main scene if you want to apply the edits to the main scene, while maintaining a reference to those edits as well. Otherwise, turn this option off to keep only a reference to the edits.
Click Assign Offline File.
The File Browser appears.
Navigate to the folder containing the edit file and select it.
Valid edit files appear with the extension .editMA or .editMB.
Click Assign Offline File.
The edits are applied to the main scene. If you check the Reference Editor, you can the referenced edits file.

In either scenario, you can also import edits such that no reference entry is created for those edits.

To assign edits to the main scene via import

Open the Reference Editor (File > Reference Editor).
Select the referenced file to which you want to apply the edits.
Select File > Assign Offline File > .
The Assign Offline File Options window appears.
Select Edit > Reset Settings.
Set Apply via to Import.
Click Assign Offline File.
A file browser appears.
Navigate to the folder containing the edit file and select it.
Click Assign Offline File.
The edits are applied to the main scene. Unlike edits applied via reference, no entry for the edits appear in the Reference Editor and thus those edits cannot be muted or undone.

Remapping namespaces

Depending on the way your project is setup and the location of your fiels, Maya may require you to remap namespaces in order to assign edits properly.

To remap a namespace

Assign an offline file with a nonmatching namespace.
The Remap Missing Namespace window appears.

The left side of this window shows you the automatic remapping that will take place. The right side shows you the namespaces which have no corresponding mapping.

In general, <root> refers to the root namespace and <main> refers to the current workspace.
Choose a namespace on the right side and click Map to map it to a specific namespace in your scene. Otherwise, click Skip to place that namespace in the current namespace.