Work with geometry cache clips

Enable or disable geometry cache clips

To enable or disable individual geometry cache clips

1. In the scene view, select the object whose geometry cache clip you want to enable or disable.
2. In the Trax Editor, select the geometry cache clip you want to enable or disable.
3. Do one of the following:
   • In the track view, -click the selected cache clip. In the menu that appears, turn on Enable Clip to make your cache clip active or turn off Enable Clip to make your cache clip inactive.
   • In the Trax menu bar, select Modify > Enable/Disable to make the selected cache clip active or inactive, depending on its current state.
     

To enable or disable all of an object’s geometry cache clips

1. See Enable or disable geometry caches.

Lock, solo, or mute geometry cache tracks

To lock a geometry cache track

1. In the scene view, select the object whose geometry cache clip track you want to lock.
2. In the Trax Editor, select List > Load Selected Characters.

   All the current object’s geometry caches appear as clips in the track view.

3. In the track control area, click the Lock button to the left of the geometry cache track you want to lock.

The Lock button freezes the geometry cache track. When a track is locked, you can not edit its cache clips, but its cached deformations are present during playback. You can lock geometry cache tracks so that you do not accidentally modify their cache clips.

To solo a geometry cache track

1. In the scene view, select the object whose geometry cache clip track you want to solo.
2. In the Trax Editor, select List > Load Selected Characters.

   All the current object’s geometry caches appear as clips in the track view.

3. In the track control area, click the Solo button to the left of the geometry cache track you want to solo.

The Solo button isolates the geometry cache clips on the selected track so that they are the only caches used during playback. Soloing is useful when you want to isolate and review the effect of a specific geometry cache track on your object.

To mute a geometry cache track

1. In the scene view, select the object whose geometry cache clip track you want to mute.
2. In the Trax Editor, select List > Load Selected Characters.

   All the current object’s geometry caches appear as clips in the track view.

3. In the track control area, click the Mute button to the left of the geometry cache track you want to mute.

The Mute button disables the cached deformations of the selected track. Muting is useful when you want to view your object’s deformations without the effect of a specific geometry cache track.

Scale geometry cache clips

You can scale geometry cache clips to speed up or slow down your object’s cached deformations.

Scaling down (<100% of the original cache clip length) a cache clip compresses the deformations in the cache clip so that the resulting deformations appear faster or sped up. Scaling up (>100% original cache clip length) a cache clip stretches the cache clip’s deformations so that the resulting deformations appear to be slower.

To scale geometry cache clips

1. In the scene view, select the object whose geometry cache clips you want to scale.
2. In the Trax Editor, select the geometry cache clip you want to scale.
3. Do one of the following:
   • Drag the lower corner clip hotspots to scale your cache clip.
     
   • Double-click the scale value on your cache clip, type a new scale value, then press .
     
   • In the Channel Box, set your cache clip’s Scale channel value.

   See Scale.

To scale multiple geometry cache clips at a time

1. In the scene view, select the object whose geometry cache clips you want to scale.
2. In the Trax Editor, -select the geometry cache clips you want to scale.

   The cache clip manipulator appears.

   
3. Drag the scale handles to the left or right to scale all the selected cache clips at the same time.

To scale all of an object’s geometry cache clips

1. In the scene view, select the object whose geometry cache clips you want to scale.
2. In the Trax Editor, drag the left or right sides of the summary cache clip to scale all the selected object’s geometry cache clips.
   

Cycle geometry cache clips

You can cycle geometry cache clips to repeat the deformations contained in your cache clips. You can create cycles before or after a cache clip, and they can be whole or partial cycles.

The end of the original cache clip, and the beginning of the first cycle, is marked by a small vertical line. The end of each cycle sequence for a cache clip is marked by a small cycle tick or marker.

Cycles are represented by the letter C and appear a lighter blue than the rest of the cache clip.

To cycle geometry cache clips

1. In the scene view, select the object whose geometry cache clips you want to cycle.
2. In the Trax Editor, select the geometry cache clip you want to cycle.
3. Do one of the following:
   • -drag the lower corner clip hotspots of your cache clip to create a cycle before (pre-cycle) or after (post-cycle) your cache clip.

     The Cycle mouse pointer appears when you are creating a cycle for a cache clip.

     
   • In the Channel Box, set the Pre Cycle channel value to create a cycle before your cache clip, or set the Post Cycle channel value to create a cycle after your cache clip.

   See Pre Cycle/Post Cycle.

   

To edit the number of cycles for a geometry cache clip

1. In the Trax Editor, double-click the number beside the C on the cycled part of your cache clip, type a new number for how many times the clip is cycled before (Pre Cycle) or after (Post Cycle) the main cache clip, then press .
   

For example, if the cycled part of your cache clip appears after the main cache clip and its number of cycles is 2, then the deformations in the main cache clip are repeated twice after the main part of the cache clip.

Hold geometry cache clips

You can hold geometry cache clips to freeze the last deformations in cache clips for a fixed period of time.

A hold is a part or an extension of a cache clip where the last deformation is held for a specified period of time. Holds are represented by the letter H and appear a lighter blue than the rest of the clip.

To hold geometry cache clips

1. In the scene view, select the object whose geometry cache clips you want to hold.
2. In the Trax Editor, select the geometry cache clip you want to hold.
3. Do one of the following:
   • -drag the upper corner clip hotspot to create a hold after your cache clip.
     
   • In the Channel Box, set the Hold channel value for your cache clip.

   See Hold.

To edit the number of frames a geometry cache clip is held

1. Double-click the number beside the H on the held part of your cache clip, type a new value for the number of frames you want the last deformation in the cache clip to be held for, and then press .
   

Trim geometry cache clips

You can trim geometry cache clips to omit segments of deformation from the beginnings or ends of your cache clips. This changes a cache clip’s Source In and Source Out times. Trimming your cache clips does not affect their associated cache files on disk. The segments that you omit from a cache clip using Trim are not deleted, and can be reinstated if the cache clip’s original length is restored.

To trim geometry cache clips

1. In the Trax Editor, select the geometry cache clip you want to hold.
2. Do one of the following:
   • Drag the top corner clip hotspots to trim your cache clip.
     

     The Trim mouse pointer appears as you trim the cache clip.

   • Position the Trax current time indicator as desired, and -click the cache clip and select Trim Before or Trim After from the context-sensitive menu that appears, or in the Trax menu bar select Edit > Trim Before or Edit > Trim After.
     

   If you selected Trim before, the part of the cache clip that comes before the Trax current time indicator is removed from your cache clip. If you selected Trim After, the part of the cache clip that comes after the Trax current time indicator is removed from your cache clip. See Trim Before and Trim After.

   • In the Channel Box, change your cache clip’s Source Start and Source End channel values or double-click the Source Start or Source End values on your cache clip, type in new value numbers, and then press .
     

   If you change your cache clip’s Source Start value, then you are trimming frames from the beginning of your cache clip. If you change your cache clip’s Source End value, then you are trimming frames from the end of your cache clip. See Source Start/Source End. The trimmed frames are not deleted from the clip or its associated file on disk. You can reinstate the trimmed frames by restoring the cache clip’s original length.

Split geometry cache clips

You can split your geometry cache clips to divide an object’s cached deformations into multiple, reusable cache clips.

To split geometry cache clips

1. In the Trax Editor, select the cache clip that you want to split.
2. Do one of the following:
   • Drag the Trax current time indicator to the position on the cache clip where you want it to be split, -click the cache clip, and select Split Clip from the context-sensitive menu that appears.

     The geometry cache clip is split at the current time indicator’s current frame and two cache clips appear replacing the selected cache clip.

   • In the Trax menu bar, Select Edit > Split.

     The cache clip is split according to the current settings in the Split Clip Options window, and two clips appear replacing the selected clip. See Split.

Merge geometry cache clips

You can merge your geometry cache clips into a single new cache clip. The cache clips you want to merge can be positioned sequentially in a track or can be located on different tracks.

You can only merge geometry cache clips if each of the cache clips that are located in the merge time range are selected or disabled. For example, if you have cache clip 1 (frames 20-30), cache clip 2 (frames 25-35), and cache clip 3 (frames 40-50), and you want to merge cache clips 2 and 3, then cache clip 1 must be disabled or selected for the merge.

You can merge all your object’s geometry cache clips at the same time by selecting the object, rather than its geometry cache clips, for the merge operation. On merge, all your object’s enabled cache clips are then baked to a single cache clip.

However, if any of your cache clips overlap, or if there are gaps between any of your clips, see Merging non-overlapping or overlapping geometry cache clips.

To merge all of an object’s geometry cache clips

1. Select the object whose geometry cache clips you want to merge.
2. In the Trax Editor, make sure that all your object’s cache clips are enabled.
3. In the Animation menu set, select Geometry Cache > Merge Caches.

   All your object’s enabled caches merge according to the current settings in the Merge Geometry Cache Options window, creating a new geometry cache clip, cache file, and description file. See Geometry Cache > Merge Caches.

   The geometry cache clips you merged are disabled and their corresponding cache files on disk are not overridden or deleted.

You can also merge individual scaled, cycled, or held geometry cache clips as follows:

To merge a single geometry cache clip

1. Select the object whose geometry cache clip you want to merge.
2. In the Trax Editor, enable the geometry cache clip you want to merge and disable all other cache clips.
3. In the Animation menu set, select Geometry Cache > Merge Caches.

   The single cache clip you selected merges according to the settings in the Merge Geometry Cache Options window, creating a new geometry cache clip, cache file, and description file. See Geometry Cache > Merge Caches.

   The geometry cache clip you merged is disabled and its associated cache file on disk is not overridden or deleted.

Blend geometry cache clips

You can blend geometry cache clips to create smooth, seamless transitions between your object’s overlapping cache clips.

Geometry cache clips are blended automatically. By default, all the overlapping regions of your enabled geometry cache clips are automatically blended together using their cache clip’s current weight settings. See Input Weights.

Cache weights are normalized between overlapping cache clips. So if two overlapping cache clips have the same weight values (i.e. 1.0 and 1.0, 0.5 and 0.5 and so on), then they will both equally contribute to the deformations in their cache blend regions on playback.

You can adjust the smoothness of your cache clips’ blends by adjusting their weight settings, or by manipulating their weight curves. For example, if you have two overlapping cache clips, one from frames 1-25 and the other from frames 20-45, and both their Input Weights are set to 0.5 (50%), then both cache clips equally contribute to their object’s deformations from frames 20-25 during playback.

Sequential cache clips are not blended. When there are gaps between your geometry cache clips, they are filled with the live playback of your object’s original (source) deformations—not interpolated cache data.

You can also create weight curves for your geometry cache clips. These weight curves let you adjust how your geometry cache clip’s deformations ease in and out of their blend regions.

To create and adjust geometry cache clip weight curves

1. In the Trax Editor, select the geometry cache clip whose weight curve you want to create and adjust.
2. -click the cache clip and select Create Weight Curve from the context-sensitive menu that appears.

   A weight curve is created for the selected cache clip.

3. Do one of the following:
   • In the Trax toolbar, click the Graph Weight Curves button ().
   • -click the selected cache clip and select Graph Weight from the context-sensitive menu that appears.

   The Graph Editor opens with the selected cache clip’s weight curve framed in its graph view.

4. Adjust the shape of your cache clip’s weight curve by doing the following:
   • Move the weight curve’s keys or key tangents.

   Select the Move Tool from the Maya toolbox, and -drag the keys or their tangent handles to change the shape of the weight curve.

   
   • (Optional) Add new keys to the weight curve.

   Select the Insert Keys Tool () or Add Keys Tool () from the Graph Editor’s toolbar, and -click the weight curve to add additional keys to the weight curve.

   

   You can then use these new keys and their tangent handles to further manipulate the shape of the weight curve.

   

   The modified weight curve now appears on the selected cache clip in the track view area.

   
   Tip

   In the Attribute Editor, you can also key the Input Weight attributes on your geometry caches’ cacheBlend nodes to create geometry cache weight curves for your objects.

Delete geometry cache clips

To delete geometry cache clips

1. In the Trax Editor, select the geometry cache clips you want to delete and press .

The selected clips are unloaded from the Trax Editor, their corresponding cache nodes are deleted, and their source cache files on disk are detached from their object.