Archive attributes

Primitive Type: Controls the kind of primitive that the Description generates.

Splines: Spline primitives are curves made up of two or more segments. Use Splines for fur, simple stiff shapes, and complex ribbon shapes like long or curly hair.
Sphere: Sphere primitives define a sphere with controllable length, width, and depth.
Cards: Card primitives define a NURBS patch that is attached to the patch at the center.
Archive: Archive primitive use the generic attributes to instance Alembic-based geometry that is specified by an XGen archive (.xarc) file.

See Custom archive primitives.

Control using: Sets whether primitive Attributes or Guides control the grooming of the Description. (Groomable Splines are controlled by Attributes and image maps created by the grooming tools.

Guides: When selected, guides control the placement and shape of the primitives. Guides use an interpolation algorithm to calculate the placement and shape of associated primitives. See Guides.
Attributes: When selected, the groom is driven procedurally using attributes and expressions. No guides or guide interpolation is used to place or shape the resulting primitives. See Control primitives using attributes and expressions.

Length: Controls the height of each archive from its base.

When Control using is set to Attribute, this value sets the primitive length. When Control using is set to Guides, Length scales primitive length based on the guide length.
Width: Controls the width of each archive in one dimension.

When Control using is set to Attribute, this value sets the primitive width. When Control using is set to Guides, Width scales primitive width based on the guide width.
Depth: Controls the width of each archive in the other dimension.
Tilt U: Tilts primitives away from the surface normal. 0 is no tilt, and 1.0 is a 90-degree tilt.
Tilt V: Tilts primitives away from the surface normal, but at right angles to Tilt U.
Twist: Rotates the archive around its local normal vector. This vector is affected by Bump Tilt U, and Tilt V, .
Tilt N: Magnifies how much the primitive tilts away from the surface normal by Tilt U and Tilt V. If Tilt U and Tilt V are 0, then Tilt N has no effect.
Around N: Rotates the primitive orientation around the surface normal. This vector is not affected by Bump, Tilt V and Tilt V.

This has no apparent effect until the splines are bent or tilted with Tilt U Tilt V, Bend U, or Bend V.
Index: Controls which archive file is used from the list below at each primitive location. By default, this is set to an expression that randomly selects from the list of archive files.
Frame: If the archive files contain animation, this controls which frame of the animation is used. Set this to $f to use the current frame.
LOD

Low Distance: Any primitives generated further than this distance from the camera use the Low Resolution LOD.
Medium Distance: Any primitives generated farther than this distance from the camera use the Medium Resolution LOD. Closer primitives use the High Resolution LOD.

Archives Files

Show Thumbnail: Turn on to add a thumbnail image of the archive file. Use the slider to make thumbnail images larger or smaller.
Archive Files: A list of the archive files used to populate this description.
Create From Selection: Creates a custom archive from selected geometry in the scene. See File > Export Selection as Archive(s).
Add: Click to add a new archive file to the list.

If you have no custom archive files, add an XGen default archive file by clicking Add and browsing to the following directory:

C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Maya2014\plug-ins\xgen\presets\archives.
Edit: Click to edit the information and preview the color of the selected archive file.
Remove: Click to remove the selected archive file from the list.
Show Thumbnails: When on, files in the archive list display with thumbnail images.
Size: Scales all the archive files. Increase this to make the archives appear smaller, and decrease to make archives appear larger.
Auto Set: Automatically scale all archives to match the real-world size of their contents. By default, archives are fit to the unit cube.

Archive Expressions

Name: Type the name for a new attribute you want to create.

Click + to create it. You can apply these expressions per-archive object.

Click - to remove the attribute with the specified name.

Advanced

Hi Index: This expression returns the index of the high-res version of the archive. This assumes that the archives are sorted into a particular order.
Med Index: This expression returns the index of the medium-res version of the archive. This assumes that the archives are sorted into a particular order.
Lo Index: This expression returns the index of the low-res version of the archive. This assumes that the archives are sorted into a particular order.
Proxy Index: This expression returns the index of the proxy version of the archive, which is used for preview only. This assumes that the archives are sorted into a particular order.

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