You can export containers in your scene as references. File referencing allows you to modularize a parent scene into multiple referenced files so that different people can work on different aspects of it without having to access the parent scene itself. Referenced objects in the main scene update automatically as changes are made to its reference files.
For more information on file referencing, see About file referencing.
Although you can edit a referenced object encapsulated by a container and save those edits to the referenced file, the real power of containers and referencing comes from the fact that changes to published attributes are stored according to their published names. These reference edits are saved to the parent file instead of the referenced file.
This means that you can replace references in your scene and, so long as the container names and attributes match the previous container, your edits will apply to the new container.
Reference edits in the parent file also allows other artists to modify the contents of the containers in the referenced files without affecting the behavior of the parent file.
For more information on reference edits, see Modifying a file reference.
Although you can apply a regular proxy reference to a referenced container, this greatly reduces your ability to interact with the container since its published attributes are not available. To remedy this problem you can export a referenced container as a proxy container instead.
A proxy container, like a proxy reference, allows you to substitute a potentially complex referenced container for a simpler file. Proxy containers are useful for simplifying complex scenes and help to improve navigation or performance when you are primarily concerned with the behavior of components in your scene.
For more information on reference proxies, see About proxy references.
When you create a proxy container, the proxy file consists of a locator representing the container’s root node and an additional locator for each parent or child anchor for the container. You can add additional geometry in the proxy file to better represent the geometry it is being substituted for. Proxy containers retain published attribute values and connections even when reloaded with their proxy files in the main scene. Also, any published parent or child anchors will still appear in the scene’s hierarchy so you can move the encapsulated objects around as needed.
