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nCaching overview
nCaching overview
nCache creation
What is nCaching?
You can save your simulation
data to a server or local hard drive by caching your
Nucleus objects or fluid effects. nCaches are special Maya files
that store the simulated point data of your simulations. nCaches
also connect to the nucleus nodes
in your Nucleus systems, which allows both cached and uncached Nucleus
objects to interact.
nCaches are useful when
you want to reduce the number of calculations Maya performs when
playing back or rendering scenes that contain simulated Nucleus
objects or fluid effects, and they allow you to easily direct, mix,
and edit your simulations in an intuitive, nonlinear manner.
NotenCloth caches only
store information about the XYZ positions of an nCloth object’s vertices,
not the translation, rotation, or scale of the nCloth’s Transform node.
You can use nCaches to
do the following:
- Improve performance by caching an nCloth
outfit (shirt, jacket, and pants) so that its collisions and constraints
are not calculated each time its scene is played back
- Improve control and direct the behavior
of an nCloth cape by arranging and blending its cache clips
- Improve performance by caching a complex
fluid or nParticle effect
You can create nCaches
for your Nucleus objects from the nCache menu,
and for your fluid effects from the Fluid nCache menu. nCaches
can be edited from the Attribute Editor or the Trax
Editor.
NoteThe nCache file format
is an open format that can be read with standalone applications.
For more information, see the example Python script
cacheFileExample.py located
in the
devkit\pythonScripts folder
of the Maya 2010 install directory. This example script demonstrates
how to parse the cache description file and its associated data.
See also
geometryCacheConverter in
the
API guide.