Create a proxy container

User Guide > General > Basics > Assets > Assets and file referencing >

You can create a proxy as a stand-in for a container in your scene. This is useful to temporarily simplify complex scenes by substituting simpler geometry while still allowing you to work with a container’s published attributes. For more information on proxy containers see Assets and file referencing.

To create a proxy container

Select a referenced container in your scene. You can also select multiple containers, but they must all be from the same source file.
Select File > Export Proxy Container.
A file browser window appears.
Select a location and enter a filename and select Export.
A proxy file is created. 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.

Once you have created the proxy file, you can then display the proxy file instead of the referenced file in the main scene.

To substitute a proxy container

In the main file, -click the referenced object and select Reload Proxy As.
Select the proxy file from the list that appears.
The referenced container’s geometry is replaced with the proxy container’s geometry and locators. However, you can still access all the container’s public attributes by selecting the container in the Outliner or Hypergraph. Any published parent or child anchors remain in the scene’s hierarchy and you can still move them around as needed.

If you open the Reference Editor ( File > Reference Editor), referenced files with associated proxies appear with a small proxy icon next to their name.