You can export edits
in your scene, such as geometry changes or new connections and nodes
connected via those connections, to an external file. You can then
apply this edits file to other objects to invoke the same changes
on them.
For example, if you started
with a base walk cycle animation, you could export a number of different
tweaks, such as a strut, a shuffle, and a march, and export each
of these tweaks into different files. You can then apply these edits
to other characters.
You can export edits
on an asset, a referenced file, or a set of selected nodes in your
scene.
To export edits from a set of selected
nodes
- +
select the nodes in the scene that you want to export edits from.
- Select
File > Export to Offline File.
A file browser appears.
- Navigate to the folder you want to store
your edits and enter a name for the file. By default, Maya places
these files in a subfolder of the current project called scenes\edits.
- Click Export to Offline File.
Maya creates the specified
file containing the reference edits with the extension .editMA or
.editMB. You cannot open these files in Maya, but you can assign
them to another file. For more information, see
Assign Offline File.
NoteDangling connections
(connections to non-exported nodes) and reference edits are saved
to the edits file with a placeholder namespace. When applying these
edits, Maya replaces the placeholder with the namespace of the reference
that the file is being applied to, or ":" for imports into the main
scene.
NoteDefault nodes are
not exported. For example, if you changed the default shader (lambert1)
and then exported your edits, the changed lambert1 is
not exported.
You can also export edits
for a specific referenced file.
To export edits on a referenced file
- In the Reference Editor,
select the referenced file that you want to export edits from.
- Select
File
> Export to Offline File.
A file browser appears.
- Navigate to the folder you want to store
your edits and enter a name for the file. By default, Maya places
these files in a subfolder of the current project called scenes\edits.
- Click Export to Offline File.
Alternatively, you can
export edits on a referenced object from the Outliner by -clicking
a referenced object in the Outliner and
selecting Reference > Export to Offline File from
the marking menu.