Exporting out shape cache: PC2 into Maya 2008

[Bradley Gabe]

Has anyone exported plotted shapes from XSI into Maya using Animate>Plot>Write Geometry Cache?

XSI appears to create the PC2 files just fine, but Maya refuses to read them on the import side.
Are there specific steps I have to take for exporting my geometry?
Is there some hidden cache op in Maya I need to apply prior to selecting the mesh and running Import Cache?
Are there any issues with Model Space I need to be concerned with?

Taking any and all suggestions here.

Thanks!

[Ajit Menon]

I used to use Kai Wolter's PC2 cache addon (for import/export into XSI). And he had recently added an importer for Maya which works well.
I generally use the global coords option for export...

http://www.kai-wolter.com/resources/xsi/kp_pc_xsi

I haven't experimented with XSI 7's write geometry cache yet though... the previous option worked beautifully!

[Dwayne Elahie]

Hi,

I am not aware of an option in XSI that gives you animate>plot>Write
Geometry Cache, but I do know about
KP point cache that uses 3ds max's point cache file in maya and xsi. You
can create a point cache file in max, maya, or xsi, and
it can be read in any of these software.

check out the website for xsi and for maya. 3ds max has a point cache
modifier for this already (I think it is called point cache 2, I don't
remember.)
http://www.kai-wolter.com/resources/xsi/kp_pc_xsi
http://www.kai-wolter.com/resources/maya/maya_pc_tools

-Dwayne

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[Stefan Andersson]

I use Kai's PC2 manager too (since XSI lacks a manager). It works
great for 7.0 too, highly recommended. And I can use it for Maya as
well.

regards
stefan andersson

--
Stefan Andersson / vfx supervisor / Swiss International AB
S:t Eriksgatan 48 B / SE-11234 Stockholm / Phone: +46 8 662 24 60

[Steven Caron]

ya xsi has a native option now. you switch the extension from .icecache to .pc2, but it doesn't support the nth frame sampling...

steven

[Bradley Gabe]

We've had success with Kai's plugin, but in this case, we'd much prefer to get something native in Maya without the need for any external plugin.

The Plot>Write Geometry Cache allows you to export directly to PC2 files, which is supposedly a native maya cache format. Looking into the cacheFile MEL command at the moment, there may be an answer in there.

[Steven Caron]

write cube out from both apps... do a diff and see if there is a lack of data?

steven

[Dwayne Elahie]

I just checked the MEL documentation in Maya, check out the last example
to convert a pc2 file into a maya cache file using the command.

cacheFile

-----------------

MEL examples

// Create a disk cache containing the points of a plane from
// frames 1 - 100. Typically the shape would be deforming.
//
polyPlane;
string $cacheFiles[] = `cacheFile -f "shapeCache" -st 1 -et 100 -points "pPlaneShape1"`;
// Add a historySwitch node to the history of the shape, and attach the
// newly created cache into the historySwitch node.
//
string $switch = createHistorySwitch("pPlaneShape1",false);
string $cacheNode = `cacheFile -attachFile -f $cacheFiles[0] -cnm "pPlaneShape1" -ia ($switch+".inp[0]")`;
setAttr ($switch+".playFromCache") true;
// query the files associated with a cacheFile node
//
cacheFile -q -f $cacheNode;
// Now use the staticCache flag to indicate that the cache should not be
// created if the object appears to have no animation.
// Since the plane is not animated or deformed, no cache will be created.
//
polyPlane;
string $cacheFiles[] = `cacheFile -f "shapeCache" -staticCache false -st 1 -et 100 -points "pPlaneShape2"`;
// Convert a maya cache into pc2 format. The maya cache is named
// pSphereShape1.xml and located in the directory "c:/test/".
//
cacheFile -pc2 0 -pcf "c:/test/mypc2.pc2" -f "pSphereShape1" -dir "c:/test/";
// Convert a pc2 cache into a maya cache, with the cache data in a single
// file.
//
cacheFile -pc2 1 -pcf "c:/test/mypc2.pc2" -f "mayaCache2" -dir "c:/test/" -format "OneFile";

--------------------

Just a side note, I believe Kai gives his source code if you have any
TD's that can make maya api plugins, they can keep the compiled plugin
up-to-date for each version of maya...just a suggestion.

-Dwayne

[Lyn Caudle]

Yep we just got this to work

cacheFile -pc2 true -dir "D:/Z_JobsPotential/Job/My_Anim_rig/Sphere/" -pcf "MyAnim.pc2" -f "shapeCache";

WooHoo

Thanks!

--

---

Lyn Caudle

Janimation VFX Supervisor
Janimation
214.823.7760
www.janimation.com

[Dwayne Elahie]

Hello again,

I just tried Animate>Plot>Write Geometry Cache in XSI 7 (thanks for
telling me about that feature),
with the MEL command in Maya 2008

cacheFile
-convertPc2 1
-pc2File "c:/test/mypc2.pc2" // replace with path to .pc2 file,
use c:/ or c:\\ instead of c:\ if working on windows OS
-fileName "mayaCache2" // base file name for the cache files, maya
cache files can be made all in one file or a file per frame
-dir "c:/test/" //output directory of the
converted fle
-format "OneFile"; // Specifies the format of the cache.
Valid values are "OneFile" and "OneFilePerFrame"

It seemed to work. I guess there is a native method for exchanging cache
files in xsi, maya, and max without plugins.
Another side note, I think it is possible to use maya geometry cache
files in combination with the fbx exporter to transfer data. I
seen some note on this in the documentation, I didn't read it, however.

-Dwayne

[Votch]

I've been using PC2 (written using Maya's native tools and before that
Kia's tools) combined with crosswalk files to move animation data to
XSI for years. It's a very stable and predictable pipeline to setup.
IMO crosswalk seems much more stable then FBX and has the ability to
transfer enveloped characters. Perfect for animated characters with
NCloth and muscles and other funky Maya things.

Votch Levi