Alembic Loader/Exporter (.abc)

The Alembic Loader now supports the loading of particles (via the import of point geometry), and objects/meshes with changing vertex counts to support fluid simulation imports from other applications such as:

• RealFlow

• Embergen

• Houdini

• Storm Particle Solver

• Blender Flip-Fluids.

note

Ensure that your frame rate in LightWave Layout matches your .abc file frame rate

When you select Load > Import > Alembic Loader, the following dialogue box will open.

tip

If you are importing a fluid simulation, you will need to import the fluid sim (e.g. from Blender Flip-Fluids) and the whitewater/splash sims as separate Alembic files.

You can import particles or meshes using the Alembic loader with the following options:

• File Info will read the Alembic file header. This will allow you to determine the FPS rate of the .abc file if you don't know what it is on import.

• Import Under - Allows you to load the alembic file into the Scene Root or attach it to the Currently Selected hierarchy.

• Import Mode - You can either add the .abc file to the current scene or merge it into the current selection

• Vertex Cache Units - Allows the setting of the Vertex Cache for the imported .abc file.

When you export an Alembic file, you now have the opportunity to include the active camera in the scene. Since you need to select the geometry you wish to export in Alembic, the Active Camera is the one you would switch to if you went into Camera mode.

note

The Alembic exporter can export in either the rapid Ogawa format or the original HDF5 format for programs that don't yet have Ogawa.