dynExport

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Synopsis

dynExport [-allObjects boolean] [-attribute string] [-format string] [-maxFrame time] [-minFrame time] [-overSampling int] [-path string] [objects]

dynExport is undoable, NOT queryable, and NOT editable.

For cache export (-format cache), dynExport also sets three attributes of the current dynGlobals node. It sets the useParticleRenderCache attribute to true, and the min/maxFrameOfLastParticleRenderCache attributes to correspond to the min and max frames.

Exported .pda or .pdb files are assigned a name of form object name.frame.extension, where extension is "pda" or "pdb."

The naming convention for .pdc files is similar but does not use frame numbers, it uses a more precise representation of the time instead.

By default, the pda and pdb formats export all per-particle attributes, and all integer or float type attributes except those which are hidden or not storable. (Exception: level of detail is not exported, by default) The pdc format exports all attributes which the particle object needs for its state cache.

To specify only selected attributes, use the -atr flag (which is multi-use). In general, it is recommended not to use this flag with pdc type, since you need all the attributes in order for the cache to be useful.

dynExport exports data for the current frame, or for a range of frames specified with -mnf and -mxf. If you are not already at the start frame, dynExport will run up the scene for you. VERY VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: If you use dynExport in -prompt mode, it does NOT automatically force evaluation of your objects. You must do this yourself from your script. The easiest way is to request each particle object's "count" attribute each frame. You must request the count attribute for each object you want to export, because their solvers run independently of one another. In interactive mode, objects WILL get evaluated automatically and you don't have to worry about any of this.

When exporting a particle object whose particles are created from collisions involving particles in another particle object(s), you must make sure you simultaneously export all the particle objects involved in the dependency chain otherwise you will get an empty cache file.

For non-per-particle attributes, pda and pdb formats write the identical value once for each particle. The following types of non-per-particle attributes can be exported: float, double, doubleLinear, doubleAngle, byte, short, long, enum. The first four are exported as "Real" (in PDB parlance), and the last four as "Integer."

In the pda and pdb formats, "particleId" and "particleId0" are exported as Integer, and are exported under the names "id" and "id0" respectively. All other attributes are exported under their long names.

Return value

Related

Flags

Long name (short name)	Argument types	Properties
-allObjects(-all)	boolean
Ignore the selection list and export all particle objects. If you also specify an object name, the -all flag will be ignored.
-attribute(-atr)	string
Name of attribute to be exported. If any specified object does not have one of the specified attributes, dynExport will issue an error and not do the export.
-format(-f)	string
Desired format: "binary" ("pdb"), "ascii" ("pda"), or "cache" ("pdc"). The pdc format is for use by the Maya particle system to cache particle data. The pda and pdb format options are intended for pipelines involving other software (for example, sending the data to some program written in-house); Maya cannot read pda or pdb files. There is no formal description of the PDB format, but the ExploreMe/particles/readpdb directory contains the source and Makefile for a small, simple C program called "readpdb" which reads it. Note that you must compile and run readpdb on the platform which you exported the files on.
-maxFrame(-mxf)	time
Ending frame to be exported.
-minFrame(-mnf)	time
Starting frame to be exported. The export operation will play the scene through from min frame to max frame as it exports.
-overSampling(-os)	int
OverSampling to be used during export.
-path(-p)	string
This option allows you to specify a subdirectory of the workspace "particles" directory where you want the exported files to be stored. By default, files are stored in the workspace particles directory, i.e., -path is relative to that directory. ( Please Read This: This is a change from previous versions of Maya in which the path was relative to the workspace root directory.) You can set the "particles" directory anywhere you want using the project window or workspace -fr command. (In this way, you can use an absolute path for export). The -path flag cannot handle strings which include "/" or "\", in other words, it lets you go down only one level in the directory hierarchy. If you specify a path which doesn't exist, the action will create it if possible; if it can't create the path it will warn you and fail. If you are using a project for which a particle data directory is not defined, dynExport will create a default one called "particles" and add it to your workspace.

Flag can appear in Create mode of command	Flag can appear in Edit mode of command
Flag can appear in Query mode of command	Flag can be used more than once in a command.

MEL examples

dynExport -mnf 5 -mxf 10 -os 2 -atr position -atr velocity -p "PDB" particle1;

// Export position and velocity attributes for particle1
// for frames 5 through 10 at every half frame interval,
// to files in subdirectory "PDB" of the workspace root
// directory. The default format (binary) will be used.