Use Create CFX within ConnectFX to create a CFX clip that can be useful for disk caching and offer the flexibility of re-using or versioning complex pipelines.
A CFX clip is a nested group or container that has benefits over Group nodes in ConnectFX.
To create a CFX clip, right-click a node in the schematic, and select Create CFX. A new clip node is created that includes the selected node and all downstream inputs node to the left. Old nodes can be deleted and the new CFX clip connect to the pipeline.
To improve performance, switch to the ConnectFX Timing view, select a CFX clip in the timeline, and click Render. ConnectFX Once the complete ConnectFX pipeline is ready to be rendered, the CFX clip does not need to be re-rendered if unmodified.
Another benefit of using a CFX clip is the flexibility it offers for versioning or re-using a clip. Use the offset feature in the Timing view to offset the start time of the CFX clip, or even slide or trim the media and animation keyframes contained within the clip. Created CFX clips reside in the CFX Sources folder in the Media panel. The clip can be copied into another folder in the Media Library, and re-used in another timeline segment or project.
To return a CFX clip to its original separate nodes, right-click the clip, and select Explode CFX. This action is non-destructive, but does discard any rendering.
Because a CFX clip can be nested inside another CFX clip, the explode operation only explodes to one level. In the Basic menu for the CFX clip, there is an option to Explode All levels of the clip back to its original nodes.