Create thumbnails and playblasts for scene files

You can save a thumbnail image or an image sequence (playblast) with your scene file when saving or exporting it (Choose File > Save Scene > , File > Save Scene As, File > Export All, File > Export Selection, or File > Export to Offline File). This makes it easy to identify a file in the Content Browser. A scene file's playblast runs when you move the mouse over its thumbnail in the Content Browser.

Thumbnails and playblasts are available only for Maya ASCII (.ma), binary (.mb), and FBX files. Thumbnail images are saved with a 256 x 256 resolution in .ma.swatch, .mb.swatch, or .fbx.swatch files in a mayaSwatches folder in your project where you have saved the scene file (such as the project's \scenes folder). Playblasts are saved in .ma.preview, .mb.preview, or .fbx.preview files, with one file per frame captured.

Watch the video below for information on how to create a thumbnail or a playblast for a scene file. See Capture Thumbnail/Playblast for details on the options.

Related topics

• Content Browser
• Create, open, or save a scene file
• Capture Thumbnail/Playblast
• File menu
• Save Scene Options