Alembic sequence

[stezza]

Hi folks.

I'm working with the new Realflow for Maya and love it, but whats the process for getting the alembic sequence into the scene via proxy.

I have tried putting the # in the number padding but get this error
Fluid1_FluidShape1.#####.abc") does not exist. Cannot create proxy. //

I guess this is wrong somehow so whats the syntax?

Many thanks

[stezza]

Hi folks.
This is really urgent for us and really need to get our Alembic sequence playing as a proxy HELP!!!
Cheers

[Morbid Angel]

Is it exporting abc as single frames? that's interesting. Can you try %04d instead of ####? also if that does not work, see if there is an option in realflow to export alembic as single file.

[Dan Andersen]

Try Fluid1_FluidShape1.<frame05>.abc (it's documented here https://docs.chaosgroup.com/display/...asicParameters )

[stezza]

HI guys thanks for the help here.
We are using the new Realflow plugin for Maya and it spits out a sequence of alembics only. none of the above solutions worked in being able to load the sequence only individual frames, ie. Fluid1_FluidShape1.00100.abc" brings in frame 100 only.

vrayCreateImportProxyWindow;
// Error: V-Ray : ("C:/folder/MesherShape_<%04d>.abc") does not exist. Cannot create proxy. //

You can stitch a sequence together using the Realflow stitcher that comes with the full software, but demo is now out of date. and it only stitches about 300 frames at a time, which leaves you in the same position when you have over a 1000 frams of alembics.

Will try ply2vrmesh - what do others use, this seems such a pain im a newbee on fluids.
PS love the Realflow for Maya plugin,

[stezza]

OK Im a step closer.
I CANT load .abc files sequence via the import proxy panel, but I can load a vrmesh sequence, so now all I need to do is batch convert all my .abc's to vrmesh using ply2vrmesh.
This worked for me exported all .abc to vrmesh individual files so very light loading up in viewport. I had to put a mel script in the offset to = frame which then scrubbed in the timeline. sorted.

[vlado]

OK Im a step closer. I CANT load .abc files sequence via the import proxy panel, but I can load a vrmesh sequence

That's unexpected, we have to fix this.

Best regards,
Vlado

[psanitra]

hey Vlado, i reported bug with loading alembic via vrayproxy and # wilcard for 3D max, multiple times. It will be great to get it fixed too thank you!

[shaio]

Hi,
I've made a few tests and it works fine when I use the <frame> tag to mark the sequence files as suggested by Dan Andersen. The tests I made were on VRay 3.6.04 and V-Ray Next. In your case when you load the files inside the VRay Proxy you should write Fluid1_FluidShape1.<frame05>.abc where the 05 will represent the frame padding for your sequence files. The only issue I've found is that the sequence preview doesn't work in the viewport for VRay 3.6 and is fixed in V-Ray Next.
There is a slight chance that there might be a problem with your abc files too so if possible sharing a part of the sequence to make some tests will be very helpful. Let me know if you need more assistance and thanks for the feedback.

[stezza]

Hi Shaio.
I have been using the latest VRay/Maya release and tried the last nightly from May 30th. Loading .abc with "Filename.<frame05.abc" simply causes a crash every time. We have a number of sequences to try and all crash.
Converting to vrmesh with ply2vrmesh is the only way to get a sequence to load. We also use Zync Google cloud to render and uploading a 10-20 gig cache file is not an option so smaller sequences are best which is why we have to be able to load a sequence and not a single cache file.

We dont have VRay next for Max to try, unfortunately.

[stezza]

OK this would be interesting if anyone can load these few .abc mesh files

https://drive.google.com/file/d/10FF...ew?usp=sharing

As I say the only way I can load them is to convert to a vrmesh sequence.
Hope I've shared it right.

[shaio]

I've requested access the Google Drive files so I could check them. About the crash could you please try to load the same sequence of files without the first file of the sequence, because there is a known issue where if a sequence of abc files is loaded and the first frame is empty (has no particles) then Maya crashes. It is reported for fixing so if this is your case this might help you to load your abc sequence using the <frame> tag. Let me know if this is you case and if it helps.

[shaio]

I've just checked the files and they load without any problems even with the empty first frame. If you wish I could share a video to show you how I do it so we can check if we differ in our steps when importing the alembic sequence. Let me know if you need more assistance.

[stezza]

Shaio!!!! it worked !!! by deleting the first frame only! I can't believe that's all it needed, been on this for 2 days!!.
Would still like to see your steps though if you dont mind as this may help others. I uploaded it to Google Zync and rendered fine as a sequence.

I still need to put in the expression "mesh_vraymesh.animOffset = frame". to get the frames to upddate in viewport.

Many thanks You've set me free..

[shaio]

I'm happy to hear that it worked. We're working on a fix and I'll let you know as soon as it is fixed. Sorry for the inconvenience.
I've attached a video with my steps on importing the abc sequence inside Maya with VRayProxy