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Fluid Effects

Save the current state of a fluid

You can save the grid property values for a fluid at any frame in a simulation and then add the saved state to another fluid container.

For example, you could create your company logo in a dynamic grid with Density values and save the current state to Visor. Any time you want to create a different fluid effect with your logo, you can add the values for the saved logo to a new container and modify the container attributes.

Grid properties saved in 2D containers can only be added to 2D containers. Similarly, grid properties defined in 3D containers can only be added to 3D containers.

To save the current state of a fluid to Visor

1. Add the property values to the fluid container. See Add properties to fluid containers.
2. Play and stop the simulation at the frame with the fluid property values you want to save, if necessary.
3. Select the fluid container.
4. Select Fluid Effects > Save State As.

The Save window opens to:

(Windows)

drive:\Program Files\Autodesk\Maya8.5\presets\fluids\initialStates

(Mac OS X)

/Applications/Autodesk/Maya8.5/Maya/Contents/presets/fluids/initialStates

(Linux)

/usr/autodesk/maya8.5/presets/fluids/initialStates

5. Expand the folder where you want to save the fluid state in Visor and then select a subfolder:
• If the fluid is a 2D fluid, select the 2D folder.
• If the fluid is a 3D fluid, select the 3D folder.

Note You can save to any directory with write permissions accessible in Visor.

6. Type the name of the current state file in the File name box and click Save.

Maya does the following:

• Creates a cache file (.mfci extension) in the following location:

(Windows)

drive:\Program Files\Autodesk\Maya8.5\presets\
fluids\.mayaData

(Mac OS X)

/Applications/Autodesk/Maya8.5/Maya/Contents/presets/fluids/.mayaData

(Linux)

/usr/autodesk/maya8.5/presets/fluids/.mayaData

(If, in step 5, you browsed to a location not under the Maya installation directory, Maya creates a .mayaData directory in that location and creates the cache there.)

• Creates a MEL file in the Visor location you selected. The MEL file simply packages the current state cache file so you can access it from Visor.
• Assigns the default Maya logo swatch to the current state icon in the Fluid Initial States tab in Visor.

You can now add this current state to any fluid container that has the same dimension (2D or 3D) as the container the current state was created from. For details, see Add predefined initial states to fluid containers.

Note The default tabs in Visor are saved in your preferences. The Visor tabs point to directory structures in the Maya installed location but if you run Maya from two different install locations, the preferences from the first run dictate the locations for the Visor tabs displayed in the second run. Save State As Visor suggests a location in the running cut’s install location, so it’s possible you could think you're saving it in the right place, only to have Visor completely ignore the just-saved preset. Selecting Tabs > Revert to Default Tabs in Visor will fix this.

To create a custom swatch in Visor for a saved current state

1. Render the example in Render View.
2. In Render View, select View > Grab Swatch to Hypershade/Visor.
3. Drag a square to select the part of the image you want as your swatch.
4. Open Visor and on the Fluid Initial States tab, open the folder where you saved the current state.
5. With , drag the selection onto the current state swatch. The swatch is saved in the .mayaSwatches subfolder of the folder where you saved the state. For example:

(Windows)

drive:\Program Files\Autodesk\Maya8.5\
presets\fluids\initialStates\Miscellaneous\2D\
.mayaSwatches

(Mac OS X)

/Applications/Autodesk/Maya8.5/Maya/Contents/presets/fluids/initialStates/Miscellaneous/2D/.mayaSwatches

(Linux)

/usr/autodesk/maya8.5/presets/fluids/initialStates/Miscellaneous/2D/.mayaSwatches