Referenced models have been completely overhauled. Some of the major changes include:
• Referenced models no longer rely on sources and clips.
• All changes made to any resolution are stored in a model’s delta. You can modify and delete items in the delta. You can also export deltas and import them into other scenes.
• You can change the name of referenced models.
• Referenced models can have as many resolutions as you like.
• The name of the current resolution is shown in the explorer.
• You can convert a local model to a referenced model “in place”.
• You can commit the local changes to a referenced model and save them back to the external file.
• You can nest referenced models inside each other as deeply as you like.
• You can assign existing materials from the scene to objects in referenced models.
• The PostLoad and PreModSave scripts have been replaced with model-specific events.
• You can now import Collada files as referenced models.
• You can apply scripted operators to referenced models.
For more details, see Using Referenced Models.
Crosswalk is an ongoing initiative to help seamlessly transfer XSI content into and out of any previously established 3D pipeline. You can transfer assets using the latest dotXSI and COLLADA standards, and take advantage of enhanced import/export tools to get assets in and out of Autodesk® 3ds Max® and Maya® pipelines.
For more details, see Using Crosswalk for XSI, Using Crosswalk for Maya, and Using Crosswalk for Max.
The way that referenced models are listed in the Scene TOC file has changed. Instead of being listed in the <Sources> section, they are now listed in the new <Models> section. See Getting and Setting Scene Data with the Scene TOC.
Use UNC paths when saving files in the Data Management preferences now works for the recent files lists, in addition to the project list and scene TOC files.
Migrating from a Previous Installation
You might have noticed that you weren’t prompted to migrate your preferences and other customizations from a previous installation of XSI during setup. You can now migrate from within XSI using File > Migrate Preferences. You can also migrate using the command line as before. See Migrating Preferences and Other Customizations.
SOFTIMAGE|XSI v.6.01