Modeling and Styling	Parametric Effects	Animation	Rendering	Import/Export
Edit Guides _Modifier	Surface Comb _Modifier	MassFX Dynamics _Modifier	MentalRay _Object	Alembic Export _Exporter
Ground Strands _Modifier	Curling _Modifier	Strand Multiplier _Modifier	Strand Animation _Modifier	Ornatrix Hair _Exporter
Guides from Surface _Modifier	Frizz _Modifier		Fast Ray Tracer _Atmospheric	Shading and Materials
Guides from Mesh _Object	Hair Clustering _Modifier		Accurate Ray Tracer _Atmospheric	MR Hair _{MR Shader}
Guides from Shape _Modifier	Guide Clustering _Modifier		Hair Draw _Effect	Hair Texture _{2d Map}
Hair from Guides _Modifier	Propagation _Modifier		Render Settings _Modifier	Cheap Shader _Shader
Baked Guides _Object	Gravity _Modifier		Shadow Maps _Shadow	Expensive Shader _Shader
Baked Hair _Object	Length _Modifier		Raytraced Shadows _Shadows	Translucent Shader _Shader
Hair Presets _Object	Detail _Modifier		Deep Shadow Maps _Shadow
Hair Preset Maker _Object	Symmetry _Modifier		VRay _Modifier
Guides from Guide Mesh _Modifier
Guides on Spline _Modifier
Hair Shells _Modifier
Mesh from Strands _Modifier
Hair from Mesh Strips _Object

Ornatrix Alembic Hair Export

Ornatrix Alembic Hair Export
MaxScript Access
- Examples

Videos

Exporting 3ds Max Ornatrix hair and guides into Alembic format is now supported. Hairs are exported as Alembic curves into an *.abc file which can then be imported into various other applications and renderers supporting the Alembic format.

Various information such as hair positions and widths is exported. It is possible to export a single strand object or a group of them, for example, all hair objects present within the scene. You may also export a single frame or an animation range for the hair.

Options for the export process are specified in a special dialog. Alternatively, you may use MaxScript to export hair without any UI.

Exporting hair to Alembic:

Select the hair objects which you would like to export inside the scene. Alternatively, you may leave scene selection empty and just export all Ornatrix hair and guide objects within the scene. If there are no such objects inside the scene you will be notified.
Click on the "Export" option within 3ds Max's main menu
In the file format drop down select "Ornatrix Alembic Hair"
Browse to the destination directory and type in your target file name
Select your preferred export settings.
Press "Export" button to write the Alembic file

Settings Dialog

The settings dialog presents you with some configurable options for writing the Alembic file:

Format
Specifies the Alembic archive format to use. Ogawa is a more popular and a more efficient format.
Selected Hair Objects
When this option is used, only currently selected hair and guide objects within the scene will be exported. This option will be greyed out of the selection is empty.
All Hair Objects in the Scene
When this option is used, all hair and guide objects within the scene will be exported.
No Animation
Allows exporting just a single frame within the scene. As a result all exported hair will be static and the Alembic ABC file will be smaller in size. This is analogous to setting the start and end time for the export to the same frame.
Current Animation Range
Allows exporting all frame within 3ds Max's current animation range. This range is defined by 3ds Max's time line.
Custom Range
Allows you to specify custom start and end frames for which to export hair and guide animations manually. The end frame must be equal or bigger than the start frame.

MaxScript Access

You may use OxAlembicExport global MaxScript function to export hair into an Alembic file. This function has the following signature:

OxAlembicExport [string filePath] [bool exportSelectedHairs] [int startFrame] [int endFrame] [bool exportRenderVersion] [int upDirection] [int format]

filePath: Specifies an absolute path where to save the Alembic file.
exportSelectedHairs: When true currently selected scene hair and guide objects are exported. All scene hair and guide objects are exported otherwise.
startFrame: First frame of hair animation to export.
endFrame: Last frame of hair animation to export. If this is the same as startFrame a single/static hair frame will be exported.
exportRenderVersion: If true render count and settings for hair will be exported. Otherwise hair will be exported as it is seen in the viewport.
upDirection: Specifies the "up" direction of the exported hair scene. Accepted values are 0: X-axis, 1: Y-axis, 2: Z-axis. For example, exporting hair to Maya requires Y to be the "up coordinate".
format: Specifies Alembic format to use. Accepted values are 0: Ogawa, 1: HDF5.

Examples

You can find examples on usage of Alembic exporter by examining the unit tests in Test_AlembicExporter.ms.

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