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Save Particles Rollout

  Available in: Krakatoa v1.1.0 and higher. Previously part of the Main Controls Rollout.


Simple Save Path Controls

The Simple Save Path Controls provide a single field for specifying the path and file name to save particles to:

  • The [...] button for selecting the Save File Name is always enabled. If a valid file is selected, the Particle Render Mode will be set automatically to "Save Particles To File Sequence".
  • The Path field can be used to specify the complete output path for saving.
  • The [H] History button will scan all History records from previous saving operations and show any paths used previously to save particles to.
  • Each time the path is changed, a prompt will ask about creating the path if it does not exist yet.
  • If an attempt to create the path has been requested and has failed, the path will be reverted back to the last known good path to avoid specifying a non-existing and non-creatable path.

Detailed Save Path Controls

The Detailed Save Path Controls provide an alternative representation of the path and file name to save particles to. Krakatoa will automatically split the single path into multiple elements incl. a Root path, a Project name, a Sequence name, a Version (Take) name and the File Name and Extension, allowing you to quickly change any of them without dealing with the complete path. Entering data in any of the separate fields will update the full path field and vice-versa.

  • Each field has its own [H] History button to use previously created paths to fill in the desired portion of the current path.
  • Each field except for the File name has an [E] button to open the Windows Explorer at the given level.
  • The Take field supports ANY version name that finishes with at least one digit. 
 For example, "tk123", "v001", "take2", "version321", "42" are all valid Take numbers.
  • The Take field provides 3 buttons for incrementing the take number:
    • i+ increments the take number by 1 (version increment)
    • m+ increments the take number by 10 (minor revision)
    • M+ increments the take number by 100 (major revision)
  • If nothing is entered for the Take, no take folder will be used.
  • Pressing the [.prt], [.csv] and [.bin] buttons next to the File name will change the extension and thus the save file type without changing the rest of the path.
    • Saving to RealFlow4 Particle BIN files requires 5 trailing digits for the file name to be correctly recognized by RealFlow and its various importers into other 3D applications. By default, if no trailing digits are specified in the file name field, Krakatoa will add 4 digits. Note that Krakatoa can handle any number of trailing digits and does not assume a sequence would have a specific number of digits, thus it is ok to save BIN files with 4 or less digits - they would load in PRT Loaders and PFlow Operators, but would be unusable in RealFlow itself. Thus, Krakatoa will warn you by default about this 5 digits requirement of RealFlow and propose to fix the name by adding as many trailing zeros to the file name as necessary.
    • This behavior can be customized via the Preferences rollout - there are 3 different options:
      • Warn and propose to fix
      • Fix without warning
      • Do nothing
  • The File Name provides an [M] button - press it to set the particle file name to the current 3ds Max file name.
    • If no name is entered or the Max File Name is Untitled and the [M] button is pressed, the default name particles_.prt will be used.

After a Local Partition is saved Action

  Available in: Krakatoa v1.1.0 and higher.
  • Krakatoa v1.1.0 introduces the option to specify an alternative (backup) path for the saved particle files when performing Partitioning on the local machine.
  • The action drop-down list provides the following options:
    • LEAVE the file sequence at the Save Path listed above - do nothing, this is the behavior of Krakatoa 1.0.x.
    • COPY the file sequence to the Backup Path defined below - after a partition has been saved, all files will be copied to the specified backup path.
    • MOVE the file sequence to the Backup Path defined below - after a partition has been saved, all files will be moved to the specified backup path.
  • If a file cannot be copied/moved to the Backup Path for some reason (for example network connection is down, drive is full etc.), the files will be left at the primary Save Path location. Thus, it is advisable to use this feature by setting the Save Path to a local folder on the machine performing the partitioning, and specify the backup path on a network drive.
  • If the Partitioning operation has been canceled by the user, a prompt will appear asking about copying/moving the files saved so far. You can select to either keep the files at the Save Path or perform the copy/move operation.
  • The Root field corresponds to the Root field in the Save Path controls.
  • The Project, Sequence and Take components of the Detailed Save Path will be used together with the Backup Root to create the full Backup Path. Thus, changing the Project, Sequence or Take in the Save Path will automatically mirror the changes in the Backup Path without additional user intervention!
  • You can either use the [...] button to pick an existing directory or enter the root path manually.
  • If the entered Root path does not exist, the field will be reverted back to the last known good root entry or empty string.
  • The full Backup Path will NOT be created automatically at the moment of definition but by the Local Partitioning feature at the moment of copying/moving files. Thus, the [E] button next to the Backup Path field will only work after a Partitioning operation with copy/move action.
  • The [E] button next to the Backup Root path can be pressed to open the current Root (if available) in a Windows Explorer.
  • The Backup Path field itself will always be grayed out because it cannot be edited by hand.