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- RealFlow's file format for particles and meshes is Alembic Ogawa.
- When a simulation is being cached the data is written to disk. Depending on the number of particles the cache files can become very large in size.
- Cached simulations cannot be influenced anymore, e.g. through daemons or objects. If you want to do that you have to re-simulate from scratch.
- It is possible to create a preview or play, stop, and resume the simulation at any frame.
- Meshing can be done in a separate pass once the particle simulation has been finished.
- Rendering from cached simulations is much faster, because all the simulation and mesh data is already existing.
- As long as you don't specify another "Cache Folder" or change a fluid's /mesh name, existing files will be overwritten when you press "Cache Simulation | Meshes" again.
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In order to cache a particle simulation you just have to follow two simple steps (the workflow is exactly the same for meshes, but here an existing particle cache is required):
- specify Specify the "Cache Folder" (the default folder is configured under Cinema 4D > Edit > Preferences... > RealFlow)
- open Scene > Cache and click Click on "Cache Simulation".
If the scene contains fluid and mesh nodes both elements will be cached together when you hit "Cache Simulation". You can avoid this if you make the "Mesher" node inactive (disable the green check mark in the Cinema 4D's "Objects" manager).
Change the "Cache Folder (macOS | Windows)" to your own needs before you cache the simulation.
Visual Hint
When RealFlow | Cinema 4D is in cache mode ("Use Cache" is enabled) you will see a hint in the HUD and that the main logo in the viewport has changed:
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