Hi,
I compiled the field3d maya plugin as new cache format for fluids. It is for maya2014 64bit on windows only. The archive contains a little module with plug-in path and bin path. Just unpack it and set the MAYA_MODULE_PATH to the unpacked path (the one with the .mod file).
https://github.com/GermanMentalRay/GMR/tree/master/maya/plugins
hi,
Do u have any comparison with the maya native cache format?
im having troubles loading maya caches for fluids (each frames about 1-3gb)
when rendering, loading the fluid taking most of the render time 
dos this have any benefits?
thanks!
Oh, yes. It depends on your fluid, but the field3d can save a lot of diskspace.
First you can save sparse voxels what means only voxels which contain data will be saved. This can have a huge impact on your caches if you have a large box but only some parts are coveded with density.
Then you can use half precsion instead of full float. It is the same half as in the openEXR image format half format. In most scenes a half resolution is enough for rendering fluids and it will reduce your cache sizes to … well half of the original size. It has a few limitations but we used it in our last production with a lot success.
And I forgot to mention that this is not my plugin, its from here. I only recompiled it.
Nice one!
What do you really mean ‘it depends on your fluids’ though?
The type of sim? The size? Smoke vs Fire vs Water?
Cheers for this!
Well, sparse voxels only help if you have some empty voxels in your fluid sim. And maybe you need a full 32bit cache in certain circumstances to have full range of denstiy for shading. This wasn’t the case here, but in most cases I only used density, no heat or color.
wow it seems really nice, it smart enough not to store the empty voxels.
it could probably save 50-70% of my space, as well as loading time.
ill do a re cache and post the results.
cheer!
Yes, that’s exactly what “sparse voxels” mean. Only store voxels filled with information, really cool.
No, unfortunatly not. Seems there is still a problem with this type of data. Maybe I can have a look at the sources but I cannot promise that I am able to fix it.
-Edited-
Got everything up and running, this works great! Cache sizes of around 550mb are going down to 350mb 
Hi,
Can you read back field3D files created outside maya (ie: Houdini) - into Maya?
Thanks
F
Hey Master Haggi =]
…is there a way and time for sure to compile it for 2015 ?
cheerz and best greetings
de -HEAVY-
I am not able to cache out the FluidShape. I get this error.
doCreateFluidCache 5 { “2”, “1”, “10”, “OneFilePerFrame”, “1”, “”,“0”,"",“0”, “add”, “0”, “1”, “1”, “0”, “1”, “f3d-sparse-half”, “1”, “1”, “1”, “1”, “1”, “1”, “1” } ;
// Warning: line 0: Flag ‘-cacheFormat’ may not be used multiple times //
// Error: line 0: Invalid flag ‘-sparse’ //
How could I fix it?
for those who are also stuck by this problem, you might want to try to modify the
C:/Program Files/Autodesk/Maya2014/scripts/others/doCreateFluidCache.mel (or respective location in your own installation).
in the line 523 or so, replace the following :
$cacheCmd += " -cacheFormat " + $format;
with
$cacheCmd += " -cacheFormat " + "\"" + $format + "\"";
and restart maya.
Don’t know why Autodesk mel coder needs to append cache format twice to the flag (and forgot to add double quotes to ensure it’s a string. )
As much as I know, you can completly remove this line because the cmd already contains the cacheFormat.
Out of Blue…can wavelet noise be applied on field3d cache ? dont know if there is anything out that does or advect noise through field3d cache ?
I managed to export a fluidCache with Field3D but how to attach it to your fluid? I get this error:
// Error: fluidShape1Cache1 (Cache File): fluidShape1 may have an invalid cache description or invalid, missing or empty cache file. //
// Error: No cache format plugin for “f3d-sparse-half”. //
Hi Haggi,
thanks for compiling this! It is possible to compile it for Maya 2015? I don’t have access to Maya 2014 and I would like to test it (to bring FumeFx smoke and effects from 3D Max to Maya).
Thnaks!