Vetala Forum

Hi Louis,

I've noticed that sometimes the file is larger when exported rather than saved. I can't really see a pattern, so I mix between saving and exporting and just keep an eye on the size of the files. What would the cleanest workflow be?

Save will save the file as is.
Export selects the top nodes and sets in the outliner and exports them.

Export is meant to have smaller file sizes.
Things in the scene that have no connection with the top nodes and sets will not be exported.
This usually does a good job of cleaning up extra unneeded nodes.
Export however can sometimes leave behind things that are needed.

If you are working on the structure (joint chain) you are pretty safe to export.
If you are saving out the model with lambert shaders you are pretty safe to export.
If you are saving out something with complex shaders, its better to save.
If you are saving out a wip file with stuff unorganized, it might be better to save.

That said I mostly export, even on complex scenes, and rarely have any surprises.

Darin,

It could have been that files were saving the wrong way before. For example in beta 0.1.16 the Maya Ascii data would save as Maya Binary but export as Maya Ascii. So when saving, the file name would be goo.ma but it would actually be a .mb.

This is now fixed in beta 0.1.17.

Thanks for the clarification Louis!