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Alembic (http://www.alembic.io) is a multi-application interchange format along the general lines of Filmbox (FBX). It is a bit more tailored than Filmbox, however, specifically emphasizing meshes, especially large animated meshes such as those from GeoH tracking. While Alembic contains the mesh data and hierarchy, it does not talk about how the data was created, so that it might be changed by a downstream
application. Example uses include sending final animations to renderers, or to send simulation results into an animation program. See their website for more information on Alembic philosopy.
NOTE : This exporter uses the "Ogawa" back end of Alembic 1.5 and later, which is faster and produces smaller files than earlier Alembic libraries. But... earlier Alembic libraries are unable to read Ogawa files, so you will need versions of your applications that also use Alembic 1.5 or later. Alembic 1.5 was released in early 2014.
WARNING : The exporter currently uses the Alembic 1.7.10. Compatibility of these files with earlier versions (after 1.5, before 1.7) is not clear.
Alembic does not include match-move shot image setup or mesh texturing or even such simple capabilities as assigning different colors to various trackers or meshes, so it is a bit less friendly than other formats (such as FBX). Alembic's strengths are speed and ability to handle large files including animated geometry within the file itself, rather than as separate point caches. Some users may prefer it based on prior experiences with FBX; it remains to be seen whether Alembic importers work better on average than Filmbox importers. SynthEyes offers it as an option; you can determine if it meets your particular workflow needs. Note that Universal Scene Description (USD) files are an even more recent entry into the general 3-D file format circus; SynthEyes also has an USD exporter . In all cases, you need to check what files your target applications can read (and how well).
You can export either the entire scene (Alembic 1.5+ exporter) or a single mesh for use as a vertex cache, with the Mesh/Alembic Single Mesh exporter. The single- mesh controls are a subset of the main exporter’s controls.
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