Making Use of Different Location Types and Proxies

Only loading what is needed, when it is needed, is a key part of the philosophy of Katana. If you want to position the specular highlight on your main character, for instance, you don’t need to load the entire scene. One way to avoid unnecessary loading is to define your scene with special hierarchies and proxies.

The hierarchical scene structure can be created using special location types. Special types that can be used are assemblies, components, level-of-detail groups, and level-of-detail locations.

Proxies enable you to get a good idea of a scene without opening up too much of the hierarchy. Placing proxies on assemblies and components enables you to open a hierarchy to convenient levels of scene complexity.