tycache/export particles help?

[super gnu]

im trying to use the export particles operator to save out a tycache sequence  of a simple grain sim.. 

ive added it to my flow just before the display operator.

chosen an output path and hit "generate tycache files"  

waited half an hour for it to export all 200 frames. 

it created a tycache object, but its empty.   checking the saved files, they are all only 1kb in size. 

what am i doing wrong?

[super gnu]

anyone managed to get file export working...? what am i missing above?

[tyFlow]

Did you add a shape operator to your particles? tyCache requires shapes for export, since it's a geometry cache tool. If you just want particles, use PRT

[super gnu]

thatll be it.. i had turned off the shape operator since it seemed unnecessary since i wasnt rendering.. i didnt realise tycache was saving the particles as meshes.

given this property, if i wish to save out some particles to reuse in a later flow, is it better/more efficient to use PRT?

[tyFlow]

PRT is ideal when you just want raw paticles. tyCache is specifically designed for shape particles, and previously did not have any functionality for raw non-shape particles. Although a few weeks ago since I gave tyCache its own particle interface, I guess technically it could still expose raw particles to a 3rd party plugin, even though it is not capable of displaying them itself.

I may address this sometime in the future and come up with a middle ground solution.