[FAQ] SmartAnim External Plugin Integration Guide

Recently, many users have been asking whether Fast-Ref supports integration with the SmartAnim external plugin. SmartAnim (https://www.smartanim.com/) is a solution that provides an excellent quality rigging system, even from a rigging artist's perspective.

We would like to share the support plan and important notes for this feature as follows.

1. Support Schedule & Purpose

To get straight to the point, this feature will be experimentally supported starting from **Fast-Ref beta version (v1.0.4)**. We have decided to provide this service experimentally to fulfill Fast-Ref's primary purpose of **'Reference System Optimization within the 3ds Max workflow'**.

2. How to Use

As shown in the image below, change the Restore Algorithm setting in General Option to 'smart anim'. After this change, the SmartAnim restoration process will be applied during reference replacement and reload.

Test Video Example

3. Technical Notes (Must Read)

SmartAnim utilizes its own proprietary rigging node base, which differs from 3ds Max's standard node system.

• This feature is implemented by adding a backup process based on the API provided by SmartAnim.
• Please understand that even OtakuSolutions has limitations in fully understanding the internal structure of third-party plugins, so it is difficult to guarantee 100% perfect compatibility in all situations.

4. Adoption Recommendations

When building a studio pipeline with the Fast-Ref and SmartAnim combination, we strongly recommend conducting step-by-step testing to verify stability before deploying it to production, rather than adopting it immediately.

OtakuSolutions will always strive to deliver better workflows.

Thank you.