Hey everyone,

I have an animation (made in maya) that has been saved as an .abc point cache. What should my workflow look like to bring this into Houdini? I have the point cache showing up with the alembic node but I would love to attach it back to the geometry it originally had in maya.

Inside Maya
you should use pipeline cache to export .abc from maya, that way it will save the geometry, make sure you bake the point caches first using bake simulation option to keep the animation on it (usually alembic does itself).

Inside houdini
are you using alembic node at geo level ? or using houdini import alembic option via File menu.

Make sure your Geometry->Display As tab is set to Full Geometry in your alembic node.

Our pipline currently saves only the point data (trying to come up with a workflow that doesn't require going back and making another .abc) that's why I was hoping for a way to connect the 2 back together in houdini.

It was at the geo level I can at least see the point cloud data but no geometry with it.

you can try point deformer inside houdini

first input static geo (your obj /alembic geoemtry of character without animation) you have to import it separately
2nd input rest position of your animated point caches ( you can use time shift and freeze it on any frame)
3rd input animated point caches.

make sure scales are matched of both your points cache (animated) and geo cache (static geo)