Hi there,
I am using Chaos Cache Manager to record the simulation of a static mesh fracturing. After recording it and setting it to play, when I drag the chaos collection actor out, I get a placeholder texture instead of the original rest collection.
I have tried deselecting Use Root Proxy while creating fracture, set the custom renderer to none on the geometry collection and still no dice.
Playing back the recorded chaos on the original geometry collection works fine.
The cache itself is fine. Playback on the original Geometry Collection is the proof. The actor you drag out of the cache is a different component, and the cache does not carry the rest collection’s materials or the manager binding.
The placeholder is the engine default material on empty material slots. A Chaos cache stores bone and particle transforms, not the material list. Material overrides you set on the recorded actor stay on that actor. A new actor spawned from the cache asset starts with empty slots and draws the grid material. Turning off Use Root Proxy does not change that. Set the materials on the Geometry Collection asset itself (not only on the instance) so every new actor inherits them, or copy the material slots onto the new component.
It also will not play until a cache manager is actually observing it. The original plays because it was the component registered at record time. A freshly dragged actor is not in that list.
On the Chaos Cache Manager set Cache Mode to Play and assign the recorded cache collection. Add the new Geometry Collection component to Observed Components. Then use the manager’s play control. Auto play only covers components that were observed when the cache was recorded.
Give that new actor the same Geometry Collection asset as its rest collection. Without it the component has nothing to skin the cached transforms onto, so you get the proxy mesh and no motion.
If you only need the recorded take, keep using the original Geometry Collection with the manager in Play mode. That path already works. Use a second actor only when you need the take in another level, and then copy the asset, the materials, and the observed-component entry across with it.