> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://shaheerxansari.gitbook.io/hydroportdoc/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://shaheerxansari.gitbook.io/hydroportdoc/limitations.md).

# Limitations

{% hint style="warning" %}
HydroPort is deliberately specialized: **single deforming fluid mesh Alembic playback and cinematic rendering**.
{% endhint %}

| Feature                                                   | Status / explanation                                        |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- |
| Single deforming Alembic polygon mesh                     | Supported                                                   |
| Changing vertex positions and topology across samples     | Supported for intended fluid caches                         |
| Fluid mesh material and UV shading                        | Supported (subject to valid UVs and material compatibility) |
| Source velocities and explicit deformation motion vectors | Supported when valid velocity data is present               |
| Level Sequencer's Fluid Cache track                       | Supported                                                   |
| Movie Render Queue                                        | Supported in tested workflows                               |
| Multiple independent meshes per Alembic                   | **Not supported**                                           |
| Transform-only animated objects / hierarchy animation     | **Not supported as a general workflow**                     |
| Crowd / instance / point-only animation data              | **Not supported**                                           |
| In-Unreal real-time fluid simulation                      | **Not supported** — HydroPort plays baked caches            |
| Guaranteed real-time scrubbing of arbitrary frames        | **Not supported**                                           |
| All Alembic variations or all DCC exports                 | **Not guaranteed**; test cache compatibility                |

## Why single-mesh matters

A single file containing several independent Alembic mesh objects is not interchangeable with one deforming mesh. Combine/export the desired liquid as **one deforming polygon mesh** before importing.

## Transform-only animation and crowds

HydroPort expects mesh deformation samples. Although the Alembic decoder has transformation logic, that is not a general-purpose transform-track or crowd-instance playback system.

## Scrubbing is not the performance target

The tool is designed for **importing and rendering large baked fluid simulations**. A request for a distant frame may require heavy decoding and GPU upload. Smaller caches can feel responsive; large, dense simulations need not scrub in real time.

## Collision

An **Enable Collision** property exists, but do **not** interpret it as support for updating a physical fluid collider every animated frame. Fluid cinematic workflows should generally leave it off.