Well, not sure if you saw this or not, (sorry, but I gotta ask anywayz ) but would you be willing to add a predefined initial state to another fluid container?

i.e, get the initial state set-up the way you like, then copy that to another fluid that you have tweaked a little bit already?

Say you want to use existing grid properties as the basis for other fluid effects (for example, a company logo, YOUR BITMAP, a spiral of velocity, a cloud etc.), you can save those grid property values, and later add them to OTHER existing fluid containers in a separate scene containg another fluid.

Maya includes an assortment of predefined initial states that you can use as examples. For information on creating your own predefined initial states, see Saving the current state of a fluid.

To add a predefined initial state to a fluid container:

1. Select the fluid container.
2. Select Fluid Effects > Add/Edit Contents > Initial States. The Visor opens to the Fluid Initial States tab.
3. Click the folder containing the initial state you want to add to the container. If the fluid is a 2D fluid, select the 2D subfolder. If the fluid is a 3D fluid, select the 3D subfolder.
4. You can only add initial states created in 2D containers to 2D containers. Similarly you can only add initial states created in 3D containers to 3D containers.

5. With the middle mouse button, drag the preset icon from Visor onto the selected fluid container. Any grid values already in the container are replaced with the initial state values.

If the resolution of your container is different from the resolution of the container used to create the initial state, the resolution of your container changes to the resolution of the initial state container, and once the values are in place, changes back to your original resolution.


Lemme know if I'm still missing the point of what you are trying to do

( sry, I can be dense sometimes, hehe... just ask Kevin )