I saw this on the Publishing Content page which I don't remember being there the last time I checked:
"Disclaimer: The below instructions detail how to prepare content for in-game use with the FxSDK. The FxSDK is not thread-safe and requires objects to be serialized which can contribute to memory fragmentation. For a thread-safe runtime solution with improved memory performance, please contact us for an evaluation of the FaceFX Runtime."
I just wanted to double check that if we're using the FaceFX Runtime, that using the -publish command won't have any affect on anything.
Correct, if you are using the FaceFX Runtime, you don't want to publish. All you need to do is compile your (unpublished) .facefx file with the FaceFX Runtime compiler before bringing the animations into game.
Historically, the publish command predates the FaceFX Runtime and was our solution to get rid of editor data and optimize .facefx files as best as we could for use with the FxSDK as the in-game playback system.