This section describes how to import files using the Maya FBX plug-in:
To import an FBX file:
- Launch Maya.
- Select File > Import.
- Locate the FBX file you want to import from theFile Import dialog box.
- Select FBX file extension from the File of Type menu.
Note: If the FBX file extension does not appear in the File of Type menu, activate fbxmaya.mll in the Maya Plug-in Manager.
- If you don't see the
FBX Import options at the right of the Maya Import dialog box, scroll downward.
- Set the import options you want to use or select a preset from the Presets menu. The
Autodesk Media and Entertainment preset contains the best balance of options for a general animation workflow.
Tip: Use the Autodesk MotionBuilder preset if you are using a Maya to MotionBuilder back to Maya workflow.
See Import presets in FBX Import options for information about the Autodesk presets and which import options are appropriate for you.
- Click Import in the Maya Import dialog box.
Note: To cancel the import process, press ESC.
- If conversions or errors occur during the import process, the Warning Manager reports them at the end of the import process. See Show/Hide Warning Manager in the
FBX Import options topic for information about the Warning Manager.
Note: There is a difference between “Errors” vs. “Warnings”. The plug-in reports an error when something unexpected occurs. When the plug-in reports an error, it indicates that the consequences of that error are unknown. Warnings inform users when the plug-in applies conversions to the source data to convert the data into a format that the destination application can read.
The FBX Import File type specific options appear when you select File > Import >
Note: The FBX Import options will only appear when you have selected an FBX file for import.
To view the File Type Specific options for FBX:
- Select File > Import and choose FBX Import or FBX_DAE Import from the File Type drop down.
Presets
Choose your preset by selecting it from the Current Preset menu in the File Type Specific Options rollout of the Maya FBX plug-in.
Autodesk Media and Entertainment The Autodesk Media and Entertainment preset contains the most options since it contains the optimal settings for most animation workflows. All available options are visible in the UI so you can access and customize them. Autodesk MotionBuilder Use the Autodesk MotionBuilder preset if you are using a Maya to MotionBuilder back to Maya workflow. This preset uses the Constraints and Skeleton Definitions options set for optimal Character animation using Maya and MotionBuilder. User Defined The User Defined preset label displays whenever you modify a setting that is different from the preset default. Editing presets If you change a preset, the preset field displays User defined, to show that the preset differs from its default state. You can find the user-defined states in a temporary file so that the settings are the default the next time you use the plug-in. You can also save your settings is a custom preset. See Creating a custom preset.Statistics
The Statistics window lets you view relevant meta information about the incoming (FBX) file and system (application) settings. Information varies depending on what is in the file. For example, you can use the statistics section to identify when the file was created, what direction the Up-axis faces, the file units used, and frame rate.
Note:
- Sometimes statistics are hidden below the window edge; use the scroll bar to view it.
- If the FPS (frame rate) is not a standard rate (24, 25, 30, 48, 50, 60, 100, 120 fps), it is not displayed. For example, an FBX file that uses a frame rate of 8 frames per second does not display in the Importer statistics. If the frame rate does not match between the FBX file and its host application, a warning appears next to the System Frame Rate value. If the frame rate is not a standard rate, the Importer displays the system frame rate but no warning.
Include
The Include rollout lets you choose what data and conversions to apply to your scene at import from a host application.
File Content Use the File Content menu to select how to import the content of your file into the host application. Select from the following three options: Add This option adds the content of the FBX file to your scene. If elements exist in the host application they are duplicated, so use this option to add non-existing elements to your scene.Tip: Use this option if you are importing multiple characters from 3ds Max into a game engine. Otherwise, naming conflicts occur that combine the character's root joints together. When you export to a game engine, you must remove any namespaces. See FBX plug-in renaming strategy for more information.
Add and update animation This option adds new content and updates animation from your file to matching objects in your scene. For example, if there is animation on any object in the FBX file and the object name is identical to an object in the destination application, that animation is replaced. If the object with the same name does not have animation, the new animation is added. This is the default option for the Media & Entertainment and MotionBuilder presets.Tip: If you plan to import multiple characters into a game engine, use the Add option above, or naming conflicts occur. See FBX plug-in renaming strategy for more information.
Update animation This option adds the content of the FBX file to your scene but only updates existing animation; any objects in the file that are not already in the scene are ignored. Add and update animation This option adds new content and updates animation from your file to matching objects in your scene. For example, if there is animation on any object in the FBX file and the object name is identical to an object in the destination application, that animation is replaced. If the object with the same name does not have animation, the new animation is added. This is the default option for the Media & Entertainment and MotionBuilder presets. Update animation (keyed transforms) Use this option so that existing un-keyed transforms on existing scene elements are not overwritten, and instead are preserved in their current state. With the new option, only Keyed animation from the imported file updates the transforms on open elements in scene.Warning: If you intend to exclusively-merge hierarchies containing animation data, the new animation is ignored on unkeyed import transforms are identically named. If identically-named transforms have keys, existing import behavior is maintained .
If this option is missing from the FBX Import > Include options, see Where is the "Update animation (keyed transforms)" option in the UI? or use the Script the import mode to merge keyed transforms script.
Geometry Expand the Geometry rollout to access options related to importing geometry into your scene. Unlock Normals Activate this option to unlock geometry normals and force Maya to re-compute the edge continuity.Note:
- Normals are automatically unlocked for all deformed geometry imported into Maya.
- Locked normals can create shading issues for geometry if a deformer is applied after import. Unlocking geometry normals resolves this.
Note: Using this option permanently alters any UV maps applied to geometry. The plug-in properly re-assigns the UVs to the newly split geometry. There is a limitation in regards to UVs, when importing this geometry into an empty Maya scene, using the Combine per-vertex Normals option in the FBX Importer, as it may result in incorrect UV assignments.
Animation Expand this rollout and activate this option to import animation found in the scene. Extra Options Expand this section to view additional import options. Animation Take Displays the current animation take in the FBX file.- If no animation take exists in the file, the field shows a No animation message.
- If several animation takes exist in the file, the currently selected take is displayed in the field.
You can change the selected take of animation by selecting another take from the menu. The Maya FBX plug-in lists all available takes of animation contained in the file.
Note: You can only select and import a single take of animation at a time.
Fill Timeline Activate this option when you want to update the application timeline by the animation range in the incoming FBX file. “Animation range” refers to the first and last keys of animation contained in the file. Bake Animation Layers When the Bake Animation Layers option is active, the plug-in collapses all layers into the base layer. If you disable the Bake Animation Layers option, all the layers in the FBX file will be imported. Optical Markers Activate this option to convert optical markers contained in the file into dummy objects on import. If you disable this option, the import process ignores this data. Optical markers normally come from motion capture data, as a cloud of animated points or markers. The Maya FBX plug-in does not import the animation as the data type is incompatible. However, the Maya FBX plug-in converts optical data into a cloud of static null objects in Maya.Tip: If your optical data originates from MotionBuilder, you can set the state of all optical markers to Done in MotionBuilder which lets you import the animation data as curves in Maya.
This option is useful if you need to import optical data that is stored within an FBX file. For example, if you wanted to send an FBX file containing optical data that someone needs to use in Maya but they do not use MotionBuilder, you can activate this option to use the FBX file format to store optical data. Quaternion Interpolation Mode Use this option to convert and resample quaternion interpolation into Euler curves to ensure interoperability.
Resample as Euler interpolation | This is the default conversion setting for quaternion interpolations . This option converts and resamples quaternion interpolations into Euler curves to ensure interoperability. |
Retain Quaternion Interpolation | This option retains quaternion interpolation types during the import process. Tip: Use this when you import animation that has quaternion interpolations. This is only compatible with applications supporting this interpolation type, such as Autodesk MotionBuilder. Also, the resulting animation is not identical since quaternion evaluations are different in Maya and MotionBuilder. Use the default (Resample as Euler interpolation) option in order to obtain visual results identical to your animation in MotionBuilder, or other applications. |
Set as Euler Interpolation | This option lets you change the interpolation type of quaternion keys to a Euler type, without resampling the animation curves themselves. Tip: Using this option results in the same number of keys, set as Euler types. The visual result will be different since it will now be evaluated as a Euler interpolation. Use the default (Resample as Euler interpolation) option to obtain visual results identical to your animation in MotionBuilder, or other applications. |
Activate this option to import FBX-exported geometry cache data during the FBX import process.
The Maya FBX plug-in generates three files when you export Geometry cache files using FBX:
- an FBX file
- an XML file
- an MCX file
The plug-in stores XML and MCX files in a subfolder named after the FBX file and has the suffix FPC (_fpc).
For example, if you export a scene containing a cube named pCube1 to the FBX file myTest.fbx, you create the following files:
- myTest.fbx
- myTest_fpc
- pCubeShape1.xml
- pCubeShape1.mcx
FBX supported constraints include:
- Point
- Aim
- Orient
- Parent
- IK handle (including Pole Vector)
Advanced options
Use the Advanced Options to customize your general settings and import process.
Units The Units option lets you view the conversion factor (scaling value) the plug-in uses as well as modify the conversion units.This option automatically identifies, sets, and converts units of the incoming file to match units of the host application.
If this option is active, but the File Units match the system units, there is no need for scale conversion and the plug-in applies no conversion. The displayed Scale Factor is 1.0 in this case.
Note: This conversion affects only incoming data. This conversion does not change the settings in Maya.
Scale Factor Displays the conversion value or Scale Factor that the plug-in applies to the entire incoming scene. The Maya FBX plug-in compares the units used in the host application with the units used in the file imported to determine the Scale Factor value. The plug-in then proposes a unit conversion that matches the system units in the host application. The displayed Scale Factor is the result of this calculation. For example, if you import a scene from software that used centimeters as the working units to software that uses feet as units, the Scale Factor will be 2.54. This option is always active, but if your File Units match the system units, the plug-in does not apply a scale conversion. No conversion is applied. The displayed Scale Factor is 1.0 in this case.Note: If you change the File Units Converted to: option, you can modify the Scale Factor value applied to incoming data.
Automatic Activate the Automatic option if you want the Maya FBX plug-in to automatically identify, set, and convert units of the incoming file to match units of the host application. When you activate Automatic, the Scene units converted to option is disabled, although it shows the resolved unit and scale factor. If you disable the Automatic option, the Scene units converted to option becomes available. When Automatic is active but the file units match the system units, there is no need for scale conversion and the plug-in applies no conversion. The displayed Scale Factor is 1.0 in this case.Note: This conversion affects only incoming data. This does not change the settings in Maya.
Note: Verify the System Units your Maya scene uses so that you can control whether the Maya FBX plug-in needs to scale your scene.
If you import a file that is in the same unit setting as the Working Units of your Maya scene, there is a match of units and the plug-in displays “1.0” as the Scale Factor. No scale conversion is applied.Note: If the Scale Factor is 1.0, no scaling is applied. If the Scale Factor is greater than 1.0, the incoming data is scaled up. If the factor is smaller than 1.0, the incoming data is scaled down.
Information
The information rollout contains information about this version of the Maya FBX plug-in.
Help on FBX Click Help on FBX in the Information rollout to access the Maya FBX plug-in documentation.Axis conversion
The FBX Importer does not have an Axis Conversion option in the UI. Only the FBX Export window has this option exposed in the UI.
This is because the Maya FBX Plug-in calculates and applies the Axis Conversion automatically upon import.
The FBX Importer looks at the up-axis used in the host application. It then compares this to the up-axis set in the incoming file. If both up-axes match, the FBX Import window applies no conversion. If they do not match, the importer applies a conversion to the imported data to match the host application’s up-axis automatically.
Note: The importer applies Axis Conversions only to root elements of the incoming scene. If you have animation on a root object that must be converted on import, these animation curves are resampled to apply the proper axis conversion.