Hi,

There seems to be a problem in the fbx exporter 2009 of max 2009. As I wrote in a previous thread http://area.autodesk.com/for...exporter-20093-/, we can no longer create a Fbx_Root when exporting from Max 2009 to MB. From what I know, the Fbx_Root was the node that enabled axis conversion from Z-up (max) to Y-up (MB). Other people are having the same problem as I had : http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=85&t=754569

So here is the solution I found that might help, I hope.

1. In Max 2009, I create a dummy that I name torename. Hint : Don’t name it Fbx_Root because when imported in MB, it dissapears (weird).
2. I link the parent of my skeletal hierarchy to it so that it becomes the main parent.
3. Now, I export my scene through the fbx_exporter 2009. In the pop-up window, I leave the tab Up Axis to Z-up and click Ok.
4. Back in MB, I import this file, rename torename to Fbx_Root (if you want). If your skeleton if facing downwards, just rotate the Fbx_Root to gbl(-90,0,0). For my part, I didn’t have to do so.

Well, I was able to get back my Y-up through this solution. Maybe there’s another better or faster one. Any other tips are welcomed ;)

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The new y-up switch in the exporter works fine for me , but because your exporting to an older version of motionbuilder make sure you set it to export for 7.5 , also make sure you use the FBX_plugin import and not the regular import.

I am useing the very latest FBX patch and also 7.5 extension 2. I tired it in 2009 also and it is working fine for me.

Brad Clark
Co-Founder: Rigging Dojo-Teaching the art and science of character rigging
Author: Inspired 3D Advanced Rigging
The Character Animator Toolkit for Motionbuilder :available now:

Well, the fact is that, in MB, the axis seem to work fine when I use the y-up switch in the exporter. But my final work from MB has to be integrated in a 3d engine (Unreal which is Z-up) and it’s then that the axis is mis-interpreted. My y-axis is considered as a Z-axis (instead of going up, my character goes forward).

Anyway, I have tested this with MB ext 1 & 2, and FBX200602_MB75 as exporter from max. But the problem’s still the same..

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Ah ok, so how are you exporting out of Mobu to go to Unreal? Are you taking it back to Max as just animation data? or some other path?

Brad Clark
Co-Founder: Rigging Dojo-Teaching the art and science of character rigging
Author: Inspired 3D Advanced Rigging
The Character Animator Toolkit for Motionbuilder :available now:

No, I import directly my fbx file to Unreal.

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Ah ok, so maybe it is the problem with the fbx-to unreal pipe that it is not reading the file correctly. are you doing fbxplugin export or just loading saved files and not a bug on Autodesk side.

from tech art…
http://tech-artists.org/forum/showthread.php?t=400

3: Using the Actor X plug in from Epic export your skinned meshes as well as their animations in the .PSA(Animations) and .PSK(Skeletal Mesh) data types.
You can set up Actor X via max script to batch import,name, group, and export most of this for you but its going to take some work as functionally does not happen right out of the box.

You could also directly import .FBX data into Unreal but Epic does not fully support it yet and recommends that you use Actor X and the .PSA, .PSK data types. I have successfully imported .FBX data from Max into Unreal and while this will work for assets, the advantage of using the .PSA and .PSK data format is that, this format(.PSA) can contain all your animation in one file so you only have to import one file and you get all your animations. With the .FBX format I am not sure if this is possible but I don’t think that it would be as Epic does not full support it and will even tell you to use Actor X instead.

Brad Clark
Co-Founder: Rigging Dojo-Teaching the art and science of character rigging
Author: Inspired 3D Advanced Rigging
The Character Animator Toolkit for Motionbuilder :available now:

Hi,

I’ve seen similar issue to this before when working with imported Biped in Motion Blend- the ghosting of the skeleton appears flipped. I think it is related to the skeleton carrying some history of the transforms across from 3ds Max export. There is a technical solution on Autodesk.com describing the problem:-

Ghosting of imported 3ds Max skeleton will be on the incorrect axis using Motion Blend

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/ser...d=13513224&linkID=9242338

Only workaround is to add FBX_root node on export, unfortunately that option’s been removed from newer versions of FBX exporter,sounds similar to the workaround you are using in adding a global root node yourself.

Regards,

Lee

Hello,

We’ve found the solution to re-create the Fbx_Root automatically when exporting a scene in the FBXExporter2009 (Special thanks to my friend David.B ! ).

Create a macroscript (*.ms) with the following line :

And place it in the startUp folder of your max :
\Program Files\Autodesk\your_max_version\Scripts\Startup

Restart max so that the macro is loaded.
Boom! Welcome back Fbx_Root!

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