Converting Non-Human Creatures with Animations

When you have a bone-skinned model that contains animations, you can export it via 3DXchange to other 3D tools along with the original animations so that you do not need to create animations in those 3D tools using the key-frame method.

In this pipeline, the format for exporting is FBX because this format includes both the meshes and the animations. Therefore, it is suitable when your target 3D tools are Maya, 3DS Max, Unity or Unreal.

Step 1: Loading a Bone-skinned Non-Human Creatures with Animations

The sources of the non-humans with animations can be:

• FBX files from Maya, Max, DAZ 4, and Shade. Please refer to The Export FBX Settings from 3D Tools section for more information.

  Non-human models from Maya or Max.	Character from DAZ 4.

• iAvatar, iProp, and VNS from iClone. Please refer to The Influences of DRM and License Mechanisms on Exporting Assets section for more information about the limitation for exporting iClone assets.

  iAvatar: Non-human character with key-frame motions. Please refer to the Creating Non-Human Motions in iClone section for more information.	iProp or VNS: Animals with bone structures and embedded animations.

Step 2: Add the Animations to the Perform Editor

Although the loaded model contains animations, you need to add the animations into the Perform Editor so that when you export the model in FBX format, the animations can be included.

1. Scroll the Modify panel to Animation section.
2. If there are multiple animations listed in the Motion Library, so you may select one of the animations and click the play button to preview the animation. Please refer to the Using Motion Library section for more information.
   

   Note:

   A non-human character from iClone will not have motions embedded, therefore, you need to manually export motions from iClone and then click the Import button to load the motion files to the Motion Library in 3DXchange.

3. Add desired animations into the Perform Editor. Only the animations added into the Perform Editor are the candidates for FBX export. Please refer to the Using Perform Editor section for more information.
   

Step 3: Exporting the Model in FBX Format

1. Execute the File > Export to Other 3D Format > Export FBX... command..
   
2. In the Export FBX panel, use the Target Tool Preset drop-down list to auto-load the settings for your target 3D tool. Please refer to The Settings for Exporting an FBX File section for more information about the details of this setting.
   

   Note:

   If the target 3D tool is Unity or Unreal, and you want to export more than one animation for the model, then the export method is a little bit different. Please refer to Exporting Settings for Unity and Unreal section for more information.

3. Click the OK button to export the model along with its animations in FBX format.

Step 4: Loading FBX in 3D Tools

Import the FBX file into your target 3D tools (Maya, 3DS Max, Unity or Unreal) with the settings below:

• Maya (FBX plugin 2012.2 version or above)
  
  • Select the Add item from the File content drop-down list in the Include section.
  • Activate the Animation box in the Animation section to import the included animations in the FBX file.
• 3DS Max (FBX plugin 2012.2 version or above)
  
  • Select the Add item from the File content drop-down list in the Include section.
  • Activate the Animation box in the Animation section to import the included animations in the FBX file.
• Unity: No specific settings need to be done. However, the geometry and the animation files must be individually imported.
  • Because the animations are isolated into different FBX files, you need to import them into the project panel respectively.
    
  • if you encounter the issue that the model hops back to the origin (0,0,0) of the scene when you enter the Game mode, then refer to the Fixing the Jump-to-Origin Issue in Unity Game Mode section for more information about the solution.
• Unreal: Since the settings for Unreal are complicated, please refer to Loading FBX Non-Humans and Animations to Unreal section for more information.