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Hello everyone!
Our FBX 2009.1 plug-ins are now currently available for download. You can find them all here:
http://www.autodesk.com/fbx
This release includes plug-ins for the following products:
Autodesk 3ds Max 9 (WIN 32/64 bit)
Autodesk 3ds Max 2008 (WIN 32/64 bit)
Autodesk 3ds Max 2009 (WIN 32/64 bit)
Autodesk Maya 8.0 (WIN 32/64 bit / MAC / Linux)
Autodesk Maya 8.5 (WIN 32/64 bit / MAC / Linux)
Autodesk Maya 2008 (WIN 32/64 bit / MAC / Linux)
Autodesk Viz 2008 (32 bit)
Apple QuickTime 7 (WIN / MAC)
The following are also available:
Autodesk FBX Converter version 2009.1 (WIN / MAC / Linux)
Autodesk FBX Software Development Kit (WIN / MAC / Linux)
FBX 2009.1 is a full release that is a direct successor to the FBX 2006.11.2 full release plug-ins. FBX 2009.0 was exclusively available for 3ds Max 2009; it installed along with the software to provide immediate interoperability between Autodesk Revit and 3ds Max 2009 versions. Therefore, for those of you who have 3ds Max 2009 installed, this 2009.1 release is also a direct update to your 2009.0 plug-ins.
For those who participated in our Beta project codenamed “Ozzy”, please ensure that you uninstall any previous beta versions of the plug-ins and read the readme.txt note regarding the deletion of your user-defined UI presets.
For those who would like to participate in future beta projects, please contact us at for further information.
Details regarding this new version:
We have made several changes to our plug-ins. The following few paragraphs are meant to provide Area Discussion Forum users with a summary of what’s new and improved regarding our 2009.1 plug-ins. For more complete information, please refer to the new user references included in all our plug-ins:
3ds Max/3ds Max Design/Viz: Click the question mark located at the top-right corner of the FBX Exporter and Importer User interfaces.
Maya: In the FBX Exporter and Importer UIs, choose ‘Help > Help on FBX’.
QuickTime 7: The PDF, by default, installs here: C:\Program Files\Autodesk\FBX\FbxPlugins\2009.1\FbxQuicktime7.
FBX Converter: The PDF, by default, installs here: C:\Program Files\Autodesk\FBX\FBXConverter\2009.1.
You’ll notice the user reference has been modified from previous versions. We tried to make the format more consistent with the rest of our software packages. This document will grow larger in future releases.
What’s New?
New User Interface
The user interfaces for both Maya and 3ds Max plug-ins have been entirely revamped. Over the years of user feedback and our own analyses of the usability of our plug-ins, we realized a need for a recreation of the FBX UI. The UI is now entirely customizable. Installed with the plug-ins are presets for Media & Entertainment users and Revit Architecture (3ds Max only) users. Choosing these presets will satisfy most users in the respective domains. However, whenever any UI choices are modified, a User-Defined preset is created and stored automatically in your My Documents folder. Additionally, user-defined/customized presets can be saved separately and named.
New Bake Functionality
Now consistent with the Maya plug-ins, users now have a Bake Animation function available in all 3ds Max plug-ins. Previously, any animations created with FBX-unsupported constraints or controllers in Max would not export to FBX; the animations would be lost. Now, users have the option to Bake (or resample) their FBX-unsupported animations.
Support for importing Revit 2009-exported FBX files
This feature has been available since 3ds Max 2009 shipped with the 2009.0 version of our plug-in. Revit 2009 users can now export their scenes to import into 3ds Max 2009, retaining Revit photometric light data, materials and geometry.
Memory Footprint Enhancements
Major improvements have been made to the import/export processes of our 3ds Max and Maya FBX plug-ins. In 3ds Max, large scenes can be handled with much greater stability and speed.
HLSL Support
DirectX hardware shader support has been added to the plug-ins, allowing users to export HLSL shaders from 3ds Max 2009 to FBX.
CgFX Support
CgFX hardware shader support has been added to our plug-ins, allowing users to export CgFX shaders from Maya to FBX.
What’s Fixed?
Non-Exhaustive list of Media & Entertainment Bug Fixes (relevant to discussions made on this Area discussion forum)
Float vs. Double Precision issue
o Animation imported from MotionBuilder and Maya, into 3ds Max, would sometimes experience minimal precision issues. Now, all double values from Maya and MB will convert correctly to 3ds Max Float values when imported.
Export Selected
o Exporting selected objects would result in an FBX file with all objects in the scene. Now, whatever is selected is exported.
3ds Max Material Editor
o Imported FBX materials would overwrite all unused materials in the Material Editor. Now, no FBX-imported materials will auto-populate in the material editor; you will need to search through the material/map browser to search for FBX-imported scene materials.
3ds Max Material IDs
o Material ID assignments were not being retained on export. The number and order of Material IDs are now exported from 3ds Max correctly, as long as a material is assigned to each ID, and that ID numbers are consecutive.
UVW Mapping
o UVW Maps were discarded when exported to FBX, if materials & textures were not assigned. Now, all UVW maps should be retained, regardless of a material assignment.
Visibility & Show/Hide
o Previously, if an object was hidden in 3ds Max, that object property was not saved. Now, all Show/Hide properties belonging to objects are saved in the FBX file. Exchanging between MB and 3ds Max is now more consistent, as MB files were always storing Show/Hide and visibility properties. Regarding Max and Maya, since Maya does not have any show/hide properties, if an object is hidden in 3ds Max, it will become visible in Maya. Previously, hidden objects would import into Maya as invisible (affecting the visibility of the object, which is incorrect). Now, if the visibility in Max is modified, that attribute is imported correctly into Maya and vice versa.
Vertex Colors & Alpha
o There were some issues with exporting the alpha and color channels of vertices from 3ds Max and Maya to FBX. Now, vertex colors and alpha values are exporting correctly.
3ds Max Smoothing Group IDs
o Smoothing Group IDs were not being retained when exported to FBX; they were being re-ordered/numbered. Now, all smoothing group IDs are stored in the FBX file when exported from 3ds Max. As Maya does not feature smoothing group IDs, this information is converted to Hard/Soft edge data in Maya.
Unit Conversion
o Previously, there was confusion regarding unit conversion. This has now been optimized with our new UI. When exporting, the user has the option to convert the units with a list of presets (cm, dm, etc.). When importing, the statistics of the file are displayed to the user, identifying 3ds Max and Maya’s current system units and the FBX file’s units. The dynamic UI now automatically chooses to match the system units. The user can still override this choice, if necessary.
Axis Conversion
o Previously, axis conversion was an option for both import and export. This enabled confusion with interoperability. Now, exporting from 3ds Max defaults to Z-Up (3ds Max’ default) and from Maya defaults to Y-Up. This can be modified. On import, the dynamic UI takes a look at the program the FBX file is being imported to and provides the proper axis conversion (there is no need for the user to override this option). Therefore, when importing files exported from 3ds Max, MotionBuilder or Maya, the correct up-axis will always be chosen (and displayed in the statistics of the Importer UI).
Revit Architecture Fixes
Several fixes have been made since our 2009.0 plug-ins were released in March along with 3ds Max 2009, including, but not limited to, the following:
- Issues with materials (scale & appearance) imported from Revit 2009
- Stability while importing extremely large Revit scenes
- Incorrect scaling of photometric lights
Again, what’s listed here is only a small list of the fixes and improvements made to the plug-ins. If you run into any issues at all or have any questions about the direction we’re headed in with our plug-ins, please contact us at . We’re very interested in what you have to say.
Enjoy!
Trevor Adams
Autodesk FBX
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