Hello Area Community!

FBX 2011.2 is now officially available for download on http://www.autodesk.com/fbx.  We believe this is our most stable, enhanced and robust version of our data interchange technology to date.

http://area.autodesk.com/fbx2011

FBX 2011.2 is a full feature upgrade from FBX 2010 versions (2010.0, 2010.0.2, 2010.2 and 2010.2.1).  It is also a point release follow-up to FBX 2011.1 (the version of the FBX plug-ins that install by default with 3ds Max/3ds Max Design 2011 and Maya 2011).

This release includes FBX 2011.2 Plug-ins for the following products:
Autodesk 3ds Max 2009 (WIN 32/64-bit)
Autodesk 3ds Max 2010 (WIN 32/64-bit)
Autodesk 3ds Max 2011 (WIN 32/64-bit)
Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2010 (WIN 32/64-bit)
Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2011 (WIN 32/64-bit)
Autodesk Maya 2009 (WIN 32/64 bit / MAC / Linux 64-bit)
Autodesk Maya 2010 (WIN 32/64 bit / MAC / Linux 64-bit)
Autodesk Maya 2011 (WIN 32/64 bit / MAC / Linux 64-bit)

The following downloads are also available:
Autodesk FBX 2011.2 Converter (WIN / MAC / Linux)
Autodesk FBX 2011.2 Software Development Kit (WIN / MAC / Linux)
Autodesk FBX 2011.2 Extensions Software Development Kit (includes published reader/writer source code) (WIN / MAC / Linux)

FBX 2011.2 for QuickTime is still currently in development and testing and will be made available soon

For those of you who participated in our “Turnpike” or “Arsenal” Beta projects, please ensure that you uninstall any previous beta versions of the plug-ins.

For those who would like to participate in future beta projects, please contact us at fbxbeta @ autodesk.com for further information.

What’s new in FBX 2011.2?

Please read the ‘What’s new in this version’ sections in the online help documentation that installs with our products for more complete product-specific information.

NEW FILE FORMAT
Previously, FBX 2006, 2009 and 2010 releases have been based on FBX File Format version 6.1.  FBX 2011 is the first release since 2006 to completely change the format of the technology.  FBX 2011 is based upon the new FBX File Format version 7.1.  What does this mean for you?  Most importantly, FBX 2011 files will be much smaller in size (averaging 7-10 times smaller).  As a result, file I/O performance improves.  It’s important to note that in order to be able to read FBX 2011 files, you will need FBX 2011 technology.  More specifically, if you are using 3ds Max 2009, 2010 or 2011, you will need FBX 2011 plug-ins installed in order to properly import FBX 2011 files.  Likewise, if you are using Maya 2009, 2010 or 2011, you will need FBX 2011 plug-ins installed.  If you are a MotionBuilder user, MotionBuilder 2011 is based on FBX SDK 2011.  When you save or open an FBX file in MotionBuilder, you are now doing so with FBX SDK version 2011, natively.  If you are a Mudbox user, Mudbox 2011 exports and imports using FBX SDK 2011.  Therefore, if you would like to interoperate between 3ds Max, Softimage or Maya and Mudbox or MotionBuilder 2011, you should install 2011 plug-ins in Maya or 3ds Max, or use the FBX plug-in that ships with Softimage 2011.  If this is not possible (i.e. you are using 3ds Max or Maya 2008 or earlier), you can always use the FBX Converter to convert FBX 2011 files to earlier versions (i.e. FBX 2010, in this case).  All in all, FBX 2011 technology is now optimized for better performance and more reliable and predictable results, thanks to the file format change.

INSTANCE SUPPORT
FBX now supports instancing.  3ds Max and Maya FBX plug-ins allow users to preserve their instances when exporting to FBX (allowing for even greater file size optimizations).

TIME-INDEPENDENT AUTO KEY SUPPORT
When interchanging FBX files between Maya and MotionBuilder, time-independent auto keys are now fully supported.  This now means that animation interop between Maya and MotionBuilder is 1:1.

AUTODESK MATERIAL LIBRARY SUPPORT
3ds Max 2011, AutoCAD 2011 and Revit 2011’s shared Autodesk Material Library can now be exchanged between these 3 products without undergoing any conversions along the way (lossless data interchange).

ANIMATION LAYER SUPPORT
Animation layers are now fully supported by FBX between Maya and MotionBuilder.

RENDER SETTINGS
Both 3ds Max and Maya FBX plug-ins now export render settings (Pixel Aspect Ratio and Resolution Height/Width) to FBX, allowing for enhanced interchange between both applications and for importing this extra data into Autodesk Composite (previously Autodesk Toxik).

SMOOTH MESH PREVIEW ENHANCEMENTS
Smooth Mesh Preview support in FBX has been improved to support enhancements made in Maya 2011.

NEW RESAMPLE ALL OPTION
Users now have the ability to resample both FBX-supported and unsupported animation from Maya and 3ds Max scenes exported to FBX.  Previously, only FBX-unsupported channels could be resampled (Baked), but now there’s an option to resample all animation in the scene, regardless of what FBX supports.

MEDIA-EMBEDDING IN ASCII FORMATTED FILES
Media (textures) can now be embedded in both binary and ASCII-formatted files (using the FBX 2011 file format).

LOD SUPPORT
3ds Max users can now export Level of Detail (3ds Max LOD Utility) data to FBX.

NEW AUTOMATIC UNIT CONVERSION OPTION
Users have asked that we allow for the choice of whether or not unit conversion is dynamically calculated or handled manually by the user.  There is now an option in the 3ds Max and Maya FBX plug-in UIs to use dynamic unit conversion or not.

REVIT TO 3DS MAX WORKFLOW ENHANCEMENTS
Several enhancements have been made in Revit, 3ds Max and FBX 2011 versions to improve the Revit to 3ds Max FBX workflow.  Now, Revit exports edge visibility information to FBX (so that when FBX files are imported into 3ds Max, hidden edges along the faces of walls and other flat surfaces remain hidden in the 3ds Max viewport).  3ds Max 2011 allows users to File Link FBX files exported from Revit 2009, 2010 and 2011.  Autodesk Material Library interop has also been improved upon.  It is important to note that due to necessary changes made in the Autodesk Material Libraries found in Revit and 3ds Max, Revit 2011 FBX files are only fully compatible with 3ds Max 2011 (they will not properly import into 3ds Max 2009 or 2010).  However, Revit 2009, 2010 and 2011 files will import perfectly into 3ds Max 2011.

ENHANCED DOCUMENTATION
Once again, the FBX plug-in and SDK documentation has been vastly improved upon, giving users the most information required to use FBX technology properly and efficiently.

Please consult the readme.txt files that install with the plug-ins for information on specific bug fixes, as there have been a large number of them this time around.  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 fbxplugins @ autodesk.com.  We’re of course very interested in what you have to say.

We hope you enjoy the release!

FBX Product Home: http://www.autodesk.com/fbx
FBX 2011.2 Plug-in Downloads: http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/item?siteID=123112&id=10775855
FBX 2011.2 Compatibility Charts: http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=14376272
FBX SDK 2011.2 Downloads: http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/item?siteID=123112&id=10775847
FBX Extensions SDK 2011.2 Downloads: http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/item?siteID=123112&id=11854562
Autodesk FBX 2011 System Requirements: http://images.autodesk.com/adsk/files/fbx_2011_system_requirements_us.pdf