Animation

Extra options

Use scene name: Normally, the Maya FBX plug-in saves Maya scene animation in the FBX file as Take 001. If you want the scene animation to instead be named for the Maya scene, activate this option.

This option is deactivated by default, so the take is automatically named Take 001, and so on.
Remove single key: When you activate this setting, the exporter removes keys from objects on export if the plug-in determines that the animation has only one key. When two or more keys exist in the file, the keys are exported.

If you disable this option, the plug-in does not remove keys from the animation on export.

Note
This option is disabled by default.

Why do I need this?

Sometimes, even though objects in a file contain no animation, they have a single key assigned to them for use as a locator. If you do not need these single keys in your file, you can reduce the file size by activating Remove single keys to discard them.

Quaternion interpolation mode: Use the Quaternion interpolation mode menu to select how to export your quaternion interpolations from the host application. Select from the following three options:

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 export process.
Note
Use this option when you export animation that has quaternion interpolations. This option is only compatible with applications supporting this interpolation type, such as Autodesk MotionBuilder. Also note that the resulting animation will not be identical since quaternion evaluations are different in Maya vs. MotionBuilder. Use the default option (Resample as Euler interpolation) to obtain visual results identical to your animation in MotionBuilder, or other applications.
Set as Euler interpolation: This option changes the interpolation type of quaternion keys to a Euler type, without resampling the animation curves themselves.
Note
Using this option results in the same number of keys, set as Euler types. The visual result will be different since it is now evaluated as a Euler interpolation. Use the default (Resample as Euler interpolation) option in order to obtain visual results identical to your animation in MotionBuilder, or other applications.

Bake animation

Activate this option lets you Bake (or Plot) Animation at export time.

Bake animation: This bakes all unsupported constraints, including Maya-supported and FBX constraints, into animation curves. You can then import these curves into another application that does not support these Maya constraints.

By default the Maya FBX plug-in takes the Start and End values automatically from the current Timeline settings of the host application. You can manually enter in a custom start, end, and step value to bake a specific section of time.

Note
Bake Animation Start/End/Step values cannot be saved in presets. The FBX plug-in always derived these values from the exported scene. For more see Preset Bake Animation settings.
Step: The Step value defines how many keys are created per frame, and has a value of 1 by default. Setting a Step value of 2 for example, only bakes and exports a key every other frame.
Resample All: Use the Resample All option to bake even the supported animated elements. This is unlike the Bake Animation option which selectively bakes unsupported elements only.

Note
The Resample All option resamples animation using the host application’s frame rate or Time setting.

The Resample All option reacts to the state of the Bake Animation option. If Bake animation is activated, Resample All is also activated.

Why do I want to do this?

If you have animation in a scene that has a small section that contains unsupported constraints or controllers, you can use this setting to customize the Maya FBX plug-in export process to avoid resampling an entire scene worth of animation data when only a small part of it is unsupported.

Deformed Models

Deformed Models: Activate the Deformed Models option to export Skin and Blend Shape deformations.

You can choose to export Skins and Bend Shapes specifically by expanding Deformed Models to access individual options.
Blend Shapes: Activate this option to export all geometry Blend Shapes used in your scene.
Skins: Activate this option to export all skin deformation into your scene.

Curve filters

Curve filters: Activate Curve filtersto apply animation filters to function curves during the export process.

Constant Key Reducer

Activate the Constant Key Reducer filter to remove redundant keys. Redundant keys are keys that have the same value, which are equivalent to flat horizontal interpolations on a curve. Redundant keys are often a result of a resampled FCurve before filtering.

Before:

Resampled FCurve before filtering

After:

Filtered FCurve with redundant keys removed (based on Threshold setting)

You can set specific thresholds for each type of transform. Translation Precision, Rotation Precision, Scaling Precision, and Other. Other includes transforms like Blend Shapes and custom attribute curves.

The default values are:

Values represent generic units. This is why you may need to modify threshold values in relation to the world scale of your scene, for example with very large or small scale scenes.

If you use this filter to eliminate noise, for example, from motion capture data, then you may need to modify values.

Setting	Description
Translation Precision	Threshold for translation curves in generic units.
Rotation Precision	Threshold for rotation curves in generic units.
Scaling Precision	Threshold for Scaling curves in generic units.
Other Precision	Threshold for other curves in generic units.
Auto tangents only	This option ensures that only “auto” key types are filtered. Otherwise, keys with interpolation values greater than a certain threshold may get deleted.

Note

The Maya FBX plug-in converts all animation keys to User, which is not an Autoauto tangent. To ensure that constant key reducing occurs, deactivate Auto Tangents Only in the Constant Key Reducer options.

Geometry cache file(s)

Geometry cache file(s)

Activate this option to create a geometry cache file of a chosen selection set. To use this option, create a selection set of the objects for which you want to retain the vertex animation in Maya.

Note

You must apply the set to the Objects Transform node and not the Shape node. By default, any Geometry cache files created are in .MC format.

When you activate this option, three files are generated:

an FBX file
an XML file
an MC file

The Maya FBX plug-in stores the XML and MC 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 and folders:

myTest.fbx
myTest_fpc
pCubeShape1.xml
pCubeShape1.mc

The plug-in retains any MC geometry cache files that are already recorded (within the selection set).

Use the Set menu to select an appropriate set to export the geometry cache file.

When would I use this?

Use this option when you export nCloth deformations on an object to 3ds Max.

Constraints

Constraints

Activate this option to ensure that certain supported constraints are exported to FBX.

FBX supported constraints include:

Point
Aim
Orient
Parent
IK handle (including Pole Vector)

This option lets you export your constraints effectively without the need to bake the animation first, if you are transferring to a package that which supports these constraints, like MotionBuilder.

Note

If you export your scene with the intention of importing it into a package that does not support these constraints (such as 3ds Max), bake the animation first. See Bake Animation for more information.

Skeleton definitions

Activate this option to include your Skeleton definitions (FBIK/HumanIK) in the file on export. This can be useful if you are transferring to MotionBuilder, which also supports characters.