FaceFX Support

FaceFX Documentation and support

FBX Command

Exporting an FBX file can be done from the File->Export menu or from the fbx command.  A single animation is exported into an FBX file that stores morph, bones, and attribute animation data from a single FaceFX animation.  This can then be applied to your character in other animation packages using standard FBX plugins.

Flag LongFlag Arg Description
-if -infile Yes the full path to the input .fbx file (import/export)
-of -outfile Yes the full path to the output.fbx file to save (export only)
-an -anim Yes the name of the animation to export (export only)
-gr -group Yes the animation group the animation to export resides in (export only)
-fm -format No the format index to pass into the FBX SDK; the default (-1) is the text format (warning: some values > 0 can cause the FBX SDK to crash) (export only)
-kp ‑keyprecision Yes sets the key reduction precision. Use a negative number for no key reduction (export only)
-fs -fullskeleton Yes  specifies whether ogre animations are taken into account, or only FaceFX output on the reference bones (Default); set to true or false (export only)
-fps -framerate Yes the framerate used during animation baking (defaults to anim’s frame rate) (export only)
-st -starttime Yes the start time in seconds to begin exporting the animation. Defaults to animation start time, which can be before audio starts at time 0. (export only)
-et -endtime Yes the end time in seconds to complete exporting the animation. Defaults to animation end time, which is the time of the last key in the animation or sub events. (export only).
-o -overwrite No if present, specifies that existing animation curves should be overwritten during import (import only)
-tn -takename Yes if present, specifies the animation take name.  (Default is GroupName_AnimName)
-as -autosmooth No automatically smooths the curves on import (import only)
-jo -jointorient No specifies that the FBX should attempt to match the joint rotation order from the input FBX (default is to set xyz rotation order for all joints)

Exporting FBX files from the File Menu

The file menu contains an option to launch the FBX Export wizard. File->Export->FBX Animation.It is only enabled when an animation is selected, and it prompts you for an input FBX file if one isn’t specified.  Then it brings up the following dialog:

FBX export settings are determined as follows:

Importing Curves from FBX

To import attribute curves from an FBX file, make sure an animation is selected, then issue the FBX command and specify an -infile without specifying an -outfile.  Use -autosmooth and -overwrite command flags if appropriate.

File size considerations

Output FBX files include all mesh data contained in the input FBX file.  To output small FBX files, create a custom input FBX file with only the required data (like the skeleton). To output FBX attribute curves, you must have at minimum one joint in your input FBX file. 

Animation Takes

Output FBX files will contain all animation takes present in the -infile.  A new animation take is added, replacing any existing take with the same name if it exists. 

Exporting FBX files from the Command prompt

Exporting full-skeleton FBX files from the DOS prompt (using a script launched with the -exec option) requires that a rendersystem is specified with the ogre_rendersystem variable when launching FaceFX Studio.  Exporting FBX files without the -fullskeleton option (rest bones only) does not require the render system to be initialized and can be called from servers without a graphics card.

See Also

FBX Import Pipeline

FBX Attributes