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Importing Transforms from FBX Files

FBX is a standard 3D file format that gives you access to 3D scenes created in other applications supporting the same format. What you generally have in an .fbx file is an entire 3D scene containing cameras, lights, meshes, non-uniform rational B-spline (NURBS) curves, transformation, materials, and so on. From this scene, you can extract cameras, lights, transforms, and meshes into Nuke. This way, you can, for example, create a transform in Maya, export it in a .fbx file, and use the same transform again in Nuke.

NOTE:  For the FBX SDK version used in Nuke, see Third-Party Library Versions.

TIP:  If you have trouble with .fbx files, it may be because they were written with an older version of FBX. If they load very slowly, it is also possible that they are ASCII rather than binary. To get around these problems, you can use the FBX converter on the Autodesk web site (http://usa.autodesk.com/fbx/download/). It converts between various different formats, including older FBX versions, ASCII, and binary, and is available on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.

Importing Transforms from an .fbx File

The Axis node reads in transforms, markers and nulls (locators) from FBX files. You can use it to import one transform, marker, or null per Axis node.

To Import a Transform from an .fbx File:

1.   Select 3D > Axis to insert an Axis node in your script. Connect the Axis node to a Scene node.
2.   In the Axis controls, check read from file. This enables the controls on the File tab, allowing you to import transforms from an .fbx file. It also disables controls whose values are filled in from the .fbx file. As long as read from file is checked, you cannot modify these values. You can, however, view them and use them in expressions. The values are reloaded from the .fbx file every time the node is instantiated, so any changes you make in the .fbx file’s values are reflected in the Axis controls.

3.   On the File tab, click the folder icon to open the File Browser. Navigate to the .fbx file that contains the transform you want to use. Click Open.
4.   From the animation stack dropdown menu, select the take you want to use from the .fbx file. FBX files support multiple takes, one of which is usually a default take with no animation.
5.   From the node name dropdown menu, select the transform, marker, or null you want to import from the .fbx file.
6.   If you do not want to use the frame rate from the .fbx file for sampling the animation curves, in the frame rate field, enter a new value (frames per second). To override the frame rate defined in the .fbx file and use the one you defined here, check use frame rate.
7.   If you want to modify the transform properties imported from the .fbx file, uncheck read from file on the Axis tab and make the necessary modifications. As long as read from file is unchecked, your changes are kept.
8.   To reload the transform properties from the .fbx file, make sure read from file is checked and click the reload button on the File tab.