FBX Import and AnimationControl Request

I have a slew of old models with fbx animations that I would like to quickly and easily incorporate into a JME3 project however, the current build does not have an importer or controller designed for fbx animations. I humbly request that FBX import and controller support be added as a standard feature of the engine.
Cheers,
Eric
:affe:

I look forward to your patches. :wink:

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That’s far from an easy one.
Even blender doesn’t import fbx. I think there is a patent issue with it, not sure what exactly…like you can make FBX files, but you can’t make an importer…

It was my understanding that the legal issue was with creating the FBX files and that making an importer was hunky-dory. For example, MS has an Autodesk FBX importer for their XNA Game Studio.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb447762.aspx

@SirFizX said: It was my understanding that the legal issue was with creating the FBX files and that making an importer was hunky-dory. For example, MS has an Autodesk FBX importer for their XNA Game Studio. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb447762.aspx

Cool… then there should be no barrier to your contribution of a patch. :wink:

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@pspeed
Cool… then there should be no barrier to your contribution of a patch.

The water seems a bit murky in this endeavor primarily due to no published specs however, should the time present itself, I would be happy to take a stab at a java port based on the python parser discussed here.
(http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?104305-FBX-Importer-v0-001) :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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I know the libgdx guys have something to do with this tool, GitHub - libgdx/fbx-conv: Command line utility using the FBX SDK to convert FBX/Collada/Obj files to a custom text/binary format for static, keyframed and skinned meshes. maybe there is something useful in there?

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That sounds like a good approach. There is no license listed on that python parser though so be careful about using it too directly.

This pretty much highlights the problem though. FBX is a closed and undocumented format and subject to change without notice.

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This thing seems to work to go from FBX --> Ogre: https://bitbucket.org/oc3/fxogrefbx it’s GPL so couldn’t go in JME, but it could maybe go in as a plugin.

There’s is also this which may be better - it’s under MIT license although I haven’t got it to compile yet, quite a few deps: https://bitbucket.org/jacmoe/ogreassimp/

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You could use Ultimate Unwrap 3d Pro, open the FBX, export it to e.g. Collada (.DAE), import it to blender, and then you could easily import it into JME…

<cite>@TsrKanal said:</cite> You could use Ultimate Unwrap 3d Pro, open the FBX, export it to e.g. Collada (.DAE), import it to blender, and then you could easily import it into JME...
Why would we pay almost sixty US dollars to use this tool in a non straightforward way whereas there seems to be some more viable free of charge solutions?

Moveover, Blender format is not proprietary but it is subject to changes too. Personally, I prefer using Collada.

@monkeychops said: This thing seems to work to go from FBX --> Ogre: https://bitbucket.org/oc3/fxogrefbx it's GPL so couldn't go in JME, but it could maybe go in as a plugin.

There’s is also this which may be better - it’s under MIT license although I haven’t got it to compile yet, quite a few deps: https://bitbucket.org/jacmoe/ogreassimp/

Can this be compiled for all platforms? I only saw windows files… I was hoping for some FBX support through blender, then the SDK could use the blender importer “out of the box” as we bundle blender now. I could however also wrap this tool given we’d have binaries for all platforms.

<cite>@gouessej said:</cite> Why would we pay almost sixty US dollars to use this tool in a non straightforward way whereas there seems to be some more viable free of charge solutions?

Moveover, Blender format is not proprietary but it is subject to changes too. Personally, I prefer using Collada.

Really dont know what you mean?! You can use whatever tool/toolchain/format you want - I really don’t care. I gave the OP one way
to bring his FBX models to JME. If you know better, free of charge solutions - feel free to post them.

<cite>@TsrKanal said:</cite> Really dont know what you mean?! You can use whatever tool/toolchain/format you want - I really don't care. I gave the OP one way to bring his FBX models to JME. If you know better, free of charge solutions - feel free to post them.
I just think that it would have been better to remind him that Ultimate Unwrap 3d Pro is not free of charge. The FBX importer of LibGDX is a nice source of inspiration. Moreover, if the OP already bought Autodesk, he could use one of its plugins or the FBX converter to perform the conversion from FBX to Collada without having to buy another software.
<cite>@normen said:</cite> Can this be compiled for all platforms? I only saw windows files.. I was hoping for some FBX support through blender, then the SDK could use the blender importer "out of the box" as we bundle blender now. I could however also wrap this tool given we'd have binaries for all platforms.

I am sure it can, assimp certainly works cross-platform Open Asset Import Library : Downloads

<cite>@monkeychops said:</cite> I am sure it can, assimp certainly works cross-platform http://assimp.sourceforge.net/main_downloads.html

Does it support FBX? Couldn’t find it in the list of supported formats.

I think the benefit of the free options goes beyond money though.

In theory ogreassimp could be incorporated in a JME plugin and used directly in the SDK, allowing models to be imported directly into the IDE from dozens of formats supported by assimp.

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<cite>@TsrKanal said:</cite> Does it support FBX? Couldn't find it in the list of supported formats.

Yes, it does but only in the trunk source which is not so easy to find on the web site.

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<cite>@monkeychops said:</cite> I think the benefit of the free options goes beyond money though.

In theory ogreassimp could be incorporated in a JME plugin and used directly in the SDK, allowing models to be imported directly into the IDE from dozens of formats supported by assimp.

Yes, that would be great. But personally I prefer having one really good working blender importer (current implementation works
well enough for me) and then use tools like assimp to bring the models into my pipeline (in this case FBX -> Collada -> Blender -> JME).
As there is already a “strong releationship” between JME and blender I think its easier to make some script to do these steps
automatically then it would be to maintain a seperate plugin… But thats just my opinion;)

Anyway, really great to have a free tool available that support all these formats

“Blender’s next release (2.69) will support binary FBX file reading”, so that’s good.

If I understand this correctly, this means we’ll effectively have FBX support via our bundled Blender, isn’t that right @normen ?

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