FBX export from maya, problems on import to max, the normals are reversed please help., i dont have time to go through scene and flip normals for every max fbx import from maya

[sgiovanni]

so i am working on a huuuuuuuge project,. we are in preproduction stages and we are figureing out the pipeline workflow because some artists are in max and some are in maya, now naturally the choice would be fbx right?? but when we go out of maya into max via fbx the normals are reversed,.. we dont have the luxury of time... we cant go through each imported scene and reverse the normals can someone is there some type of setting we need to enable/disable in the fbx export/import????

[Anonymous]

Hello sgiovanni,

Can you tell me the version of Max and Maya you are using? Also, the versions of the FBX plug-in you are using in Max and Maya. If you haven't done so yet, you should upgrade your FBX plug-in to 2013.1 from the Autodesk website:
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/item?siteID=123112&id=10775855

Also, can you do a simple test for me? I would like you to export some geometry out of Maya and then re-import it back into Maya then check the normals. Let me know what it gives you. Do the same test for Max, just export and re-import back into Max. This way if there is a problem with one of the plug-ins we'll be able to get a better idea of which one.

Regards,
Carlos

[Avotas]

If I could take a moment to weight in, I don't believe the original posters problem is related to FBX. I have run my own tests with complex and unusual organic meshes and I don't see a problem with FBX 2013. What is more likely is that their artists using Maya do not realize faces are set to "two sided" shading by default. When they are exported into Max, who uses "one sided" shading by default, the mistake becomes more apparent.

If the original poster is still around, and want to test my theory, you can download the newly released Maya "Bonus Tools" and select "Display" -> "Toggle One/Two Sided". Cycle through that a few times and watch for changes. It's very easy to make these mistakes, and I know about this one from experience. 😃

-Avotas

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the help Avotas,

Hopefully the original poster has seen your message and will try out the solution. Sometimes the oddest problems have the simplest solutions.

Cheers!
Carlos