FBX Plug-in Export: Workaround for Material loss and UVs reverting positions

[Carlos_Carpintero]

Why are we posting this?

There was a problem found with the Triangulation option in the FBX plug-in (MAYA-61009).  While we work on a long term solution, we have come up with a temporary workaround (MAYA-65361).  Please read on for details and instructions.

Problems addressed:

1. Material corruption after exporting objects with per-component shading.  For a discussion of this problem and it's description, go to

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/maya-general/maya-2016-losing-material-connections-on-open-green-mater...

2. UV's reverting to their previous positions after an FBX export.  For a discussion and description of the problem, go to

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/maya-lt-general/uvs-revert-back-to-optimized-settings-after-export/td-...

Instructions:

You will need to replace the FBX plug-in currently found in your install directory with the one for your particular operating system provided below.  Note: these instructions assume you are using Maya 2016 SP5.

For example, if you are using Maya for Windows, replace the problematic FBX plug-in found here: INSTALL_LOCATION\Autodesk\Maya2016\plug-ins\fbx\plug-ins\, with the version found in the attached zip called fbxMaya2016Windows.zip.   

More information:

The FBX plug-in triangulation option was changed so that in most circumstances the resulting triangles in an FBX export would match exactly that of Maya's Triangulation tool. This switch introduced problems, so we have reverted the plug-in's triangulation back to always use the legacy triangulation algorithm. This legacy  algorithm doesn't produce incorrect triangles, just different ones. 

If you prefer the FBX plug-in with the algorithm that gives the same triangles as Maya, we have provided an environment variable to do so. Warning!  You use this environment variable at your own risk, the problems described above are still present!

To keep the FBX plug-in producing Maya style triangles, set the following environment variable with any value: MAYA_FBX_ENABLE_MAYA_TRIANGULATION (consult the Maya Users Guide for more information about setting environment variables).

The safest workaround to continue to use Maya style triangles, is to use the Maya Triangulate tool prior to exporting your FBX file (sans FBX triangulate option), then Undo that triangulation, or type the following command in the command line: delete polyTriangulate1;

Maya LT users, you can find your plug-ins over in the Maya LT General forums: http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/maya-lt-general/bd-p/mayalt

We apologize for the headaches this has caused.  We are very aware of this and are working on a long term, permanent solution.

Regards,

the Maya and Maya LT teams

[malcolm_341]

Has this issue been fixed yet. I'm using Maya 2017 Update 2 and I still have faces missing their material assignments after exporting as .fbx file and then opening the scene later the next day. Very annoying.

[Anonymous]

Same here. Any fix yet?

[Anonymous]

I think it can be  useful,maybe

[Anonymous]

Any fix/patch for 2017? Tried the one above but it doesn't let me load the plugin.

[Anonymous]

I had problems with exporting FBX in Maya 2016.5 with default exporting options, But using File->Game Exporter was solved all the issues.

[snake3y3s]

Guys... we are on 2019 and still having this issue...

Has this not been looked at yet?

What is the different between "game exporter" and "export all" and then selecting FBX as the format?

[Carlos_Carpintero]

Hi snake3y3s,

The Game Exporter has many features that are the same as doing an File Export All, but, it has several important differences as well, especially for game customers.

In the Model tab, there are two differences, Move To Origin and Export Object Set. Move To Origin lets users set up their levels in Maya placing objects anywhere in the world, and when they export, the Game Exporter let's them export at the origin automatically without having to manually move them first. This can be important when importing those objects back into a game engine.  Export Object Set lets you export based on an Object Set (which you can create from inside the Game Exporter).

The other great feature of the Game Exporter is the Animation Clips tab. This lets you break up your timeline into clips that can then be imported into the game engine. So, you can animate all the characters motions, i.e. idle, walk, run, die, shuffle, etc. in one scene, then export all those motions into either 1 FBX file, or individual FBX files.

Regards,

Carlos

[snake3y3s]

Okay, exporting using the game exporter exports MORE options/data than a "export all" but at the end of it all, they are both outputting a .fbx file format.

So (in theory) the chances of the file breaking from the game exporter should be higher than the usual export all...

The issue that is coming up is that the "export all" (as FBX) and then saving is breaking the scene that is saved, compared to "game exporter" (as FBX) then saving, the file is okay.

They are BOTH .FBX formats...

So what in the fundamental exporting system is causing the issues in the one that is supposedly more basic than the other (they should both at ground level be the same)