FBX Vs. ActorX

artstream

So I'm working on a project (animated mech from Xenogears), and I'm using Link Constraints to pass control. When I tried to import this into Unreal, UDK wouldn't read the animations. I knew Link Constraints were accepted into Unreal (done it in the past with PSA/PSK) so I looked for an ActorX plugin.

I found an ActorX for Max2012+ (and Maya too!). Export .psk & .psa, and bam, it worked!


The guy said he got permission from Epic, so I hope it's okay? Here's a link to it if anyone was having the same issue with .fbx importing.
http://www.gildor.org/smf/index.php?topic=958.0

m4dcow

Epic is no longer working on Actor X, and I suspect why you got the link constraints to work is that the respective Actor X plugins probably baked out animation to the bones when exporting whereas the intention of the fbx format is to move data between different autodesk apps.

That said, if Actor X is working fine for you, and you don't need to upgrade to newer versions of DCC apps in the near future, you might as well stick with what works.

artstream

Yea, agreed. I just wanted to post this for anyone else having that same issue.

So based on what you're saying, the FBX pipeline means I can't use Link Constraints? I had "Bake Animation" checked when I did my export, which is why it was strange that it wasn't working at all.

blankslatejoe

the FBX 'bake animation' button never works right for me--I just manually bake it out before export with Edit>keys>bakeanimation. I just got to remember not to save the baked file after I've exported.

Maybe try that with your constraints?