3DS Max --> UDK FBX export with animation

Dim

Hey guys, this should be a pretty quick question. I'm trying to export an animation (with no heirarchy, it's literally just movement and rotation of a single object) with FBX, and I'm not sure how to do it.

I export FBX with animation, but when I try to import, I can bring it in as a static mesh (which is obviously unhelpful), or a skeletal mesh. However, the skeletal mesh import doesn't work, just giving me an error that says "Import Failed". Clearly I'm missing something, but I haven't been able to find any documentation on it since Max 2012 no longer supports ActorX (for which pretty much all tutorials are written).

Thanks in advance for any help!

Camikaze

I've found that .PSK files (exported with the ActorX plugin for 3dsMax) to be much more reliable than FBX animation, and don't throw that annoying "Import Failed" error!

Dim

Unfortunately ActorX for Max '12 is no longer supported. I'm not sure if the '11 version works (I can't get it to), but that may be because I'm installing it wrong since I'm new to Max. How do people go about animation in UDK with FBX, newer than the August build, and 3DS Max? I'm having a hell of a time finding up-to-date info.

Christian Hjerpe

Im wondering this too! How do people get it to work correctly?

We only use Actor X at my work for all animations. My lead programmer really hates FBX

e-freak

I'm not sure Unreal supports Animations that are not bone driven. The easiest thing to do would be creating a small box as b_root, linking the other object to it. Make a Snapshot of the Object on Frame 0 and skin it to these two bones (with no influences of b_Root). Keep in mind to enable Bone Translation in the AnimSet.

Vailias

First: Export your main weighted mesh as an FBX, without animation.
Import this as your skeletal mesh. (make sure animations are not checked on this export)

Next: export your animations to Fbx files. I believe one file per sequence, as there is no internal sequence delimiting or import options that I have found.
Make sure frame 0 of every imported sequence is the same as your bind pose.

Also make sure to have animations checked in the export settings.

Open the skeletal mesh/animation viewer in UDK. Go to file->import sequence or whatever is close to that idea.
Then select your FBX files that are anims only.
They'll import with sequence names set to the file name.

misunderstood that you weren't doing skeletal animation:

For non skeletal animation you can bring it in as a morph target I believe. I highly highly recommend either making a simple skeleton to do the ambient animation you want on, as it is much less CPU intensive than vertex animation. Either that, or bring in your animating bits as separate static meshes and animate the rotation via matinee.

SirCalalot

How complicated is the movement and rotation of this object?
As you can move and rotate Static Meshes (after converting them to an 'InterpActor') using Matinee inside UDK.

Hourences has a great little guide to object animation and manipulation within UDK.

You only need to import animations with your meshes when they have a Skeletal animation system. For everything else, you animate it within the Unreal Engine itself.

Hope that helps.

Edit: As Vailias said, yeah.

Dim

Thanks for the replies guys!

pg7262

I was wondering the same thing. Thank you Vailias for the information. I'll be giving that a try.

RobertRamsay

I am having so much problems with this.

I am using bones Pro along with Max 2012 with the latest fbx plugin update.

When I import into UDK i get the 'import failed' message. The only way I could get it to import was to check the 'import rigid animation' box, it imported, but as it says. It's Rigid, didn't support my blending.

Note that when using bones pro I also tried adding the export skin, yet, this wouldn't matter as I think .... ActorX... but then Max 2012... no actor X...

I think an update is really needed on these, but any help (hands on) would be great.

Ctach me on skype : RORamsay

Thanks in advance

PeteHawk

Kind of on topic. Can anyone explain to me how to add a skeletal animation to a partical system in UDK? I've used Vailias small tut, but I'm stuck on linking the skeletal mesh to the partical.

The idea is to use animated insects, joining them up with a system so that they are randomly spread and moved about in scene.

Roca

Hello every one!

I think this topic would quite fit to my 2 questions.

I read in the UDK manual that it is possible to use the same animation package for 2 different meshes, only the bones of the meshes has to be the same number, hierachie and naming. So I tried to import a skeleton in UDK - but without a mesh. And I got the same error message "import failed". I am not sure what exactly could be the culprit:

1. Is it not possible to import a FBX skeleton whichs not skinned to a mesh? And I could only link an animation in the Engine to an unanimated Mesh, with a fitting skeleton?

2. My Motion Builder "Problem" the manual says as well, that the skeleton has to face y+ in Max. The problem I have, the Motion Capture files are face in the wrong direction. When I import a fbx of our mocaps in Max, the skeleton face default to y-.
I tried to rotate the animation in Motion Builder to x- (it is y+ in Max). But the animation rotate as well horizontal a little bit. So the animation do not jump... it make a halv salto :shifty: (I don't know why - I am a bloddy newbee in Motion Builder. If thats the problem I would be glad about a link to solve this...).
Because I couldn't solve the problem above. I just arrange frame 1 as a T-Pose which look at y+ and exported from Max only frame 2 - x. But I am not sure if UDK like this...

I would be glad if anyone could help me with this.