[Bf-committers] FBX import support

[Hadrien Brissaud]

Hello Ton and everyone,

I wouldn't say I know how these things work, but isn't user adoption
precisely driven (or allowed) by software support in the first place ? Why
wouldn't a development of Collada support be a wise investment ? It seems
that supporting FBX through reverse-engineering is quite difficult. I
understand the stakes, though : it *is* already a standard.

Thanks,

Hadrien


On 25 April 2014 14:37, Ton Roosendaal <ton at blender.org> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> The strong part of FBX was that it started as a native file format
> (MotionBuilder). Autodesk then has been hacking a lot on top of it... so it
> might have grown hairy and ugly, but it definitely works and gets used a
> lot. It's a big shame that Autodesk refuses to make an open standard out of
> it - even when only partially.
>
> The alternative - Collada - is hardly an option either. When Collada got
> published nobody was using it natively. Even after 5 years there's no
> reference stakeholder to make sure the format has a decent user base and
> momentum. And let's not start the discussion why a 3D media project would
> use XML formatted text for 3d data...
>
> What Alembic would offer - just baked meshes - is probably the best
> future. Any serious attempt to match rigs, constraints and modifiers
> between 3d apps is doomed anyway! :)
>
> -Ton-
>
> --------------------------------------------------------
> Ton Roosendaal  -  ton at blender.org   -   www.blender.org
> Chairman Blender Foundation - Producer Blender Institute
> Entrepotdok 57A  -  1018AD Amsterdam  -  The Netherlands
>
>
>
> On 25 Apr, 2014, at 8:47, <toni at playsign.net> <toni at playsign.net> wrote:
>
> > This is why I’ve figured Collada may still be better to use -- at least
> it is open and ~specified.
> >
> >
> > Does not seem like a good idea to build the future on something secret
> (and ugly?) in the long run.
> >
> >
> > ~Toni
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > From: Bastien Montagne
> > Sent: ‎Friday‎, ‎April‎ ‎25‎, ‎2014 ‎9‎:‎45‎ ‎AM
> > To: bf-blender developers
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Tom said the essential. :)
> >
> > We had to understand both the binary encoding[1] and format layout[2] of
> > this ugly thing,
> > and directly write from the py scripts… Highly frustrating and
> > time-consuming tasks, esp.
> > since FBX has some very odd inconsistencies and odd & picky expectations.
> >
> > Note that armature and animation support on import side are on my TODO,
> > just have to find
> > some time for this, bugs are another frustrating and time consuming
> task. :/
> >
> > Bastien
> >
> > [1]
> >
> http://code.blender.org/index.php/2013/08/fbx-binary-file-format-specification/
> > [2]
> >
> http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/User:Mont29/Foundation/FBX_File_Structure
> > (still heavy WIP).
> >
> > On 25/04/2014 01:45, Tom M wrote:
> >> The license for the FBX library is incompatible with the GPL, so not
> >> it is not included.  The FBX importer and exporter are based on
> >> reverse engineering the format.  The format is not documented.
> >>
> >> LetterRip
> >>
> >> On Thu, Apr 24, 2014 at 2:31 PM, Stefano Corazza <stefano at mixamo.com>
> wrote:
> >>> I hear there are improvements coming up... but many users are sending a
> >>> lot of complaints about FBX import in Blender.
> >>>
> >>> A few questions:
> >>>
> >>> 1 - Did we include in Blender the FBX SDK or otherwise how are these
> FBX
> >>> created?
> >>>
> >>> 2 - Right now there is no support for rigged/animated characters in the
> >>> FBX importer. Is this something anyone is working on?
> >>>
> >>> FBX is a very complex format we have deeply studied in the past year, I
> >>> just want to make sure we have a realistic vision of what is possible.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Please please please comment on this post!!!  We want to know!!!
> >>>
> >>> Thanks
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Stefano
> >>>
> >>>
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> >
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