Autodesk FBX for QuickTime Help

Copyright
Autodesk FBX 2011 QT Plug-In 2010 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved. Except as otherwise permitted by Autodesk, Inc., this publication, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form, by any method, for any purpose. Certain materials included in this publication are reprinted with the permission of the copyright holder. The following are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and other countries: 3DEC (design/logo), 3December, 3December.com, 3ds Max, Algor, Alias, Alias (swirl design/logo), AliasStudio, Alias|Wavefront (design/logo), ATC, AUGI, AutoCAD, AutoCAD Learning Assistance, AutoCAD LT, AutoCAD Simulator, AutoCAD SQL Extension, AutoCAD SQL Interface, Autodesk, Autodesk Envision, Autodesk Intent, Autodesk Inventor, Autodesk Map, Autodesk MapGuide, Autodesk Streamline, AutoLISP, AutoSnap, AutoSketch, AutoTrack, Backburner, Backdraft, Built with ObjectARX (logo), Burn, Buzzsaw, CAiCE, Civil 3D, Cleaner, Cleaner Central, ClearScale, Colour Warper, Combustion, Communication Specification, Constructware, Content Explorer, Dancing Baby (image), DesignCenter, Design Doctor, Designer's Toolkit, DesignKids, DesignProf, DesignServer, DesignStudio, Design Web Format, Discreet, DWF, DWG, DWG (logo), DWG Extreme, DWG TrueConvert, DWG TrueView, DXF, Ecotect, Exposure, Extending the Design Team, Face Robot, FBX, Fempro, Fire, Flame, Flint, FMDesktop, Freewheel, GDX Driver, Green Building Studio, Heads-up Design, Heidi, HumanIK, IDEA Server, i-drop, ImageModeler, iMOUT, Incinerator, Inferno, Inventor, Inventor LT, Kaydara, Kaydara (design/logo), Kynapse, Kynogon, LandXplorer, Lustre, MatchMover, Maya, Mechanical Desktop, Moldflow, Moonbox, MotionBuilder, Movimento, MPA, MPA (design/logo), Moldflow Plastics Advisers, MPI, Moldflow Plastics Insight, MPX, MPX (design/logo), Moldflow Plastics Xpert, Mudbox, Multi-Master Editing, Navisworks, ObjectARX, ObjectDBX, Open Reality, Opticore, Opticore Opus, Pipeplus, PolarSnap, PortfolioWall, Powered with Autodesk Technology, Productstream, ProjectPoint, ProMaterials, RasterDWG, RealDWG, Real-time Roto, Recognize, Render Queue, Retimer,Reveal, Revit, Showcase, ShowMotion, SketchBook, Smoke, Softimage, Softimage|XSI (design/logo), Sparks, SteeringWheels, Stitcher, Stone, StudioTools, Topobase, Toxik, TrustedDWG, ViewCube, Visual, Visual LISP, Volo, Vtour, Wire, Wiretap, WiretapCentral, XSI, and XSI (design/logo). All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Disclaimer THIS PUBLICATION AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS MADE AVAILABLE BY AUTODESK, INC. "AS IS." AUTODESK, INC. DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE REGARDING THESE MATERIALS.

Contents

Chapter 1

FBX for QuickTime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

About the FBX format . . . . . . Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . Opening files . . . . . . . . . . . FBX for QuickTime controls . . . Keyboard shortcuts . . . . . FBX for QuickTime and the Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 .1 .2 .2 .3 .4

Chapter 2

Advanced FBX for QuickTime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

QuickTime Pro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Authoring for the Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Embedding FBX files on a web page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Chapter 3

Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Common questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Known issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

iii

iv

FBX for QuickTime

Autodesk FBX for QuickTime is a plug-in for Apple QuickTime that lets you play back and interact inside QuickTime with 3D files from any major 3D application that have been converted into FBX format.

About the FBX format

Autodesk FBX is a platform-independent 3D authoring and interchange format that provides access to 3D content from all major 3D vendors and platforms. FBX is a file format that supports all major 3D data elements, as well as 2D, audio, and video media elements. For more information on the FBX format, visit the FBX Plug-ins page at the Autodesk web site: www.Autodesk.com/fbx.

Installation
To install FBX for QuickTime for Microsoft Windows: 1 Download the install file from the Autodesk web site (http://www.Autodesk.com/fbx). 2 Double-click FBX for QuickTime 7.0 Setup.exe to launch the Autodesk plug-in installer. 3 Follow the on-screen installation instructions. To install FBX for QuickTime for Apple Macintosh: 1 Download the .zip file from the Autodesk web site (http://www.Autodesk.com/fbx) to your desktop.

2 Double-click the ZIP file to extract the Installation disk image. 3 Double-click the package icon to start the installation. 4 Follow the on-screen installation instructions.

Opening files
To open an FBX file in QuickTime: 1 Select File > Open File from the QuickTime main menu. 2 Switch the Files of Type menu to All Files so you can view FBX files. 3 Select your file and click Open. NOTE You can open only one FBX file at a time, even though you can open multiple QuickTime files simultaneously. If you open a second file, a message appears telling you to close the first one.

FBX for QuickTime controls

FBX for QuickTime lets you play an FBX file in the QuickTime viewer like a standard QuickTime movie.

If the FBX file you have loaded has no animation, you can only control cameras and lights (see the Keyboard shortcutssection). If there is animation in the scene, use the QuickTime movie controls to preview it. Use the Fast-Forward and Rewind buttons in the QuickTime interface to move your animation forward or backward. To move to a specific point in the movie, drag the timeline cursor. NOTE When you open a new FBX file or switch between applications, click within the movie to focus the interface on the QuickTime viewer. This is because you cannot use keyboard shortcuts unless the QuickTime viewer has the window focus.

2 | Chapter 1 FBX for QuickTime

Keyboard shortcuts
The following table lists shortcuts used by the FBX for QuickTime component. Shortcuts are not case sensitive. While you are using FBX for QuickTime, press H on your keyboard, to see an on-screen list of shortcuts. Action
Help On/Off

Shortcut
H

Description
Displays a help screen with a list of available short-cuts. Cycles through the different camera views: Producer perspective, Top, Left, Right, Bottom, Front, Back, Custom camera 1, and so on. Shows or hides the XYZ axis in the left corner of the Viewer window. Steps through the animation frame-byframe. Cycles through the different display modes: Wireframe, Flat, Lighted, Textured, Shaded, and Shaded & Textured. Frames the camera view to include all objects. Shows/Hides the grid. Shows/Hides information on the selected take, camera, display mode, frame rate, and so on. Activates/disables keyboard triggering if your FBX file was created with MotionBuilder and uses a keyboard device or the Trigger tool. Note: These animations might be constraint-based (that is, rule-based) or actual 'animation sequences' that you trigger. For more about authoring triggers and constraints, consult the FBX for QuickTime documentation.

Cycle Camera View

Axis On/Off

Frame by Frame

Left or Right arrow D

Display Modes

Frame All

Grid On/Off Show Information On/Off

G I

Keyboard Trigger On/Off

Keyboard shortcuts | 3

Action
Lights On/Off Free Running On/Off

Shortcut
L R

Description
Switches lights on or off. Continues evaluation of scene elements even if you stop the QuickTime player when it is active. Activate Free Running when you use the Keyboard Trigger to trigger animation. Switches take (animation sequence). Press T to cycle through all available takes. Cycles through the different viewing modes: Normal, Models Only, and X-Ray. Creates a crane/pan camera movement by moving both the camera and its interest. Note: This feature does not work with Orthographic cameras (Top, Left, Right, Bottom, Front, and Back). Translates the camera along the Z axis, no rotation. Orbits the camera around the camera interest.Note: This feature does not work with Orthographic Producer cameras (Top, Left, Right, Bottom, Front, and Back.)

Take Cycling

View Mode Cycling Crane/Pan camera

Shift-drag

Dolly camera

Z-drag

Orbit camera

Click-drag

FBX for QuickTime and the Web

You can also use FBX for QuickTime to include FBX data on Web pages. See the next Chaper Authoring for the Web on page 6 for more on using FBX for QuickTime on the web.

4 | Chapter 1 FBX for QuickTime

Advanced FBX for QuickTime

The following section contains information about FBX for QuickTimes more advanced functions.

QuickTime Pro
FBX for QuickTime Pro gives a variety of additional controls. Specifically, you can work with 3D as a standard QuickTime Track Type, and composite the FBX 3D track along with other Video, Audio, Text, and 2D tracks. You can also use QuickTime Pro to save FBX files as MOV files. All track controls such as Add/Replace/Trim are available to FBX tracks as on other Track types. You can activate/disable/delete an FBX 3D track, as well as control the position of the FBX track layer using Get Movie Properties from the Movie menu. FBX for QuickTime also supports QuickTime Pro full-screen mode. NOTE FBX for QuickTime does not currently support other Movie Property controls in QuickTime Pro - such as Size and Position. For example, while you can resize 2D files over the FBX 3D layer, you cannot modify the 3D layer size.

Saving an FBX file as an MOV file

You can save FBX tracks (embed) in MOV files, like other Tracks in QuickTime Pro. This lets you open them in another QuickTime player or over the Web.

To save a QuickTime file including FBX data: Select File > Save As from the main menu, and save the file. You have two options: Option
Save Normally

Behavior
Creates a link to the FBX file in the MOV file. Use this option if you are going to work on the FBX file in the same file location. Embeds the FBX track information directly into the resulting MOV file. Use this option if you want to transfer the data to another computer, or want to use the file across platforms.

Make movie self-contained

Authoring for the Web

You can use the FBX for QuickTime plug-in to display fbx files over the internet so you can share files with a larger audience. The following is a list of supported browsers for viewing FBX files on a web page:

Windows Internet Explorer 8 Firefox 3 Safari 3 Google Chrome

Embedding FBX files on a web page

#298004 (Add Javascripts and FBX sample file to QT Installer) You can embed the FBX for QuickTime viewer on a web page so that visitors to the web page can use it to view an FBX file. You can do this by adding a JavaScript file that points to the FBX file to the website root directory.

6 | Chapter 2 Advanced FBX for QuickTime

To do this, you must add the following three things to the index of the page:

A JavaScript file that launches the FBX for QuickTime viewer HTML code that refers to the JavaScript file The FBX file

To modify a webpage so that it can show FBX files with the FBX for QuickTime viewer: 1 Download the AC_QuickTime.js JavaScript code from http://developer.apple.com/internet/ieembedprep.html. There is a link to download the JavaScript file under the heading External JavaScript Solution Two. 2 You will use this script on the web page to launch the QuickTime viewer. 3 Using a web page editor, access the index of the web page where you want to embed the FBX file. 4 Write the following HTML code. This code points to the JavaScript file that you downloaded:
<html> <head> <title>Embedded FBX QuickTime movie in a web page</title> <script src="AC_QuickTime.js" language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript"></script> </head> <body bgcolor="#6699FF"> <h1>Embedded FBX file in a web page</h1> <div/> <script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript"> QT_WriteOBJECT_XHTML('Tester.FBX', '800', '600', '', 'autoplay', 'true', 'emb#bgcolor', 'black', 'align', 'middle'); </script> <hr/>An fbx file should be playing now above, using a QuickTime player embedded. </body> </html>

5 Add the JavaScript to your web page code and upload the FBX file you wish to view to the web page index.

Embedding FBX files on a web page | 7

Troubleshooting

3
Answer
Save your file in the QuickTime Player with the Save As... option in the menu. (Using Save As creates a QuickTime movie that has an FBX track. Make sure to save it in Self-Contained mode, so that the FBX file embeds in the MOV file. Otherwise, reference it externally.) If your character is not positioned correctly, or you cannot see your animation, you probably forgot to plot (or Bake) your character. Plotting finalizes your project by copying the animation directly to your models.

The following section covers common questions about FBX for QuickTime as well as contains a list of known issues. If you have questions, suggestions or comments about FBX for QuickTime, e-mail [email protected].

Common questions
The following table contains the answers to some common questions about FBX for QuickTime. Question
How can I get FBX files to open faster in QuickTime?

I can see my character, but why is it not positioned the way I saved it?/ Why can't I see my animation?

What is plotting (or Baking)?

Question
There's no animation in my scene, but it has a special effects shader that is not moving. When I use a keyboard as a device in a constraint to make my character move, why is the frame rate weird, or the animation is inactive? Why cant I see my textures?

Answer
Set your take length to zero, so that the Free Running option is automatically active when your FBX file opens in QuickTime. Set the take length to zero, so the Free Running option activates automatically when your FBX file opens in QuickTime.

When exporting FBX files, activate the Embed Media option. This embeds textures and other media with the FBX file.

Known issues
The following problems are known issues that can occur when you use FBX for QuickTime:

Exporting FBX
FBX for QuickTime currently does not support export of 3D data in any 2D format. Export of a multimedia presentation (for example, an MPEG-4 stream overlaying an FBX track,) results in the correct export of the 2D, video, and audio layers, and black frames in the place of the 3D track.

Driver warnings
FBX for QuickTime requires an OpenGL accelerator video card, and an appropriate software driver. For optimal performance, the card and driver must support the OpenGL PBuffer extension. If your video driver does not support the PBuffer extension, a warning dialog box appears when you load an FBX file into FBX for QuickTime. Visit the web site of your video card manufacturer for information on your video card support of the PBuffer extension. In many cases, updating the OpenGL driver resolves this problem. NOTE You can still view your files in QuickTime, but the software must run emulation mode which results in slower playback speeds.

10 | Chapter 3 Troubleshooting

Multiple and renamed components

Never rename the component when using FBX for QuickTime. The component name must be QTFbx.qtx (or QTFbx.component on Mac OS/X) or it does not work. In addition, the QuickTime components directory must contain only the most recent component version; do not have more than one version of the component.

MotionBuilder Story window

The FBX for QuickTime component does not support the Story window, so do not use the MotionBuilder Story window to create FBX files. However, if your animation uses the Story window, you can plot the results to a new take, and then view animation with FBX for QuickTime.

0-Length Files (MotionBuilder)

FBX for QuickTime has a Free Running control that lets certain effects created with Autodesk tools (for example, MotionBuilder Particle shaders) to run constantly, even when there is no animation playing. Normally, this option is Off by default. But if you want to start the Free Running of a file automatically upon load, save the file in MotionBuilder (or other Autodesk authoring tool) with a 0 frame length animation. By default, the scene plays back effects as soon as it loads.

Animation triggering with separate FBX files

If you are using MotionBuilder and have a series of separate FBX files that the MotionBuilder Trigger tool or Animation Trigger uses, include separate FBX files with your distribution. To use trigger animation in FBX for QuickTime files: 1 Move the FBX files used by the Trigger tool to the same file location as the main FBX file. 2 Open the main FBX file in MotionBuilder. 3 Update the location in the Trigger tool or Animation Triggering window of the moved FBX files so that the path reflects the correct location. 4 Save the FBX file. 5 Store the triggered FBX files in the same location as the main FBX file when you distribute the FBX file.

Known issues | 11

MotionBuilder Edge Cartoon shader

If you use the MotionBuilder Edge Cartoon shader to create an FBX file, the size of the outline edge is absolute regardless of the size of the QuickTime viewer. However, the size of the model changes. For example, if you reduce the QuickTime viewer to half its size, the model scales down by half but the outline edge of the models with Edge Cartoon shaders remains the same size; this results in a disproportionately thick edge. To work around this, adjust your cartoon shader settings using a camera set to the default size of the QuickTime window before you save the scene.

12 | Chapter 3 Troubleshooting

Index
A
about FBX format 1 animation triggering 11 QuickTime Pro 5 troubleshooting and support 9 web authoring 4 Windows installation 1 FBX for QuickTime Pro saving an FBX as an MOV 5 FBX for QuickTme Macintosh installation 1 FBX format about 1 files opening 2

B
browsers supported 6

C
common questions controls 2 copyright ii 9

I
installation Macintosh 1 Windows 1

D
driver warnings 10

K
keyboard shortcuts 3 known issues 10 animation triggering 11 driver warnings 10 Edge cartoon shader 12 exporting FBX 10 MotionBuilder 0-length files 11 MotionBuilder Story window 11 known limitations multiple and renamed components 11

E
exporting to FBX 10

F
FBX for QuickTime animation triggering 11 common questions 9 controls 2 driver warnings 10 exporting FBX 10 keyboard shortcuts 3 known issues 10 MotionBuilder 0 length files 11 MotionBuilder Edge cartoon shader 12 MotionBuilder Story window 11 multiple and renamed components 11

M
MotionBuilder 0-length files 11 Edge cartoon shader Story window 11 MOV file saving an FBX file as

12

13 | Index

multiple components

11

R
renamed components 11

O
opening files 2

S
supported browsers 6

P
procedure load a file 2 Mac install 1 Windows install

T
troubleshooting 1 9

Q
Quicktime Pro and FBX 5

W
web authoring and FBX for QuickTime 4

14 | Index