This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(October 2020) |
FBX(fromFilmbox) is a proprietary file format (.fbx) developed by Kaydara and owned byAutodesksince 2006. It is used to provide interoperability between digital content creation applications. FBX is also part ofAutodesk Gameware,a series ofvideo gamemiddleware.
| Filename extension | .fbx |
|---|---|
| Internet media type | application/octet-stream |
| Type code | 'FBX' |
| Developed by | Autodesk |
History
editFBX originated as a replacementfile formatfor Canadian companyKaydara'sFilmbox,a software for recording data frommotion capturedevices. Prior to 1996, Filmbox 1.0 used a file format called FLM. The format only supported motion data, user preferences and a list of devices used in the capturing of the motion data. This data was aserializedversion of the libraries (binary dump), containing read/write memory data. This method of storing data did not work well with different versions of Filmbox. There was also demand from early adopters of Filmbox to implement a target character in a scene with the motion capture data, to enable the visualization of the data in a 3D view with display markers.
In 1996, Kaydara released a new native file format with Filmbox 1.5 called FBX, which used anobject-basedmodel, allowing for the storing of motion, along with 2D, 3D, audio, and video data. The format saw wider support from other 3D software packages such asCinema 4D,SoftImage 3D,PowerAnimator,LightWave 3D,3D Studio MAXandTurboCAD.
Filmbox was renamed MotionBuilder in 2002 with the release of version 4.0. In 2003, Kaydara launched FBX for Apple'sQuickTimeViewer.Aliasannounced its intention to acquire Kaydara on August 8, 2004, reaching an agreement in September. ASoftware Development Kitwas developed in 2005 to standardize the object model and allow other software developers to provide plug-ins of their own. Alias was acquired byAutodeskon January 10, 2006. Later in 2006, support for properties was added to FBX.
Limitations
editThe FBX file format is proprietary; however, the format description is exposed in the FBX Extensions SDK which provides header files for the FBX readers and writers.
There are two FBX SDK bindings forC++andPythonsupplied by Autodesk.Blenderincludes a Python import and export script for FBX, written without using the FBX SDK[1]andThe OpenEnded Group's Field includes aJava-based library for loading and extracting parts from a FBX file.[2]
TheGodotgame engine can import FBX files without using the FBX SDK. In Godot 3.2 this was handled by theAssimplibrary.[3]This was rewritten in Godot 3.3,[4]and replaced by a fork of Facebook's FBX2glTF utility in Godot 4.0.[5]Support for the open-source ufbx importer was added for the Godot 4.3 release. Godot 4.3 allows both ufbx and FBX2glTF to work in tandem by keeping the previously used importer for a given file as the default importer for that file. New FBX files in the same project will, by default, use ufbx.[6]
File format
editThe FBX can be represented on-disk as either binary or ASCII data; its SDK supports reading and writing both.
While neither of the formats is documented, the ASCII format is a tree structured document with clearly named identifiers. For the FBX binary file format, theBlender Foundationpublished an unofficial specification, as well as a higher level unofficial spec (work in progress) for how actual data is laid out in FBX (independent of ASCII or binary format).
List of FBX versions (and alternate names in brackets):
- 6.x (FBX 2006, FBX 2009, FBX 2010)
- 7.1 (FBX 2011)
- 7.2 (FBX 2012)
- 7.3 (FBX 2013)
- 7.4 (FBX 2014)
- 7.5 (FBX 2016.1.2)
See also
editReferences
edit- ^Coumans, Erwin (2009-12-26)."FBX".Blender Foundation. Archived fromthe originalon 2009-07-22.Retrieved2009-12-26.
Export selected objects to Autodesks.FBX file format.
- ^Coumans, Erwin (2009-12-26)."Loading FBX files".OpenEndedGroup. Archived fromthe originalon 2009-10-29.Retrieved2009-12-26.
Field's comes with a Java-based library for loading, and hacking the interesting parts out of, FBX files.
- ^Lee, K. S. Ernest (iFire) (2018-11-19)."Add Open Asset Importer to Godot".Godot.Retrieved2023-08-21.
Supports various formats from Open Asset Import Library (assimp). The focus is on FBX and MMD.
- ^MacPherson, Gordon (2020-10-30)."FBX importer rewrite".Godot.Retrieved2020-11-01.
This is a complete rewrite of the importer. It will give more deterministic behavior. Over 1 year has gone into the development of this importer to remove the burden of the FBX SDK.
- ^Lee, K. S. Ernest (iFire) (2022-03-28)."Add fbx2gltf support for importing.fbx files".Godot.Retrieved2023-08-21.
Lets you drag or place.fbx files in the project folder and it will import the files. An editor setting sets the location of the fbx2gltf binary.
- ^Engine, Godot."Introducing the improved ufbx importer in Godot 4.3".Godot Engine.Retrieved2024-08-03.