FBX

The FBX tab allows to bake out Simulation Cache Files edited with the Simulation Layout Tool and linked in a Crowd Render Proxy node as geometry FBX files. The FBX can store only baked geometry or animated skeletons and their relative skinned geometry.

Notice that, due to FBX performances, the amount of geometry exported and depending on the Output Mode (especially when exporting animation), the export can take a long time and generate huge files which will not be easily reopened by other DCC application. Exporting in FBX files is usually not recommended if you're dealing with more than 300-400 characters.

FBX Tab

 
Enable Enable / disable the FBX bake. All Crowd Entities stored in the Simulation Cache in the selected Crowd Render Proxies will be exported to FBX files.
Export ASCII Files Export as ASCII (default is binary for speed and size). This option sometimes solves compatibility issues.
Use Namespaces If checked, each fbx node will be namespace-prefixed with the unique name of its Character
Output Directory Directory to which to export the FBX files. It is possible to specify one directory per Crowd Render Proxy by manually setting each directory (separated by ";").
Output Mode

Defines how the Crowd Entities will be baked to FBX files. There are 5 possible output modes:

  • Export Geometry In One File (With Point Cache): exports the geometry of each character, for all frames. This produces a single FBX file, with a point cache per mesh to handle animations. The joints are not exported in this mode.
     
  • Export Geometry In One File Per Frame : exports the geometry of each character, frame by frame. The result is a file per frame containing the geometry of all the characters. The joints are not exported in this mode.
     
  • Export Geometry In One File Per Entity (With Point Cache): exports the geometry of each character, for all frames. This produces one FBX file per entity, with a point cache per mesh to handle animations. The joints are not exported in this mode.
  • Export Animations And Geometry In One File: exports the joints and the meshes of all characters. The joints are animated using animation curves, with keys at each exported frame. All the characters are saved in the same file. Warning: this mode can be memory consuming if there are lot of characters to export and/or if the characters are very detailed (high polygon count).
     
  • Export Animations And Geometry In One File Per Entity: exports the joints and the meshes of each character. The joints are animated using animation curves, with keys at each exported frame. Each character is saved in a separate file. This is the most memory efficient mode to export crowds with animations
  • Export Animations In One File: exports the joints of all characters (no mesh). The joints are animated using animation curves, with keys at each exported frame. All the characters are saved in the same file. Warning: this mode can be memory consuming if there are lot of characters to export.
     
  • Export Animations In One File Per Entity: exports the joints of each character (no mesh). The joints are animated using animation curves, with keys at each exported frame. Each character is saved in a separate file. This is the most memory efficient mode to export crowds with animations
Geometry Tag Type of Character Geometry Files to use when the simulation is baked.