Geometry

Expand the Geometry rollout to access options related to importing geometry into your scene.

Smoothing Groups

Activate this option when you want to retain the Smoothing Groups information in the imported FBX file. When the FBX file contains no Smoothing Group data and this option is activated, the plug-in re-evaluates the geometry and creates Smoothing Groups for all imported geometry based on the explicit normals data.

Activating this option directly affects performance. This performance loss occurs because the plug-in must re-evaluate all the geometry.

Note: You can use this option when you import Revit-exported or MotionBuilder-saved FBX scenes, as they contain no Smoothing Group information, but some Smoothing Groups may not generate properly, and could potentially cause shading inconsistencies.

This option is disabled by default in the Autodesk Media & Entertainment Preset. It is also disabled in the Autodesk Architectural (Revit) Preset.

If the FBX scene already contains Smoothing Group data and this option is disabled, the 3ds Max FBX plug-in imports only explicit normals data (and ignores all Smoothing Group information).

Note: There is a limitation that involves explicit normals and Smoothing Groups. See Importing Explicit normals and Smoothing Groups for an explanation.
When Do I Use This?

Activating this option is ideal for 3ds Max users who import scenes intending to use and modify Smoothing Groups information.

Note:

If your scene contains thousands of objects and you know that you do not want to work with Smoothing Groups, do not use this option. Otherwise the 3ds Max FBX plug-in must re-evaluate every object during import, which is time consuming.

If you are a Maya user, the plug-in already exports smoothing information (Hard/Soft edges). Activating this option usually gives the same visual results as disabling the option. The difference is the additional Smoothing Group information/IDs (for example, faces identified as belonging to Smoothing Group 1, 2, and so on).

Smoothing Groups and Collada

The Smoothing Groups option in the FBX Collada importer does not import Smoothing Groups from the FBX file. Instead, when you activate this option, the Importer creates the Smoothing Groups during the import process. The Collada importer must create Smoothing Groups on Import because the FBX Collada exporter does not export Smoothing Groups data from 3ds Max. If you disable the Smoothing Groups option, no Smoothing Groups are generated by the Importer.

Display Layers

The 3ds Max FBX plug-in automatically imports Display layers and does not appear in the 3ds Max FBX Plug-in user interface. This option imports 3ds Max Design objects with Object Properties set to By Layer. It imports 3ds Max objects with Object Properties set to By Object.

Note: Layer properties are only supported by layers that are not layer 0; FBX does not recognize layer 0. For example, if you have objects in Layer 0 and Layer 1, FBX ignores the Layer 0 properties but retains the layer property information for Layer 1.

The following Display Layer properties are imported:

Parent topic: Include