FBX Properties

Managing Properties

The FbxProperty template class is used to ensure that the data of a FbxObject is strongly typed. For example, the local translation vector of a FbxNode is described using a FbxTypedProperty which is parametrized for FbxDouble3.

When a FbxObject is created, its static built-in FbxPropertys are automatically initialized. To create your own FbxProperty, you must invoke FbxProperty::Create(), and pass either a reference to a FbxObject, or to another FbxProperty.

The following code sample was taken from the Animation example. In this sample, the first parameter of FbxProperty::Create() is a FbxScene object. The second parameter is the datatype of the property (a full list of datatypes can be found in the fbxdatatypes.h header file). The third parameter is the assigned name of the property.

FbxProperty p = FbxProperty::Create(pScene, DTDouble3, "Vector3Property");
FbxSet<FbxDouble3>(p, FbxDouble3(1.1, 2.2, 3.3);

The name with which a FbxProperty is created can be accessed by calling FbxProperty::GetName(). This name can be used to search for a property within a hierarchy (see Property Hierarchy).

An instance of FbxProperty can be destroyed by calling FbxProperty::Destroy(). A hierarchy of FbxProperty can be destroyed by invoking FbxProperty::DestroyRecursively() on the root property.

Property Data

Instances of FbxProperty contain data which can be set and accessed by respectively calling FbxProperty::Set() and FbxProperty::Get(). For example, the FbxNode geometric transformation data, represented as vectors of FbxDouble3, can be accessed in the following way:

// ... initialize FbxNode* lNode ...
FbxDouble3 translation = lNode->LclTranslation.Get();
FbxDouble3 rotation = lNode->LclRotation.Get();
FbxDouble3 scaling = lNode->LclScaling.Get();

The data contained within a FbxTypedProperty can only be set to a value that is valid for the property's data type. Some implicit conversions are supported; you can, for example, provide an int when a double is required.

Property Hierarchy

Properties can be organized in a hierarchy. A FbxProperty can be connected to a FbxObject, or to another FbxProperty. The bound FbxObject of the property can be accessed by invoking FbxProperty::GetFbxObject(). The ExportScene05 example illustrates the construction of a property hierarchy.

Sample Code

The following sample code was taken from the ExportScene05 example. It illustrates how to create your own FbxProperty values, and bind them to a FbxObjectMetaData instance (which inherits from FbxObject).

// ... initialize pScene as a FbxScene* ...

// Create a FbxObjectMetaData* object in pScene.
FbxObjectMetaData* lFamilyMetaData = FbxObjectMetaData::Create(pScene, "Family");

// Create and assign data to several instances of FbxProperty, based on their parametrized
// datatypes (DTString, DTFloat, DTDouble). 
//
// The fourth parameter is an optional label string, which can be obtained and modified
// using FbxProperty::GetLabel() and FbxProperty::SetLabel(). This label only exists
// in the program's main memory, and will not be exported to a file if/when the property
// is exported.
// 
// These properties will be contained within the pFamilyMetaData object.
//
FbxProperty::Create(lFamilyMetaData, DTString, "Level", "Level").Set(FbxString("Family")); // String
FbxProperty::Create(lFamilyMetaData, DTString, "Type", "Type").Set(FbxString("Wall"));     // String
FbxProperty::Create(lFamilyMetaData, DTFloat, "Width", "Width").Set(10.0f);              // float
FbxProperty::Create(lFamilyMetaData, DTDouble, "Weight", "Weight").Set(25.0);            // double
FbxProperty::Create(lFamilyMetaData, DTDouble, "Cost", "Cost").Set(1.25);                // double