Include

The Include rollout lets you decide what data and conversions to apply to your scene at import from a host application.

File Content

Use the File content menu to select how to import the content of your file into the host application. Select from the following three options:

Add

This option adds the content of the FBX file to your scene.

If elements exist in the host application they are duplicated, so use this option to add non-existing elements to your scene.

Update animation

This option adds the content of the FBX file to your scene but only updates existing animation; any objects in the file that are not already in the scene are ignored.

Add and update animation

This option adds new content and updates animation from your file to matching objects in your scene.

For example, if there is animation on any object in the FBX file and the object name is identical to an object in the destination application, that animation is replaced. If the object with the same name does not have animation, the new animation is added

This is the default option for the Media & Entertainment and MotionBuilder presets.

Update animation (keyed transforms)

Use this option so that existing un-keyed transforms on existing scene elements are not overwritten, and instead are preserved in their current state. With the new option, only Keyed animation from the imported file updates the transforms on open elements in scene.

Warning: If you intend to exclusively-merge hierarchies containing animation data, the new animation is ignored on unkeyed import transforms are identically named. If identically-named transforms have keys, existing import behavior is maintained .

If this option is missing from the FBX Import > Include options, see Where is the "Update animation (keyed transforms)" option in the UI? or use the Script the import mode to merge keyed transforms script.

Geometry

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

Unlock Normals

Activate this option to unlock geometry normals and force Maya to re-compute the edge continuity.

Note:

Normals are automatically unlocked for all deformed geometry imported into Maya.

When you disable the Unlock Normals option, Maya imports the locked geometry normals as they were represented by the application that generated the FBX file.

Note:

Locked normals can create shading issues for geometry if a deformer is applied after import. Unlocking geometry normals resolves this.

Maya fully smooth or faceted geometry

If you activate the Unlock Normals option, the object imports with unlocked normals.

If you then unlock the normals faceted edges may appear. This occurs when importing from 3ds Max. If this happens, select the object in Maya and apply the Maya soften edge function to smooth the object.

If you disable Unlock Normals, the object imports with the correct look and the normals will be unlocked.

Maya combination of soft and hard edges

With the Unlock Normals option activated, the object imports correctly with its normals locked. If you intend to deform this geometry you must to unlock the normals, but if you do this the object becomes hard edged in Maya.

Re-import the FBX file with the Unlock Normals option activated to resolve this issue.

If you disable the Unlock Normals options, the object imports correctly with unlocked normals.

Maya deformations

When you activate Unlock Normals, Deformed geometry always imports unlocked. The unlock function does not apply in this case.

If you do not have the Unlock Normals option activated, deformed geometry imports unlocked. The unlock function does not apply in this case.

Maya smooth mesh preview

If you activate Unlock Normals, objects imported with smooth meshes import with unlocked normals

If you disable the Unlock Normals option, the normals of objects with smooth meshes import locked.

Combine per-vertex Normals

Activate this option to combine geometry vertex Normals.

Common uses of this option include reverting the Split per-vertex Normals option of the FBX Export window. For more information regarding this workflow see Split per-vertex Normals.

When you use the Combine per-vertex Normals option in the FBX Importer, the Maya FBX plug-in performs the inverse operation of the Split per-vertex Normals option in the FBX Export window. This can result in incorrect UV texture maps (see the note below).

If you are not using a merge-back workflow (merging FBX into an existing scene) this option might result in incorrect UV mapping when you re-import the FBX file into Maya. Import your FBX file into to your original Maya scene to avoid geometry UV issues with split geometry.

Note:

Using this option permanently alters any UV maps applied to geometry. The plug-in properly re-assigns the UVs to the newly split geometry. There is a limitation in regards to UVs, when importing this geometry into an empty Maya scene, using the Combine per-vertex Normals option in the FBX Importer, as it may result in incorrect UV assignments.

Animation

Activate this option to import animation found in the scene. See Animation for a description of the options.

Cameras

Activate this option to import all cameras contained in the file.

The plug-in imports camera settings, but not render settings. This can change rendering results depending on the source application used in comparison. See Why are my cameras inconsistent? in FBX Troubleshooting for more about render settings limitations.

The plug-in saves cameras as FBX types in the FBX file for interoperability. This means they must convert into Maya camera types on import.

Lights

Activate this option to import all lights contained in the file. The Maya FBX plug-in exports and converts light types to ensure FBX interoperability.

FBX supports Standard Point, Spot, and Directional light types from Autodesk 3ds Max, Autodesk MotionBuilder, and other Autodesk applications.