The following section contains a list of known limitations for this version of the 3ds Max FBX plug-in. If you have problems with the plug-in that are not listed here, refer to the Troubleshooting section.
Tangents and Binormals FBX limitations
There is a known FBX limitation where exported binormal and/or tangent information does not appear, even if you activate the Export 
Include Geometry Tangents and Binormals option.
The Tangents and Binormals option only works on meshes that have only triangle polygons, so you may need to triangulate the mesh before activating this option.
For information about tangents and binormals, see Tangents.
Animation Controllers FBX limitations
During export, if the FBX plug-in detects that an animation controller has an undefined time range, it automatically adjusts it to use the scene animation interval. This way, the number of animation keys generated are limited.
Preset Bake Animation Settings FBX limitations
You cannot save Bake Animation settings (Start/End/Step values) in Preset files. If you created a preset that had specific settings for the Bake Animations values, these values will not be used the next time you load the preset. Instead, the FBX plug-in will always default to the values set for the scene's timeline.
For example, if the animation in the scene is 102 frames long, the Start value will be 1, the End value will be 102, and the Step value will be 1, regardless of what values you may have stored in the preset for this setting.
Non-Orthogonal Matrices FBX limitations
“Orthogonal” is a term used to describe two vectors that are perpendicular (at 90 degrees) to each other. In 3D space, when the X, Y, or Z-Axes are not perpendicular, they are considered “non-orthogonal” and the FBX plug-in does not support their representation as a matrix. For example, a non-orthogonal set of axes can occur when you use rotation and scaling to skew an object.
Because the FBX plug-in assumes that there is always a 90 degree angle between the X, Y, and Z axes, it can support only orthogonal matrices. Any transformed axes that have non-orthogonal TRS matrices are ignored by the FBX plug-in, so it does not import or export effects created when axes are not orthographic. Because of this, any non-orthogonal effect (such as skewing) is lost.
This can cause problems even when you have transformation data that has been inherited from other objects, for example, scaling via a parent object where the result is a non-orthogonal local TRS matrix.
Maya LOD Attributes FBX limitations
“Orthogonal” is a term used to describe two vectors that are perpendicular (at 90 degrees) to each other. In 3D space, when the X, Y, or Z-Axes are not perpendicular, they are considered “non-orthogonal” and the FBX plug-in does not support their representation as a matrix. For example, a non-orthogonal set of axes can occur when you use rotation and scaling to skew an object.
Because the FBX plug-in assumes that there is always a 90 degree angle between the X, Y, and Z axes, it can support only orthogonal matrices. Any transformed axes that have non-orthogonal TRS matrices are ignored by the FBX plug-in, so it does not import or export effects created when axes are not orthographic. Because of this, any non-orthogonal effect (such as skewing) is lost.
This can cause problems even when you have transformation data that has been inherited from other objects, for example, scaling via a parent object where the result is a non-orthogonal local TRS matrix.
LOD (Level of Detail) attributes in Maya files are ignored when you import them into 3ds Max.
In 3ds Max, the group will be created and the LOD Utility will be applied to the group. Default values will be used for threshold attributes. Since Maya uses a camera distance and 3ds Max a pixel resolution, these LOD attributes are incompatible and the 3ds Max importer and exporter ignores them.
Explicit Normals and Smoothing Groups FBX import limitation
A limitation occurs when you import an FBX file that contains Smoothing group data into 3ds Max with the Smoothing groups option activated.
If any objects in the file contain explicit normal modifications, the FBX importer will import only the smoothing group data and ignore modifications made to the normals. For example, if you modified the normal directions, but the object also has smoothing group information.
The 3ds Max FBX plug-in does not export smoothing group data by default.
Environmental Texture Maps FBX limitation
The 3ds Max FBX Plug-in does not support environmental texture maps (Environ option).
Standard Material Map Channel Values FBX limitation
The 3ds Max FBX plug-in does not retain amount values for most Standard material map channels, such as Diffuse and Specular level when exporting. The FBX format saves only the bump map channel amount and sets all other channels to a value of 100 on import.
The 3ds Max FBX plug-in reads the glossiness and specularity amounts from Shader Basic Parameters and not from the Maps rollout in the Material Editor.
Morph Information FBX limitation
The 3ds Max FBX plug-in does not export Morph information with Patch geometry.
The export of multiple Morph modifiers is not supported. The modifier order is incorrect on reimport.
Locked Ambient and Diffuse Channels FBX limitation
The 3ds Max FBX plug-in does not export 3ds Max Lock information from Ambient and Diffuse channels. If you define a texture in the Ambient channel when you import an FBX file into 3ds Max, the Ambient, and Diffuse channels become unlocked. To preserve the locked state of the channel, you must lock them after you import the scene.
Photometric Lights FBX limitation
The FBX Exporter converts Photometric lights to Standard lights. Photometric lights from Revit 2009 and later are supported by 3ds Max 2009 and later.
FBX Export limitation and workaround
A limitation exists where objects exported with the FBX format remain in the last state shown in the Viewport. The plug-in exports any vertex animation on an object in its current PRS coordinates. For example, if you export a cylinder with a 100-frame animated Bend modifier at frame 50, the scene shows the cylinder at a 50-percent bend.
Workaround
To accommodate this limitation, position your time slider at the point in the animation you want to export. To retain the entire animation, create a selection set for animated objects. Then, activate the Include Animation Point Cache File(s) option in the 3ds Max FBX Exporter window.
Biped Layers FBX limitation
Multiple layer animation may not export.
The 3ds Max FBX plug-in conditionally supports Biped animation layers. If you highlight a layer and export it with the Media & Entertainment default preset, you will only export the animation from that specific layer. See Where are my keys/animation layers? in the Troubleshooting topic for more.
TCB Interpolation Controllers FBX limitation
For improved interoperability, keyframe animation set on controllers with TCB interpolation or tangent slopes set to Fast, Slow, or User resamples systematically.
Scale Compensation FBX limitations
If you modify the scale of joints that are parents of other joints in Maya, they do not import correctly into 3ds Max. This import problem occurs because 3ds Max does not support scale compensate settings in Maya.
What Does Scale Compensate Do?
If you scale a parent joint in Maya using scale compensation, it creates an offset for the child joint rather than scaling it.
But if you do the same thing in 3ds Max, the child scales and creates no offsets.
Since 3ds Max does not support Scale Compensate, any joint hierarchy you use in Maya with scale compensate looks wrong in 3ds Max.
When Do I De-Activate Scale Compensate So it Imports Correctly into 3ds Max?
Deactivate the scale compensate for joints only if you have modified the scale of any joints that are parents of other joints.
If all your joints are the same scale, you do not have to deactivate this setting in Maya.
To deactivate scale compensate in Maya:
- In Maya, select the child joint.
- In the Attribute Editor, deactivate the Segment Scale Compensate attribute.
This option deactivates the scale compensation setting.
Bitmaps, Procedural, and Map Channels FBX limitation
The 3ds Max FBX plug-in processes any type of image map in almost any standard material channel. Anything that you map in the Diffuse, Specular and other channels translate to FBX, as long as they are not procedural maps.
The FBX plug-in can transfer bitmap image and Composite Layer maps. However, the FBX plug-in ignores files created with procedural mapping systems like Dent or Smoke as it does not currently support these mapping types.
| Map Channel | Support |
|---|---|
| Ambient | Supported |
| Diffuse | Supported |
| Specular color | Supported |
| Specular level | Supported |
| Glossiness | Supported |
| Self-Illumination | Supported |
| Opacity | Supported |
| Bump | Supported |
| Reflection | Supported |
| Displacement | Supported |
Selection Sets FBX limitation
A known limitation exists where sets that contain NURBS subcomponents, such as Isoparm, Control Vertex, or Surface Patch, do not retain the NURBS subcomponent information. This results in an empty set on import.
Missing Texture Maps in DAE Files FBX limitation
A 3ds Max limitation causes texture maps to disappear from objects when they are imported into Maya in Collada (DAE) format.