Camera FBX import unit inconsistency

Started by FlynnAD, July 23, 2013, 02:10:58 am

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July 23, 2013, 02:10:58 am Last Edit: July 23, 2013, 02:12:29 am by FlynnAD
Hi Planetside,

I think this is a TG2 issue and not an FBX issue, but of course it may not be.

I'm exporting a camera to an FBX file from within 3dsmax. The 3dsmax file is natively in inches.
Inside the FBX export dialog box, you can choose to "automatically convert units", or choose what scale to convert them to within the FBX file.
I made three FBX files:
A) auto-converted the units
B) force converted the inches to meters
C) left the inches as inches

Within TG2.5, I used the FILE dropdown box to Import FBX scene, chose the camera, and left the "Convert to Meters" checked for all circumstances. All three FBX files imported correctly.

When I copied and pasted a camera node, then went into the camera node's Import options, chose a file, and either left the Convert Units checked or not checked, weird things happened.

When importing the auto-converted FBX file, the units were incomprehensible. Ditto for the inches file.
When importing the converted-to-meters FBX file, the units in TG2 were off by a scale of 1/100.
None of the three FBX files acted any differently when the Convert to Units was either on or off.

The Rotation and Field of View for all the FBX cameras were correct when imported from any of the FBX files through the camera node. Only the position was incorrect.

These cameras are animated, if that helps in reviewing the scale/ imported units at all.

Any ideas? It seems safe to just use the File/dropdown command, but that wasn't natively what I had been doing.


Hi Matt,

The FBX import from the camera node wasn't being set up correctly. Sorry about that. Thanks for the example files, they helped me track it down and fix it. Looks like the workaround for the time being would be to import via the File menu.