Exporting A Geometry File (.FBX)

Once all the desired meshes have been added, the character must be exported to a FBX file in order to be used in the simulation exports.

 

To export the character, select it in the assets tab, select the menu Tools / Export Selection as FBX in the assets tool, and then enter the file to which to export the character. You can also use the matching button in the assets manager toolbar.

 

 

Once the export is complete, the character is updated in the Assets tab: a new Geometry File is added into the Geometry Group. The path to the FBX file is also displayed in the Additional Data column.

 

 

Once you have exported a selected character as FBX, if you add new mesh assets to your character, a warning message will be shown in the status bar: FBX file may no longer be up-to-date.

 

Each geometry file has a bounding box. The bounding box is used to speed up rendering and it is important that it encloses the entire geometry of the character. To view and edit the bounding box of a geometry file, select the geometry file or its bounding box it in the Assets tab. The bounding box height and width have a default value of 1 crowd unit. These values can be changed in the attribute editor of the bounding box shape (see Figure 169).

 

 

When a new geometry file is created it has a default bounding box. It is important to correctly define the size of this bounding box. It should be large enough so that even when the character plays a motion, it stays inside the bounding box. If the bounding box is smaller than the actual size of the character, rendering artifacts will appear. Keep in mind that the bounding box should be larger when using motion blur.

 

If the path to the FBX file of one of the characters has changed, it may be useful to relocate it in the Asset Manager.

 

To do so, select the wanted geometry file in your Assets tab and click on the Relocate FBX File icon in the tool bar or select it in the menu Tools / Relocate FBX File. This will open a file selection dialog for choosing the FBX file of the character.

 

Before relocating the FBX file, the Asset Manager will check that all the meshes of the selected character exist in the character from the target FBX file. A warning message will be prompted in the status bar if they don't.

 

It is possible to specify as many Geometry FBX files as wanted for a same character. By default, it is always the geometry file of id 0 which will is used at rendering time. However, it is possible to dynamically change this file, play its animation (baked geometry animation) for each character with the Geometry Behavior

 

To add a Geometry File to a Geometry Group, select it in the Asset Manager and click on the + button.

 

To assign a Geometry File to a CrowdBeGeometry, select it in the Asset Manager and click on the "Assign" button.