In this guide we will cover the exporting options we have when coming from Maya. For Maya we recommend to export as a glb using the BabylonJS glTF exporter. You can find the installer for your version of Maya here Releases – BabylonJS/Exporters
Before we dig in here are the recommended settings for both glTF and fbx exports.
Export Settings for GLB:
- Export textures: True
- Export only Selected: True
- Export tangents: True
- Export Materials: True
- Copy Textures to output: True
- Export normal: True
If you do not have Open Babylon or you are using an older version of Maya, you can export an FBX.
Export Settings for FBX:
- Smoothing groups: True
- Preserve Instances: True
- Referenced Assets Content: True
- Version: 2014/2015 or newer
Type: Binary - Embedded Media: True
- Up Axis: Y up
Model Preparation Required
Materials:
We strongly recommend you use the standard stingray PBS materials. If you are using Vray, please contact support@VNTANA.com to learn about our custom automated scripts to convert these to real-time PBR. Please note any texture blending will require you to bake out the texture output prior to export.
Standard Stingray PBS
In Maya we have access to a variety of Material Types, we recommend using the Stingray PBS material. The Stingray material can be created in the Hypershade and can easily be found under Maya, Surfaces.
If we select our Stingray material you will see all of our parameters under the attributes roll down.
We are going to focus first on the check box fields
Use Color Map
User Normal Map
Use Metallic Map
Use Roughness Map
These flags act like True/False flags. If you mark true for “Use Color map” you will have to input a texture for “Color map”. Please note “Base Color” should be set to an HSV of 0, 0, 0.5. If the color on base color is set to black it will negate your texture map causing your model to render black! If the flag is set to false the material will use the value present in its respective slot.
Note this material is using the standard preset, this is intended to create an opaque material. If transparency is desired please use the “Presets/Standard_Transparent”, this is outlined a bit further down.
We support inputting values for the following fields:
Base Color
Metallic
Roughness
If you are using values in lieu of maps please make sure you set the “Use ____ Map” to False.
In order to use texture maps in lieu of values, make sure you set the “Use ____ Map” to True.
Example below:
For best visual fidelity results on more complex materials we recommend using a power of 2 texture saved as a .png. Below are the different maps you will potentially have:
- Color Map
- Normal Map
- Metallic Map
- Roughness Map
Transparency Stingray PBS
In order to have a transparent material you need to first change the Preset Material to “Presets/Standard_Transparent”. With the Material selected under the settings drop down select “presets/standard’ to expand drop down of Preset Material and select “Presets/Standard_Transparent”.
Note changing the material preset can not be undone.
With this material preset selected, the addition of the “Use Opacity Map” flag will appear.
In order to use Opacity we need to have a Color map with an Alpha embedded in the image file.
We recommend a power of 2 .TGA saved out in a 32 bit format.
We recommend TGA since this allows you to save out an alpha channel from Photoshop. Photoshop only allows Alphas via transparent backgrounds in your image document when saving out as a PNG.
If the “Use Opacity Map” flag is set to true Maya will automatically link the alpha of the image to the materials opacity when the Color map is loaded into the Color map slot.
Model Transforms
Prior to export we recommend placing your asset in the desired location (typically at origin) to ensure the center point is correct. This can be done by selecting your object and navigating to Modify > Freeze Transforms.
If you have already frozen transforms at a location other than origin and desire to move it to origin you can still do so.
First, make sure the pivot for the object is in the desired location. Take the values that are located in World Space and place them in the translate fields under Transform Attributes and then invert them. This will place your asset at Origin.
Delete History
After we have reset our Transform information, select your model and go to Edit > Delete All by Type > History.
If you have a skinned mesh you will want to select Edit > Delete All by Type > Non-Deformer History.
Prior to export it is recommended that you select what you intend to export before exporting.
How To Export
It is ideal to export a GLB. If you are using a newer version of Maya and have the Open Babylon plug-in we recommend using this to export your file.
If the plug in is enabled you should see “Babylon” in the menu bar, select it, then select “Babylon file Exporter”. From the menu.
The window below should pop up, we recommend using the following settings:
Output format: GLB
Options:
- Export textures: True
- Export only Selected: True
- Export tangents: True
- Export Materials: True
- Copy Textures to output: True
- Export normal: True
FBX Export
Output format: FBX
Options:
Smoothing groups: True
Preserve Instances: True
Referenced Assets Content: True
Version: 2014/2015 or newer
Type: BinaryEmbedded Media: True
Up Axis: Y up
Animations
In this guide, we will go over how to export your animation assets from Maya to VNTANA.
For Maya, we recommend to export as a glb using the BabylonJS glTF exporter. You can find the installer for your version of Maya here: Releases – BabylonJS/Exporters
The VNTANA Platform supports the following animation types:
- Geometry animations
- Skeletal mesh animations
- Morph animations (this animation type is not supported in AR)
Animated textures are not supported.
Since both the GLB and FBX Exporters have a bake animation feature, there is no further file prep needed. The export process follows the same path as a standard export from Maya. For mesh and material requirements please see our recommendations in the above sections.
Animation GLB Export
To export an animation via the GLB exporter, select your asset in your Maya scene. Then navigate to Babylon>Babylon File exporter and use the below export settings.
Maya Animation GLB Export Settings
Export textures: True
Export only Selected: True
Export tangents: True
Export Materials: True
Copy Textures to output: True
Export normal: True
Bake Animation Frames: True
Export Animations: True
If you do not have Open Babylon or you are using an older version of Maya, you can export as a FBX.
Animation FBX Export
To export an animation via the FBX exporter, select your asset in your Maya scene. Then navigate to File>Export Selection and use the below export settings.
Maya Animation FBX Export Settings
Smoothing groups: True
Preserve Instances: True
Referenced Assets Content: True
Version: 2014/2015 or newer
Type: BinaryEmbedded Media: True
Up Axis: Y up
Animation: True
Bake Animation: True
Start: The frame your animations starts on
End: The Frame your animation ends on
Step: 1
The Start and End parameters define the range of frames to be baked. The Step parameter defines how the baking function should work. A value of 1 on the Step will ensure every frame gets baked. A value of 2 will bake a keyframe on every other frame.