Platform Outputs: FBX

VNTANA supports FBX conversion. This means that VNTANA Platform converts assets to optimized GLB, USDZ, and FBX.

We’ll walk through an overview of the optimized FBX, supported and not supported elements within the FBX, importing the FBX into various software, and finally a quick FAQ.

Let’s dive into the details of the optimized FBX.

FBX Conversion Process

Optimized FBXs generated from Platform are intended for Unity but will also work within other software. If the model is textured, additional import steps need to be followed to relink the model’s textures (see the ‘Importing the Optimized FBX’ section below).

Platform performs one of the following processes to create the optimized FBX:

GLB is uploaded, then optimized to the user’s settings as a new GLB, then converted to an FBX.
OBJ/ FBX/ etc. is uploaded, converted to a GLB, then optimized to the user’s settings as a new GLB, then converted to an FBX.

Note: We only optimize glTF/GLB, so if the file that is uploaded is not a glTF/GLB, we first convert it to GLB. After optimization, we convert back to USDZ/FBX. Some data loss could occur through the conversion processes.

Supported within the Optimized FBX

Platform’s optimized FBX contains all of the data that the optimized asset has, including the PBR materials, texture maps, and skinning. There are some limitations to this and those are listed below as well as in the ‘Not Supported within the Optimized FBX’ section.

PBR Materials

FBX doesn’t support PBR materials natively, so materials are exported under the “Maya” property in a similar fashion to Maya. This workflow is supported by Unity, but unfortunately not in Blender and other software. Blender will import the asset and textures, but textures will not be connected to materials. Users will need to manually reconnect the textures to the materials (reference the ‘Importing the Optimized FBX’ section below for more details).

Texture Maps

Textures (images) are copied from the glTF and embedded into the output FBX file without any editing. Reference the ‘Importing the Optimized FBX’ section below if using the optimized FBX in another software than Unity.

Skinning

Skinning is only partially supported and may not produce correct results across different importers. Geometry instancing is not supported when skinning is present, so geometry will be duplicated in this case.

Draco Compression

Draco Compression can be selected as an optimization setting because the optimized model will be converted to FBX before Draco Compression is applied.

Not Supported within the Optimized FBX

At this time, the below items are not supported within the optimized FBX:

Multiple scenes
Multiple UV layers
Primitives other than Triangles
Mirror repeat
glTF extensions (including KTX)
- glTF extensions are for the most part just ignored, and it is not expected that any data stored by extensions and extras will end up in the optimized FBX.
- KTX textures will be ignored when converting to FBX, so selecting the KTX Compression as an optimization setting will result in an optimized FBX that is missing textures.

Importing the Optimized FBX

Importing the optimized FBX generated from Platform may require additional steps for a successful import depending on the software. We’ve outlined the import steps below for Unity, Unreal, Maya, 3DS Max, Blender, Keyshot, Clo, and Browzwear.

Unity - Optimized FBX Import Process

Optimized FBX’s will import into Unity with textures and materials linked properly however, the asset will need the textures unpacked so they will appear successfully. Don’t worry, the textures can be unpacked within 3 easy steps.

Note: If using Unity Forma, we recommend importing in the GLB.

Let’s walk through them, please see below.

Import New Asset: Right-click within the asset Browser and select Import New Asset.

1. Select the optimized FBX and import.
Unpack Textures: Select the model in the asset Browser, then select Extract Textures within the Asset Inspector.
1. Normal Map Import Settings: Once this process is complete, a window may pop up asking if you would like to fix the normal map import settings. Select Fix Now.
The asset should display correctly and be ready for use after the above steps are completed.
OPTIONAL – Unpack Materials: If you want to make any edits to the materials within Unity, it is recommended to complete this optional step.
1. Select the model from the asset Browser.
2. Select Extract Materials from the asset Inspector.
3. The materials should now be unpacked and available for editing within Unity.

If you experience issues with materials or textures once the optimized FBX is imported, you may want to follow the below import workflow instead. We’ve noticed that Unity requires a unique name for each material. If you have materials with the same names, they get combined. For example, Mesh 1 with material A is the driver, Mesh 2 with material B has the same name but is a different color. When this example is imported, Mesh 2 will get material A applied to it since material A (has the same material name) appears first on Mesh 1, the driver mesh.

Using Unity’s High Definition Render Pipeline will resolve this issue. One of the key advantages of the HDRP is the shader graph materials. This will allow us to connect the textures correctly.

Let’s walk through the process below.

Install Unity’s High Definition Render Pipeline: If you have this installed already, skip to the next step.
1. To install the HDRP, navigate to Windows -> Package Manager.
2. Search for High Definition RP.
3. Adjust the HDRP configuration by navigating to Window -> Render Pipeline -> HD Render Pipeline Wizard.
  1. Once the Wizard window opens, select Fix All at the top of the Configuration Checking section to fix the configuration.
  2. You will receive a message to Create or Load HD Render Pipeline Asset. When this appears, we recommend selecting “Create One”.
  3. The Render Pipeline Wizard should be all set up and look like the below after the above steps are completed.
Import the optimized FBX: right-click within your Asset Browser and select “Import New Asset”.
Unpack Textures: Initially, the asset will come in with no materials or textures. To fix this, the textures will need to be unpacked.
1. Select the asset within the Asset Browser.
2. Select Extract Textures within the Asset Inspector.
3. The textures will be unpacked from the FBX file into the Unity project.
4. After this process runs, a window may pop up requesting to fix the normal map import settings. We recommend selecting Fix Now.
5. After this process is completed, the asset’s textures should be available in the Asset Library.
Create a new HDRP material to assign to the asset: a new HDRP material needs to be created to ensure the ORM texture map is applied correctly to the asset.
1. Right-click in the Asset Library and navigate to Create -> Shader -> HD Render Pipeline -> Lit Shader Graph.
2. A Shader Graph will be added to the Asset Library. Double-click it to open the Shader Graph.
3. Drag the textures into the graph.
4. Connect the textures to the shader:
  1. Base color texture to Base Color channel of the material.
  2. ORM (Occlusions Roughness Metallic):
    1. R Channel of ORM texture to Ambient Occlusion channel of the material.
    2. G Channel of ORM texture to Smoothness. NOTE: Unity uses Smoothness instead of Roughness, which is roughness inverted. An invert node will need to be added.
      1. Right-click in the graph and select “Create a New Node”.
      2. Within the dialog box search for “One Minus” and add that node to the graph.
      3. Connect the G Channel of the ORM texture to the One Minus node.
      4. Connect the One Minus node to the Smoothness channel of the material.
    3. B Channel of ORM texture to Metallic channel of the material.
  3. Normal Map texture RGBA output to the Normal (Tangent Space) channel of the material.
  4. Select “Save Asset” at the top of the graph to save the shader.
5. Go back to the Asset Library and create a new material:
  1. Right-click on the Shader and select Create -> Material.
  2. This will create a material using the properties defined in the Shader Graph.
6. Apply the material to the mesh:
  1. Select the mesh.
  2. Drag the new material to the material slot of the asset within the Asset Viewer.
7. The optimized FBX should appear with the correct materials in the scene now.

Unreal - Optimized FBX Import Process

Importing optimized FBXs generated from Platform into Unreal requires additional steps beyond just importing the model. You will need to relink the textures, and this can be time-consuming depending on how many materials are used.

NOTE: The optimized GLB generated from Platform will successfully import into Unreal without as many additional steps if imported via the glTF Importer Plug-In. You will need to make an adjustment to the normal map by adjusting the compression setting from dxt11 to dxt5 in the texture settings, then change the sampler type from linear to normal in the material, and then connect the normal map to normalize in the node graph.

Let’s dive into the import process below.

Create New Folder: To help remain organized and easily unpack the model’s textures, it’s highly recommended to create a New Folder within the Content Browser.
1. Create a New Folder in the Content Browser.
2. Right-click on it and select Show in Explorer.
  1. An Explorer window will open to the location of the newly created folder.
Drag and drop the FBX:
1. Drag and drop the optimized FBX into this location of the Explorer window.
2. A window will pop up informing you that Unreal has detected a new file in the content folder.
3. Select Import.
Import Options: another window will open with the FBX Import Options.
1. Set the Import Uniform Scale setting to 100.0.
2. Then select Import All.
Successfully Imported FBX: after steps 1 – 3 are completed, the FBX should be imported, and the assets will appear in the Content Browser.
Import FBM Folder: To successfully unpack the textures associated with the model, Unreal must detect a FBM folder and that will need to be imported. This should be nested within the New Folder created in step 1.
1. A window will pop up informing you that Unreal has detected a new file in the content folder; the FBM folder.
2. Select Import to import the textures.
3. A FBM folder should appear in the same directory as the imported FBX. All of the textures will be located within the FBM folder.
Relink textures to the materials: unfortunately, the textures are not linked to the materials. You will need to manually relink the textures to the correct materials. Please follow the below steps.
1. Select one of the materials and double left-click on it to open the material editor.
2. Select the correct textures from the Content Browser and drag them into the material graph.
3. Connect the textures to the correct channel of the material.
  1. Base Color texture = Base Color Channel.
  2. Packed ORM texture:
    1. R Channel of ORM = Ambient Occlusion Channel of material.
    2. G Channel of ORM = Roughness Channel of material.
    3. B Channel of ORM = Metallic Channel of material.
  3. Normal Map Texture:
    1. Normal RGB Channel = Normal Channel of material.
4. Select Apply from toolbar of Material Editor.
5. Repeat steps A – C for all materials.
The optimized FBX model should be successfully imported with textures visible.

Maya - Optimized FBX Import Process

Importing optimized FBXs generated from Platform into Maya requires additional steps beyond just importing the model. You will need to relink the textures, and this can be time-consuming depending on how many materials are used.

Note: Maya does not support importing the GLB format currently.

Let’s dive into the import process below.

Import the optimized FBX: Navigate to File -> Import and select the FBX to import.
1. Note the directory path of the FBX: Once the FBX is imported, a FBM folder will be created in the same location as the FBX. This FBM will contain the texture maps.
Select the Mesh: Once the model has been imported, select all of the mesh components.
Open the Hypershade window.
Show materials used: Open the material window.
1. Now navigate to Graph -> Graph Materials On Selected Objects.
2. You will see that textures are not linked to the materials.
Import textures for linking to the materials:
1. In a File Explorer window, open the FBM folder created when importing in the FBX in step 1.
2. Drag and drop the textures for the material you are working on from the FBM into the Maya material graph.
Create a Stingray PBS Material: The imported model uses PBR textures, but the default material in Maya does not support PBR. You need to replace the default material with a Stingray PBS material.
1. Within the Hypershade Create panel, navigate to Maya -> Surface -> select Stingray PBS.
2. Now a PBR material is available within the material graph.
Link textures to the materials: Now that you have the correct material type, the textures need to be linked to the appropriate channels within the correct material.
1. Base Color: Link the Out Color of the diffuse texture map to the TEX Color Map channel of the material. Be sure to check the “Use Color Map” box within the properties panel.
2. ORM:
  1. R Channel: Link the Out Color R of the ORM texture map to the TEX Ao Map X channel of the material. Be sure to check the “Use Ao Map” box within the properties panel.
  2. G Channel: Link the Out Color G of the ORM texture map to the TEX Roughness Map Y channel of the material. Be sure to check the “Use Roughness Map” box within the properties panel.
  3. B Channel: Link the Out Color B of the ORM texture map to the TEX Metallic Map Z channel of the material. Be sure to check the “Use Metallic Map” box within the properties panel.
3. Normal Map: Link the Out Color of the normal texture map to the TEX Normal Map channel of the material. Be sure to check the “Use Normal Map” box within the properties panel.
4. Geometry Node: Connect the Out Color of the Stingray PBS material to the Geometry node the default material is connected to. This will apply the Stingray material to the geometry in the scene.
Repeat step 6 for all of the remaining materials within the scene.
The optimized FBX model should be successfully imported with textures visible.

3DS Max - Optimized FBX Import Process

Importing optimized FBXs generated from Platform into 3DS Max requires additional steps beyond just importing the model. You will need to relink the textures, and this can be time-consuming depending on how many materials are used.

Note: 3DSMax does not support importing the GLB format currently.

Let’s dive into the import process below.

Import the optimized FBX: Navigate to File -> Import and select the FBX to import.
1. Note the directory path of the FBX: Once the FBX is imported, a FBM folder will be created in the same location as the FBX. This FBM will contain the texture maps.
Turn on material view: Within the viewport navigate to Standard -> Materials -> Realistc Materials with Maps. This will allow you to see the materials applied to the mesh within the viewport.
1. Note that the texture maps are not linked to the materials, so the materials will display incorrectly until they’re fixed.
Select the Mesh: Once the model has been imported, select all of the mesh components.
Show materials used: Open the Material Editor window.
1. Now navigate to Material -> Get From Selected. This will populate our Material Editor with all of the materials on the selected mesh components.
Select a mesh component and focus the Material Editor on it:
1. Select a mesh component in the 3D viewport to edit first.
2. In the Material Editor navigate to Material -> Get From Selected.
Import textures for linking to the materials:
1. In a File Explorer window, open the FBM folder created when importing in the FBX in step 1.
2. Drag and drop the textures from the FBM into the 3DS Max Material Editor window.
Link textures to the materials: Now that you have the textures imported, they need to be linked to the appropriate channels within the correct material.
1. Base Color: Link the Base Color texture map to the Base Color Map channel of the material. Note, if an Ambient Occlusion map is included you will adjust this setup when linking the AO map.
2. ORM: This packed texture will need to be split by its color channels before connecting to the material channels.
  1. Ambient Occlusion: You will need to add a RGB Tint node and Multiply that with the Base Color map.
    1. RGB Tint node: Add a RGB Tint node to the material graph by searching for “RGB Tint” within the Material Browser. Select it to add to the material graph.
    2. Adjust settings of RGB Tint node: You need to isolate the color of the channel you want to display by changing the color of the RGB channels to white or black of the RGB Tint Parameters within the properties panel.
      1. R Channel: change to white
      2. G Channel: change to black
      3. B Channel: change to black
      4. Connect the ORM Texture to the RGB Tint node.
    3. Multiply node: 3DS Max does not have a dedicated Ambient Occlusion channel. You can add the AO map to the Base Color via a Multiply node.
      1. Search for “Multiply” within the Material Browser and add it to the material graph.
      2. Connect the RGB Tint node to the B slot of the Multiply node.
      3. Connect the Base Color texture map to the A slot of the Multiply node.
      4. Connect the Multiply node to the Base Color channel of the material.
  2. Roughness: Similarly, you will need to add an RGB Tint node.
    1. Add an RGB Tint node.
    2. Change the RGB channels to the below:
      1. R Channel: change to black
      2. G Channel: change to white
      3. B Channel: change to black
    3. Connect the ORM texture map to the new RGB Tint node.
    4. Connect the new RGB Tint node to the Roughness Map channel of the material.
  3. Metallic: Similarly, you will need to add an RGB Tint node.
    1. Add an RGB Tint node.
    2. Change the RGB channels to the below:
      1. R Channel: change to black
      2. G Channel: change to black
      3. B Channel: change to white
    3. Connect the ORM texture map to the new RGB Tint node.
    4. Connect the new RGB Tint node to the Metalness Map channel of the material.
3. Normal Map: You will need to add a Normal Bump node before connecting this map to the material.
  1. Search for “Normal Bump” in the Material Browser.
  2. Add a Normal Bump node to the material graph.
  3. Connect the Normal texture map to the Normal Bump node.
  4. Connect the Normal Bump node to the Bump Map channel of the material.
Repeat step 5 for all of the remaining materials within the scene.
The optimized FBX model should be successfully imported with textures visible.

Blender - Optimized FBX Import Process

Importing optimized FBXs generated from Platform into Blender requires additional steps beyond just importing the model. You will need to relink the textures, and this can be time-consuming depending on how many materials are used.

NOTE: The optimized GLB generated from Platform will successfully import into Blender (textures linked to materials) without additional steps required.

Let’s dive into the import process below.

Delete existing scene content: When opening Blender, by default a cube, camera, and light at present. Delete these components because they are not needed.
Import the optimized FBX: Navigate to File -> Import -> FBX and select the FBX to import.
Open the Shading mode: Toggle to the Shading mode by selecting “Shading” from the top toolbar.
Select a mesh component: Select a mesh component to focus on either in the 3D Viewport or from the Scene Collection outliner.
1. A material should display within the material graph workspace.
Link textures to the materials: Blender successfully imported the texture maps but did not link them to the correct materials. You can see the texture maps within the Image drop-down field of the UV Editor. You will need to manually link the texture maps by adding Image Texture nodes to the material graph.
1. Base Color: Add an Image Texture Node and link to the Base Color channel of the material.
  1. Within the Material Graph, add an Image Texture node (from the Texture node options).
  2. Toggle to the Base Color texture map within the “Browser Image to Be Linked” icon.
  3. Connect the Color output of this node to the Base Color channel within the material. Note, if an Ambient Occlusion map is included you will adjust this setup when linking the AO map.
2. ORM: This packed texture will need to be split by its color channels before connecting to the material channels.
  1. Ambient Occlusion: You will need to add a Separate RGB node and a Mix node to add AO to the Base Color map.
    1. Add an Image Texture node and assign the correct ORM texture map.
    2. Add a Separate RGB node to the material graph (from the Converter node options).
    3. Connect the ORM texture map to the Separate RGB node.
    4. Add a Mix node to the material graph (Mix RGB from the Color node options).
    5. Adjust the connection of the Base Color texture map to connect to Color 1 of the Mix node rather than the Base Color channel of the material.
    6. Connect the R Channel of the Separate RGB node to Color 2 of the Mix node.
    7. Change the blend mode to Multiply within the Mix node.
    8. Connect the output of the Mix node to the Base Color channel of the material.
  2. Roughness: Similarly, you will connect the Separated RGB to a channel on the material.
    1. Connect the G Channel from the Separate RGB node to the Roughness channel of the material.
  3. Metallic: Similarly, you will connect the Separated RGB to a channel on the material.
    1. Connect the B Channel from the Separate RGB node to the Metallic channel of the material.
3. Normal Map: Add an Image Texture Node and link to the Normal channel of the material.
  1. Within the Material Graph, add an Image Texture node (from the Texture node options).
  2. Toggle to the Normal texture map within the “Browser Image to Be Linked” icon.
  3. Change the color space from sRGB to Linear.
  4. Connect the Color output of this node to the Normal Map (this node should be included in the material graph by default). The Normal Map node should already be connected to the Normal channel of the material.
Repeat step 5 for all of the remaining materials within the scene.
The optimized FBX model should be successfully imported with textures visible.

Keyshot - Optimized FBX Import Process

Importing optimized FBXs generated from Platform into Keyshot requires additional steps beyond just importing the model. You will need to separate the ORM texture maps, and then assign textures to the materials once the FBX is imported into Keyshot. This can be time-consuming depending on how many materials are used.

NOTE: The optimized GLB generated from Platform will successfully import into Keyshot (textures linked to materials) without additional steps required.

Let’s dive into the import process below.

Ensure the ORM step has been completed following our Separating an ORM Texture – Optimized FBX Import Process guide below.
Open Keyshot and import the optimized FBX.
1. Navigate to File -> Import.
2. Navigate to file and select “Open”.
3. The File Import Options window will appear.
  1. We recommend changing the Textures option from “Resources Folder” to “Source Folder”.
  2. A FBM folder will be created in the directory path as the FBX file. Be sure to note that location.
Keyshot will fail to load the source textures. The textures need to be manually reassigned to the materials.
1. Select a mesh component by double-clicking on it in the 3D viewport. The property panel will change to the material properties.
2. Open the material graph by selecting Material Graph from the material properties.
3. Change the material from a generic material to and advanced material by toggling to “Advanced” within the Type dropdown menu of the Material Properties.
4. Drag in the correct textures for the material into the Material Graph from the FBM folder.
  1. Be sure to drag in the separated ORM textures, not the packed ORM texture.
5. Connect the textures to the correct material slots.
  1. Base Color map texture to the Diffuse slot of the Advanced Material.
  2. Ambient Occlusion map texture to the Ambient slot of the Advanced Material.
  3. Roughness map texture to Roughness slot of the Advanced Material.
  4. Metallic: The Advanced Material does not support a metallic channel. A Metal Material should be added and we’ll use the Metallic map and the opacity.
    1. Right-click in the material graph and navigate it to Materials. Select Metal to add a Metal material.
    2. Connect the Metallic texture map to the Opacity slot of the Metal material. Since this material is fully metallic, we can use the metallic map as a mask when blending with the Advanced material.
    3. Connect the Base Color and Roughness textures to the Color and Roughness slots of the Metal material.
    4. Connect the Metal material output to the Label 1 slot of the Material node. This will apply the Metal material to the Advanced material.
  5. Normal texture to Bump slot of the Advanced Material and Metal Material.
  6. Adjust settings of the Normal texture map to ensure it displays correctly.
    1. With the Normal map texture selected, enable the Normal Map check box within the Bump section of the Texture Map Properties.
    2. Within the Mapping Type section of the Texture Map Properties, change the Mapping Type from Box to UV.
6. The material is set up! Close the Material Graph and review the material in 3D.
Repeat these steps for all materials within the scene.

Clo - Optimized FBX Import Process

Importing optimized FBXs generated from Platform into Clo requires additional steps beyond just importing the model. You will need to separate the ORM texture maps, and then assign textures to the materials once the FBX is imported into Clo. This can be time-consuming depending on how many materials are used.

NOTE: The optimized GLB generated from Platform will successfully import into Clo (textures linked to materials) without additional steps required.

Let’s dive into the import process below.

Ensure the ORM step has been completed following our Separating an ORM Texture – Optimized FBX Import Process guide below.
Open Clo and import the optimized FBX.
1. Navigate to File -> Import -> FBX.
2. Navigate to file and select “Open”.
3. The Import FBX Options window will appear.
  1. Change the Object Type from Avatar to Trim, then select “OK”.
  2. A FBM folder will be created in the directory path as the FBX file. Be sure to note that location.
Clo will fail to load the source textures. The textures need to be manually reassigned to the materials.
1. Select a mesh component in the 3D viewport. The property panel will update to properties for the selected component.
2. Scroll to the Material Section and plug in the texture maps.
  1. Diffuse texture map to the Texture slot.
    1. Drag the Diffuse/ Base Color texture map from an Explorer Window into the Texture slot.
    2. If the color of the texture map is not accurate, double-check that the color of the component is set to White, not another color.
  2. Normal texture map to the Normal Map slot.
    1. Drag the Normal texture map from an Explorer Window into the Normal Map slot.
  3. Roughness texture map to the Roughness slot.
    1. Change the Roughness type from Intensity to Map within the dropdown menu.
    2. Drag the Roughness texture map from an Explorer Window into the Map slot within the Roughness section. This map was created during the Separate ORM Texture Map steps.
  4. Metallic texture map to the Metalness Map slot.
    1. Drag the Metallic texture map from an Explorer Window into the Metalness Map slot.
Repeat these steps for all mesh components in the scene.

Browzwear - Optimized FBX Import Process

Importing optimized FBXs generated from Platform into Browzwear VStitcher requires additional steps beyond just importing the model. You will need to separate the ORM texture maps, and then assign textures to the materials once the FBX is imported into Browzwear. This can be time-consuming depending on how many materials are used.

NOTE: Browzwear VStitcher does not support GLB files currently.

Let’s dive into the import process below.

Ensure the ORM step has been completed following our Separating an ORM Texture – Optimized FBX Import Process guide below.
Open the VStitcher project you’d like to add the optimized FBX to as a trim.
1. Navigate to the Materials -> Trims section of the Library panel.
2. Select “New Button” within the Trims Options menu.
  1. This will create a new button within the file. We will need to replace the default button with the optimized FBX.
  2. Select the button in the Library panel. The properties panel will update.
  3. Select the button within the Properties Panel.
  4. Select the Geometry tab.
  5. Select “Replace”.
  6. Navigate to the optimized FBX and select “Open”.
Position the 3D trim and adjust the Connectors as needed.
1. Click on the 3D trim again within the Properties Panel.
  1. Select “Set Orientation” within the Geometry tab. Adjust the vertical and facing settings as needed.
  2. Within the Connectors tab, modify and add new connectors as needed.
Relink the texture maps to the 3D trim.
1. Diffuse texture map to the Diffuse image slot.
  1. Select the Diffuse texture map in the Property Panel.
  2. Select “Replace” within the map options.
  3. Navigate to the Diffuse/ Base Color texture map within the FBM folder and open.
2. Roughness texture map to the Roughness image slot.
  1. Select the Roughness map slot within the Property Panel.
  2. A File Explorer window will open.
  3. Navigate to the Roughness texture map generated during the Separate ORM steps and select “Open”.
3. Normal texture map to the Normal image slot.
  1. Select the Normal map slot within the Property Panel.
  2. A file Explored window will open.
  3. Navigate to the Normal map within the FBM and select “Open”.
4. Metallic texture map to the Metallic image slot within the Advanced Options of the material properties.
  1. Select the Metallic image slot within the Property Panel.
  2. A File Explorer window will open.
  3. Navigate to the Metallic texture map generated during the Separate ORM steps and select “Open”.
5. The trim should have all textures reassigned correctly now! Adjust it as needed on the garment.

Separating an ORM texture - Optimized FBX Import Process

The optimized FBX from VNTANA outputs a packed ORM (ambient occlusion, roughness, and metallic map). Unfortunately, not all 3D applications allow you to separate the packed texture within their material editor. We will need to manually separate this texture prior to importing the optimized FBX into applications like Keyshot, Clo, and VStitcher.

Let’s dive into the import process below.

Import the FBX file into Keyshot, Clo, or Browzwear.
Note the location of the FBM folder.
1. When importing the optimized FBX file into a 3D software, a FBM folder is automatically created in the same directory as the FBX.
2. This folder contains our textures. Note the green and yellow texture maps. These are the ORM textures.
  1. ORM maps use multiple color channels to represent a material property.
  2. R – Occlusion
  3. G – Roughness
  4. B – Metallic
Split the RGB Channels into separate images within Photoshop.
1. Open Photoshop and drag an ORM texture map into the application.
2. Open the Channels tab within Photoshop.
3. Save As Occlusion map:
  1. Toggle off the eyeballs/ view icon on all channels except for the Red channel.
  2. With the Red channel select, press ctl+A to select all of the information in that channel.
  3. Copy the selected information by pressing ctl+C.
  4. Create a new file by navigating to File -> New.
  5. Select Clipboard as the document size since and press “Create”.
  6. Paste the copied channel information into the new document by pressing ctl+V.
  7. Save the Red channel by navigating to File -> Save As Copy.
  8. Save the image in the same FBM folder as the rest of the texture maps so all maps associated to that file are organized together.
  9. We recommend the below naming convention for organization purposes as well:
    1. “Original File Name_Output Channel”.png
    2. Example:
      1. TechOutfit_AO.png
      2. TechOutfit_Roughness.png
      3. TechOutfit_Metallic.png
4. Repeat those steps for the remaining channels of the texture map (Roughness and Metallic).
  1. Roughness map: save the image with the prefix “_Roughness”.
  2. Metallic map: save the image with the prefix “_Metallic”.
Repeat the process (step 3) for the remaining ORM textures within the FBM folder.

Once all ORM’s are split into separate channel maps, the optimized FBX can be imported into Keyshot, Clo, or Browzwear. Additional steps are required once the FBX is imported, please reference the Keyshot, Clo, or Browzwear Import instructions above.

FAQ

If you’re experiencing results that are not intended with the optimized FBX you may be asking yourself some of the below questions. We hope that our answers to the common troubleshooting topics resolve any issue, however, if we did not resolve the issue please reach out to support@vntana.com.

Why did Platform fail to generate an FBX?
1. If the glTF/ GLB uploaded included Draco Compression a FBX will not be generated. We do not support Draco Compression on input for any file.
Why is my optimized FBX generated from Platform missing textures?
1. Textures are probably there but the importing software doesn’t know how to connect them to the right properties. Please reference the ‘Importing the Optimized FBX’ section above.
2. If KTX textures are present, FBX will be missing KTX textures. It will still be available on Platform and it’s still possible to import it somewhere, but there will be no way to connect textures as those will be lost.
Why does my optimized FBX look incorrect in Blender after the glTF to FBX conversion?
1. Blender is not the target for the converter and may import incorrectly. If textures are the issue, textures should also be available in Blender, however, they may not be connected to the material properties. Please reference the above ‘Importing the Optimized FBX’ section.
  Asset in Platform
  2. Asset imported into Blender
  3. Textures available in Blender
  4. Texture connected to material in Blender
  5. Asset Corrected (one material is corrected) in Blender
Why is my optimized FBX so much bigger than the original glTF?
1. If the original glTF contains skinned meshes that are instanced this could be the cause of a large optimized FBX file size. FBX doesn’t support instancing on skinned meshes. If the original glTF does not contain skinned meshes that are instanced and the optimized FBX is larger, then this may be a bug that should be reported to support@vntana.com.
Why is my skinned mesh animation missing/ broken after glTF to FBX conversion?
1. This is currently not supported.

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