FaceFX Support

FaceFX Documentation and support

FBX Attributes

Attributes are a powerful way to import and export raw curve data between the .facefx and .fbx formats.

FBX attributes are linked to an FxAttribute node in FaceFX Studio. To be compatible with FaceFX, FBX Attributes must be:

Float or double values attached to a joint or node in the FBX file
Uniquely named (no conflicts with other attributes, morph targets, or bone pose names)

FxAttribute nodes do not change how your character looks in FaceFX Studio, but they can be used to get data into FBX attributes which can then drive data in a game engine or animation package.

Creating FxAttribute Nodes

Automatically

1) From FaceFX Studio’s Plugins->FBXImporter Options, be sure that FxAttribute node creation is turned on (it is off by default)

2) From 3DS Max or Maya, export your FBX file. Key your attributes just like the morph targets or bones that define your poses. The attribute keys will contribute to how the pose is defined in FaceFX.

3) Drag your FBX file onto Studio. FxAttribute nodes are automatically added to your face graph and will be driven by your poses to the appropriate values.

Manually

You can manually add FxAttribute nodes to your Face Graph by right-clicking in the graph and selecting “Add Node”. Check the root skeleton node in output FBX files for manually added attributes.

Outputting Curves to FBX

FxAttribute nodes are required to output curve data to FBX format. Select an animation in FaceFX Studio, then go to File->Export->FBX Animation. FxAttribute animation data will be written to the FBX file in the following location:

If the source FBX file contains an attribute with the same name as the FxAttribute node, the animation data will drive the matching FBX attribute. Multiple joints with the same attribute name are not supported because FaceFX node names must be unique.
If no matching attribute is found in the source FBX file, the attribute will be added to the root node in your skeleton hierarchy. If there are no joints in your FBX file, a mesh node will be used.

Importing Curves into FaceFX

In general, FaceFX Studio is used to generate animation data which can then be exported to your game or animation package, but some advanced pipelines may require you to import curve data into FaceFX Studio. This can be accomplished by selecting an existing FaceFX animation (create an empty animation to start fresh), then using the FBX command and specify an FBX file as input. Do not specify an output FBX file. Curves will be created corresponding to the attribute curves in the FBX file.