Hi there, newbie here
I’ve created an animated flag in Blender and I simply want to import it into Lumion to be part of a scene I am creating there. Lumion can accept .FBX files without issue.
The way I’ve animated the flag is simply using the cloth modifier on a subdivided plane with a wind force field to blow the flag.
What are the steps that I need to do to export into a .fbx file that contains the baked animation? I’m struggling to find any help elsewhere on this.
Thanks in advance
I can attach the .blend file if required.
Could anyone help with this? I just need to know the steps to export an animation into .fbx format.
Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks
Maybe it helps:
According to the Lumion FAQ you can’t, as simple as that. Vertex animation import isn’t supported, see here:
Thanks for the reply Helmut and mahol. It must be possible if you can import from 3DS Max… Still scratching my head over this.
Hm. According to the official docs animation import is restricted to very rudimentary stuff, i.e. animated object transforms like required to move a car around.
However there are some tutorials around on how to sneak in animated characters, but as far as I understand using older versions of Lumion, like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoHplidbfiw, so the restriction wasn’t present yet in older versions, or someone figured out how to use the manufacturer’s internal mechanisms for bringing in their own animated content … either way, it seems to be entirely unsupported and against the intended use of Lumion.
I remember stumbling across manufacturer statements concerning future plans for, say, alembic import, clarifying it would never ever happen, no plans, no intent whatsoever. I suppose they deliberately cut off those import paths, they probably want to preserve a closed ecosystem for that particular market to which they can sell their own more advanced add on content …
All that is guesswork of mine though, I came to that conclusion while researching whether we could repurpose it for other, non-archviz related animation work and therefore should buy a license or not. If you happen to find out general animation support is supported please do tell.
Helmut, thanks very much for the reply. I have been playing with fbx export and importing into Lumion and also asked on the Lumion forum. Simple move, rotate and scale seems to be supported only. I wanted to import an animated flag but apparently it simply cannot be done… hmm… perhaps that is why I am learning Blender!
Lumion is a great piece of software, without doubt, but it does have limitations. As long as you are aware of them you will be happy… for anything ‘off-piste’ then best to stick to Blender or 3DMax.