Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Export Options
Unity has attempted to make the Export/Import process very painless by
doing a lot of the conversion process behind the scenes. Technically, this
.mb file could just be dropped into the Assets folder of the Incursion-Unity
file. Then in the background, Unity opens a version of Maya (the Render
application actually) and converts the .mb into a .fbx, which it can then read.
Unity actually does this with any of the file formats it supports (i.e., opens C4D
and exports the C4D file into an .fbx). On the surface this seems like a really
amazing and painless process as Unity “automagically” converts bunches of
things into the formats it uses.
However, I have found through many projects that I prefer to manually export
files from their respective applications. Here are my reasons:
• WhenUnitydoestheconversion(viathe3Dsoftware),thereisnowayof
knowing what version of FBX the 3D software is attempting to use and
if that particular version is compatible with the version of Unity being
used. For instance, there were some significant differences between
FBX2010 and FBX2011, and FBX2011 stuff was not coming into Unity at
all until Unity had a chance to catch up with the new file format.
• WhileUnityisdoingtheconverting,youarepowerlesstointervenein
the process. If it crashes, is it crashing on export from the 3D application
or crashing on import into Unity? Very tough to troubleshoot without
knowing which is the problem.
• WhenUnitydoestheconversion,itisuptotheusertoincludeallthe
relevant texture files that are used in the scene. If the user misses a file,
Unity forgets that the material is ever tied to it, which means the materials
all have to be relinked manually. It's quick to do this but can add up quickly.
• Bymanuallyexportingyouarecreatinganotherbackupofyourmodeland
work in another file format. As a professor, I have seen at least one student each
semester with a .mb file that suddenly shows up at 0 kb—it's gone. While using
Incremental Saves in Maya can help prevent some tears, it is certainly nice to
have the asset in another format in case something goes bad with your Maya
install, or some other catastrophe happens mid-production cycle.
• Inateamsituation,manuallyexportingfromMayameansthatother
members of the team do not have to have Maya installed on their
machines to access the files that are output. This means that a team
could have artists using a wide variety of 3D applications, and they
could all be assembled on a machine without any licenses of the 3D
applications (perhaps used by a scripter or programmer).
• BymanuallyexportingthefilefromMaya,allthenecessarytexturescan
be embedded into the .fbx exported. This means one file is moved into the
Assets folder for each Maya scene built. When Unity unpacks the .fbx it will
create a sister folder where it includes all the relevant textures. This means
that automatically, all the textures involved in a particular Maya scene are
organized. It makes it easier to find assets when in the midst of heated
Unity development.
