Import FBX file into After Effects

[Kr3]

FBX to AE v1.0

The first plugin that we present, has been designed and developed by Valerio Carnevale.

This free plugin is used to import one or more animate 3D cameras (and reference solids), from FBX file to After Effects composition.

Has been tested on Windows. The FBX file was created in 3ds Max (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015) and imported into Adobe After Effects CC 2014.

We will do further testing of compatibility with other systems (Mac OSX) and software (eg. Maya, C4D, other versions of After Effects).

Installation guide:

1 – Download plugin – http://www.timecore.org/fbx-to-ae/

2 – Copy FBX_to_AE.aex in (After Effects plugins folder): C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects CC 2014\Support Files\Plug-ins

Operations guide

1 – export 3D cameras (I remember to you only free cameras are supported at the moment) and plans made of only four vertices

2 – in order to export animations (3D cameras and plans) select bake animations with sampling of all parameters (Resample all)

3 – At this moment the FBX file is ready !

4 – Open After Effects and, from menu item File > Import > File,  choose “FBX to AE” format and select your .fbx file

5 – This action will create a composition (“FBX_comp“) with the correct size of camera rendering and and solids layers

6 – Enjoy!

Follow the video tutorial to understand some important steps for the proper functioning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yzyLNFbNP0

[Kr3]

Timecore FBX to AE - New release v1.0.4 !

http://www.timecore.org/fbx-to-ae/

ChangeLog

v1.0.4 (2015/07/31)

– Import FBX file from Autodesk Maya

– Import complex meshes as null layer

– Bug fixes and performance fixes

v1.0.3 (2015/06/26)

– Build release version (code optimization)

v1.0.2 (2015/06/25)

– Fixed bug, Identification mesh with more than four vertices

– Fixed bug, crash AE after import FBX file many times

– Written version in the code

v1.0 (2015/06/21)

– Starter release

[Kr3]

FBX to AE Pro

http://www.timecore.org/fbx-to-ae/

Import and export one or more 3D animated cameras, reference solids and null/dummy from and to After Effects composition.
Please note it is Windows only at the moment.

We encourage to download trial version (7 days) to test it before to buy !

Features

Import

• Create a new Composition with the correct size and fps of camera rendering
• 3D animated standard camera free and target (at the moment Physical Camera is not supported)
• Animated Plane with 4 vertices
• Animated Complex meshes as Null Layer
• Animated Dummy and Locator
• Parent Child linkings are supported (known issues for Maya linkings)

Export

• 3D animated camera free and target
• 3D animated Solid Layer as 4 vertices planes
• 3D animated Null Layer as Dummy/Locator
• Parent Child linkings are supported

Compatibility

• Microsoft Windows (there is no Mac version at the moment)
• Adobe After Effects ( CC 2014, CC 2015 )

Tested FBX compatibility

Should work with any FBX file however we have officially tested FBX files from these hosts:

• Autodesk 3ds Max ( 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 )
• Autodesk Maya ( 2016, could be also compatible with old versions )

Installation guide

• Extract and copy plugins in C:\Program Files\Adobe\Common\Plug-ins\7.0\MediaCore
• If you need, delete older versions

Quick start guide

Import

1. Use FBX Export panel to export 3D cameras. Plans made of only 4 vertices are imported as solid layers with same dimensions and more complex meshes are imported as 3D null layers
2. In order to export animations (3D cameras, plans and meshes) select bake animations with sampling of all parameters (Resample all)
   If you export not animated objects remember to set a general key if it is linked to another object
3. At this moment the FBX file is ready !
4. Open After Effects and, from menu item Import – File,  choose “FBXtoAE_Pro” format and select your FBX file
5. This action will create a composition (“FBX_comp_filename“) with the correct size of camera rendering, solids and null layers
6. Enjoy !

Export

1. Select Composition of interest and choose File - Export - AEtoFBX_Pro
2. Select 3ds Max or Maya and Export
3. Before to import FBX remember to set the corresponding fps for the timeline into 3D application

Important Notes

• Importing from Autodesk Maya remember to set film aspect ratio (FAR) same as aspect ratio rendering.
  (eg. If your rendering dimensions are 1920×1080 set FAR camera to 1.778)
• Imported plans from fbx could be result in solid layer with the height and width exchanged between them.
  This bug will be fixed as soon as possible but you can easly fix changing width and height in solid layer configuration.
• For 3ds Max users remember to select camera and target in order to export them together.
• Rotation and Orientation for Camera target in After Effects must be left to "0" to export.
• Remember to export parent objects if you plan to export its children
• Follow the video tutorial to understand some important steps for the proper functioning.

[ddburton]

This is no longer free, is there another good plug in to do this?

[Szalam]

Can you import the FBX into Cinema 4D Lite that comes free with AE? I haven't tried, but it should work.

[marciliop]

If you're doing it for commercial purposes, just buy it. If not, learn Blender. It's in my opinion the go-to 3D application for the enthusiast/hobbyist. And it also opens FBX. Totally free. Training vastly available on youtube.

[deang32946128]

I tried this plugin with AE CC2019 and an .fbx file generated by Maya, and it doesn't work. The locators came in scaled up to 50,000% and with animation in every parameter (position, rotation, orientation, anchor point, etc.) that was not in the .fbx file.

[utop]

It's strange ... 
are you sure you followed all the indications of the plugin on "how to export" when exporting from Maya ? This plugin is also used in a Lynda course with Maya and AE. (https://www.lynda.com/After-Effects-tutorials/Exporting-FBX-camera-from-After-Effects/659290/5000251...)