Getting Started with Scene Express 2

Getting Started with Scene Express 2
Part 9. FBX Export

Screen captures are from the VNS 2 version of Scene Express 2.
Scene Express 2 for WCS 6 does not include VNS-specific features.

Notes on the FBX Format

» PNG textures are not supported in all FBX importers.

» Foliage transparency is not preserved in FBX exports. A MEL® script is generated for flipboard foliage exports to solve the problem in Maya.

» Flipboard foliage always faces north and south.

» Interpretation of FBX camera aim, light aim, and object rotation varies among importers. At this writing they only work as intended in Maya.

» Frame rate may be ignored on import (known to be ignored in Maya).

1. Open the Atlantis.proj from the WCSProjects\SX2 folder on your hard drive. Save the project as AtlantisFBX.

2. To make our camera match in Maya, open the Theater Camera Editor. Enable Realistic Lens Distortion.

3. Go to the Lens page and enable Depth of Field and Synchronize Lens and Field of View.

4. Go to the Render Task Mode in the Scene-at-a-Glance and add a Scene Exporter Component.

5. Name it FBX and change the Output Format to FBX. Replace Exports\AtlantisFBX in the Output File target with FBX\AtlantisFBX. This will create an FBX folder in the SX2 project folder to hold the exported files. Temporary files will be saved in an Exports folder.

6. VNS Only. Go to the Terrain page. Choose Geographic - WGS 84 from the Coordinate System dropdown list.

7. We'll export the entire scene with one DEM object with 200 Columns and Rows. That will give us a grid cell size of about 5 meters.

8. We have no LOD options for the FBX format.

9. Turn to the Texture page. This controls the texture draped on the terrain. The Image Format field also applies to the sky texture. Enter 1024 into the Columns and Rows fields. This will give us a terrain texture resolution of about 1 meter per image pixel.

10. The Foliage, Sky, and Misc page defaults will work fine for this tutorial.

11. Go to the Misc2 page Cameras section and select the Theater Camera and Afternoon Light.

12. Return to the Gen'l page and Export Scene Now.

13. This will open the Export Control window. Go to start exporting.

14. VNS will ask you to confirm the creation of new directories in the SX2 project folder. You won't get the WCSProjects:SX2\Exports window if you've done any of the other SX2 tutorials.

15. Export Control will let you know when export is complete.

16. Your WCSProjects\SX2\FBX folder contains all the exported data files.

17. The completed project file is in the WCSProjects\SX2\Tutorial Projects folder.