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How do i officially replace a FBX file?

Discussion in 'Editor & General Support' started by Tiles, May 30, 2011.

  1. Tiles

    Tiles

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    I have a character with three animations. Now i wanted to replace the FBX file because i have added a few more animations. So my first way was to simply drag the new FBX into the folder in the Project tab. No luck. The new file does not overwrite the old file. It imports the second file, and renames it to myfile 1.

    My next way leaded to the Explorer. Here i replaced the FBX file. Back in Unity my character stopped working: No jump animation found and the character has canJump enabled. Turning off animations.
    UnityEngine.Debug:Log(Object) ...

    Seems that the formerly created clips are not longer fitting to the new FBX. Which is curious, because all i did was adding a few more animations at the end.

    So what is the official way to replace a FBX file? Is it really necessary to build my character from scratch, and to adjust all the scripts to the new name then?
     
  2. Don-Gray

    Don-Gray

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    You could try right clicking the asset in the Project pane choosing reimport, pointing to the new version of the model.
     
  3. Tiles

    Tiles

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    Thanks Don Gray. But how do i point to the new version? I can just click the reimport button. And then the stuff simply gets reimportet. Which leaves me still trapped.
     
  4. Tiles

    Tiles

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    Seems that i`m doomed here. The manual says:

    That`s me out. It does not work that way neither. And there is no description to find how to proper replace graphics. Seems that i really need to build my game from scratch every time i need to change something at the graphics. This can`t be true :(
     
  5. Don-Gray

    Don-Gray

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    Well, one way to do it would be, rename your present or older model with another name,
    and put the new version into the same folder with the original name, so when you select re-import that should import the new version.
     
  6. Don-Gray

    Don-Gray

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    The problem with the animated model really shouldn't be an "every time you edit" issue,
    but might happen once in a while, otherwise, like the part you quoted from the manual, should normally work.
    For graphics double-clicking on the graphic in the project window should launch your graphic editing program (i.e. Photoshop)
    where you can edit, save (in same project folder) and it gets updated when returning to Unity.
     
  7. Tiles

    Tiles

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    Thanks Don Gray. I end in the same dilemma as with all other methods though. It does not accept the animations anymore. And they are not reapplyable.

    I start to think that i have run into a bug here. Hmm.
     
  8. Don-Gray

    Don-Gray

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    After importing the new version can you manually add newly named animations?
    $fbx_window.jpg
     
  9. Tiles

    Tiles

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    Yes i can. The old character just had the first two animations. But they don`t arrive at my character in the level.
     
  10. Tiles

    Tiles

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    I have collected a stripped down file of my build. And i have created a little video to show the problem. Unfortunately without sound. Couldn`t get my mic to work. Realtek ...

    Download is here, 16 Mb: http://www.reinerstilesets.de/ext/import_problem.rar

    And here the video:

     
  11. i3DTutorials

    i3DTutorials

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    Dude, just delete the old FBX in your project folder, and then copy/paste the FBX file from wherever you have it to the project folder, done.
     
  12. Don-Gray

    Don-Gray

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    So, the animations show up with the import in Unity but are not available to work on the model in Unity?

    Does this work for you?
     
  13. i3DTutorials

    i3DTutorials

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  14. Don-Gray

    Don-Gray

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    Sorry, I was actually talking to the OP, he is having so much trouble I was wondering if using your suggestion worked for him.
    I have no trouble just importing FBX files from Max but his model isn't updating correctly he says.
     
  15. Tiles

    Tiles

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    Correct. As told, this does not work here. I end in no animation. As shown in the video. I do exactly that in the video, i relace the FBX file as suggested, using the windows explorer. Unity updates the project then, and that was it with my animations.

    The FBX file is intact from what i can say. You can have a look too, that`s why i have also attached the project :)

    Okay, seems that it is time to contact the chiefs here. I don`t see that i do anything wrong, and we don`t find a solution here. To simply replace the FBX in such a case seems to work for everybody else but me. Me thinks that qualifies this issue as a bug. Fingers crossed that it gets fixed :)

    Thanks for your help guys :)
     
  16. i3DTutorials

    i3DTutorials

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    Well if you tried everything and still feel it's a bug, then by all means let Unity Tech know and submit a bug report.
     
  17. Tiles

    Tiles

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  18. Tiles

    Tiles

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    One more for a laugh. I`ve gone back to a older build, and have just for fun tested again. And in this older build it works. Don`t ask me what is different between the two builds. I have no clue.

    So it`s definitely a bug.
     
  19. i3DTutorials

    i3DTutorials

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    So what you are doing works with an older version of Unity rather than the current one you're using? what do you mean by "build"?
    Also, which version of Unity are you using? I have been using the latest one with no problems when it comes to working with FBX. It would be interesting to figure out why this is happening to you.
     
  20. Tiles

    Tiles

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    Exactly. It works as thougth in the old build, and refuses to work with the actual build of my project.

    The cause. Hmm, i had a closer look meanwhile. The difference to the actual build was the name of the fbx file. I remember that i have renamed it in Unity at one point. My guess is that Unity was not this successful to update this new name at every place, and still uses the old name somewhere. Which finally breaks the animation part of the prefab in the moment when i replace the fbx file. So my guess is the old name is still in the clips. But that is something for the devs.

    A new build means a new version of my project. I make backups very regularly, by making a backup of the whole project folder. Every new version gets its Build number. A newer version has a higher Build number.

    And i use of course the newest available Unity version. Standard. 3.3.0f4, 63135 :)
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 31, 2011
  21. BoaNeo

    BoaNeo

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    I know this is a super old post, but did you ever find a solution ? Did you submit a bug report and was it fixed?

    I have the exact same issue, and I'm now in Unity 5.4.1.

    I cannot update an FBX file with new animations - if I copy it into the project with a new name, it works fine. Every other method keeps showing the old file. I've completely deleted the entire Library folder and forced Unity to re-import all assets, but it makes no difference, it keeps showing the same old content of the original FBX file even though it no longer exist anywhere in my Assets folder.
     
  22. BoaNeo

    BoaNeo

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    Been fighting this issue for an hour before I wrote the post above, and 2 seconds later I find the answer.

    The problem is that the Rig type was set to "None" because the old file had no animations. When I dumped in a new FBX, it stayed "None", and the "Animations" tab kept insisting that the file had no animations, when what it meant to say was "Your rig is set to none, so I can't be bothered to check if there are any animations in the file".

    I still think it's weird though, because I previously tried deleting the .meta file which didn't work either, so apparently this setting lives somewhere else as well.
     
  23. Ziplock9000

    Ziplock9000

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    This still an issue in 2019.1.

    Replacing an fbx file with an updated version with changed animations are not present. Reimport does not work either
     
    Michael-Lobato likes this.
  24. theazz

    theazz

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    there really needs to be a button in the animation import inspector that updates / replaces / remakes all the clips based on the source FBX takes names and time ranges.
     
  25. iuz_mickey

    iuz_mickey

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    Same issue Dec 11, 2019 :(:(:(
     
  26. ColdHands-San

    ColdHands-San

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    Old post but I might as well say:

    I struggled with this for a while, and for me, the issue was that the FBX did actually import correctly, I just didnt realize it. This is because when you reimport the updated FBX, the animations do not automatically show up in Unity's animation section for the rig.

    To fix this, I just went to the 'clips' section under the animation tab for the rig. I clicked the + button and that made a new animation. Then I changed the 'source take' to the correct animation.

    In the end, it was a user-error (as is commonly the case), hope this helps
     
  27. MFKJ

    MFKJ

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    Is there any official way to discover to update the models in Unity? It's 2020 end, I am still curious to know the official procedure?
     
  28. theazz

    theazz

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    Creating a prefab variant from the fbx file and building from there definitely improves things when it comes to the nodes and such, not helpful for anims and other data shared with meta data mind.