Search Unity

  1. Megacity Metro Demo now available. Download now.
    Dismiss Notice
  2. Unity support for visionOS is now available. Learn more in our blog post.
    Dismiss Notice

Someone Please Share Your 3dsMax >> Unity Import Pipeline

Discussion in 'Asset Importing & Exporting' started by SlickFox, Apr 4, 2021.

  1. SlickFox

    SlickFox

    Joined:
    Jul 30, 2017
    Posts:
    12
    I'm having a lot of difficultly getting models fluently imported from 3dsMax to Unity so that scale and rotation are properly aligned, properly displayed in the Unity editor preview window, and properly zeroed out. I can't be the only one who struggles with this. I've tried so many different import and export settings and plugins and none of it works properly.

    There are several issues and problems that are all interrelated:

    A) I need to be able to model in 3dsMax so the front of my model corresponds with the Front defined by 3dsMax. Then, when I import to Unity via FBX or the native 3dsMax file, I need to mesh to display with the proper rotation in Unity. By default the mesh comes in at a 90 degree angle and is displayed in the Unity mesh preview sideways.

    B) Then, when I finally drop the mesh into my Scene, Unity applies rotations to the mesh in order to align it with the Z-axis. This is not good. I want all the scale and rotations in Unity to be zeroed out, and scale at 1. This is not currently the case. My objects have to come in at 0.1 scale in order to match up with Unity's scale. This will present problems down the road.

    So here are my questions for you:
    1) Which is better for long-term efficiency and ease of development, exporting from 3dsMax using the FBX plugin, or using the native Max files and letting Unity handle the import? Which method should be used in a serious production environment?

    2) Regardless of which method I use, my scale and rotation is not good. So please share your method and settings that ensure the mesh is displayed right-side up in the editor preview windows and the scale and rotations are all zeroed out. I would like to know how to achieve this via both FBX export plugin and also via native Max files that Unity auto-imports. I need to know the proper settings inside 3dsmax, and inside Unity too.

    3) I want a method that does not require me to manually change the 3dsMax pivot points, rotations, or scale. This is far too cumbersome to do for every object.

    4) What unit and grid settings are you using in 3dsMax to best align with Unity's scale of 1 meter unit size? The problem I have here is that within 3dsMax I need my grid set rather small -- far smaller than 1 meter -- in order to model things effectively. Yet I still want the object imported to match with Unity's 1m scale standard. If I set my grid size in 3dsmax to 1m, that's too coarse and imprecise for modeling work.

    4) Are there any other plugins you use to improve or speed up this import process? If so, please share them. I don't care if they are free or paid, I'd just like to know how to set up the smoothest possible import process.

    Please educate me about anything else that I'm missing about this whole process. Thanks!
     
  2. arfish

    arfish

    Joined:
    Jan 28, 2017
    Posts:
    782
    How about using the scale factor for your imported meshes to make them appear in the right size for the scene? If all models are made in the same scale, you should be able to use the same factor for importing all models.
    https://docs.unity3d.com/2021.1/Documentation/Manual/FBXImporter-Model.html

    Putting the mesh inside a parent transform may take care of the rest of the models wrong pivot points, or rotations. Offset the mesh as much as you'd like, and then move move it by moving the parent.