About Using Animated 3D Models

By default, a 3D model imported in Harmony will appear static throughout the scene. However, a Filmbox (.fbx) or Alembic (.abc) 3D model that has been exported with animations in it and imported in Harmony can be made to play out its animation in the scene, and to render with its animations later.

This is possible with two types of 3D objects:

  • Filmbox (.fbx) files can be imported with their subnode animations. This means the geometric transformations on each subnode in each frame of the model can be imported and played out.
  • Alembic (.abc) files can be imported with their deformations baked into every frame. This is useful if you need to use models that are animated with deformations. However, Alembic files do not have texture and hence appear solid white in the preview.

In both cases, the 3D model will be rendered by Maya, using the original Maya project file. Hence, the result will be the same in the rendered image. The difference is the kind of information that is visible in the OpenGL preview of Harmony.