Importing and Exporting Cameras

You can either import a camera you created and edited in Action, or import one from another 3D application. Once a camera is imported, you can edit its parameters, change its animation, and then export it back to the application it came from.

FBX Cameras

Smoke supports the import and export of 3D data saved in the Alias^® FBX 3D format. The FBX standard format provides a means for exchanging 3D data for scene compositions—such as cameras—between tools and packages developed by different manufacturers.

FBX support makes the import and export of 3ds Max, Alias Wavefront^™|Maya^®, Softimage^® |XSI^™, and LightWave 3D^® formats possible. For information on how to import an FBX format camera, see Importing the FBX Format .

To export a camera to FBX format:

Select the camera you want to export.
In the Camera menu, click Export.

The Export Camera file browser appears.
From the Export Type box, select FBX.

Select which elements of the FBX files you wish to export by clicking the corresponding filter button.

Enable:	To:
Rotate Axis	Rotate the exported camera by -90° on the X-axis so that it is compatible with the coordinate system of the 3D application.
Export Axes	Export the animated axes present in the Action scene.
Export Point Cloud	Export the 3D point cloud created by the 3D Tracker.

Navigate to the location where you want to export the camera animation.
Enter a name for your exported camera in the file field.
Click Save.

3ds Max Cameras

An alternative to animating a camera's position is to import a camera animation from 3ds Max. 3ds Max camera animation can be saved as a . 3DS or .ase (ASCII Scene Export) file in your scene. While the .ase format contains only a camera's positional data, the .3DS format contains the camera's position, point of interest, roll and field of view values.

Once the camera is imported, you can edit any of the camera's values and, if necessary, export it back to 3ds Max in its native 3DS format using the Camera menu.

(a) Import Camera button (b) Export Camera button

To import a 3ds Max camera:

In the Camera menu, click Import.
The Import Camera file browser appears.
From the Import Type box, select either the .3DS or .ase format.
If needed, enable Rotate Axis to rotate the imported camera by 90° on the X-axis so that it is compatible with Action's coordinate system.
Navigate to the location where a 3ds Max camera setup was exported, and select the file.
You return to Action and the imported camera is applied to your scene.

To export a camera to 3ds Max format:

Select the camera you want to export.
In the Camera menu, click Export.

The Export Camera file browser appears.
From the Export Type box, select 3DS.
If needed, enable Rotate Axis to rotate the exported camera by -90° on the X-axis so that it is compatible with the coordinate system of the 3D application.
Navigate to the location where you want to export the camera animation.
Enter a name for your exported camera in the file field.
Click Save.

NoteWhen exporting from Smoke, save the .3DS file in a directory that is readable by a 3ds Max system.