Integrating Unity with 3D modeling software

The Unity Integration tool allows you to effortlessly exchange Assets between Unity and either Autodesk® Maya®, Autodesk® Maya LT™ or Autodesk® 3ds Max®.

Use the Unity Integration tool to import and export FBX files directly to and from Unity without having to specify filenames, select objects, or set FBX importer or exporter settings.

To customize the FBX Importer or Exporter settings in Autodesk® Maya® or Autodesk® Maya LT™, use the unityFbxImportSettings.mel and unityFbxExportSettings.mel files. Both files are located in the Integrations/Autodesk/maya/scripts folder.

For Autodesk® 3ds Max®, use the unityFbxImportSettings.ms and unityFbxExportSettings.ms files located in the Integrations/Autodesk/max/scripts folder.

Installing an Integration

To install Unity Integration for Autodesk® Maya®, Autodesk® Maya LT™, or Autodesk® 3ds Max®:

In Unity, open the Fbx Export Settings: from the Unity Editor main menu, select Edit > Project Settings > Fbx Export.
Use the 3D Application property to choose the 3D modeling software and version where you want to install the Unity Integration.
To select a version of Autodesk® Maya®, Autodesk® Maya LT™, or Autodesk® 3ds Max® installed outside the default location, click the [...] (Browse) button.
Before you install Unity Integration, close all instances of the selected 3D modeling software that matches the specified version.
Select Install Unity Integration to install the Unity Integration for the selected 3D modeling software.

Note: If you already unpacked a previous integration in the selected folder, Unity prompts you to either use the existing integration or to overwrite it with the newer version.
Unity Integration comes packaged in several zip files (one zip file per supported application). When prompted, select a target folder where you want to extract the Unity Integration.

Note: The target folder can be outside of your current Project. Autodesk® Maya® and Autodesk® Maya LT™ both use the same zip folder.

The application starts, configures the plug-in, and automatically exits. Unity reports whether the installation was a success.

If an error occurs during startup, Autodesk® Maya® or Autodesk® Maya LT™ may not close. If this happens, check the Autodesk® Maya® or Autodesk® Maya LT™ console to see if you can resolve the issue, and then manually close Autodesk® Maya® or Autodesk® Maya LT™.

If you enabled the Keep Open option in the Fbx Export Settings window, then Autodesk® Maya® or Autodesk® Maya LT™ remains open after installation completes.

Manually Installing an Autodesk® Maya®
or Autodesk® Maya LT™ Integration

In some cases, you have to install your integration manually. For example, you might be using an unsupported version of Autodesk® Maya® or Autodesk® Maya LT™.

To manually install an Autodesk® Maya® or Autodesk® Maya LT™ Integration:

Locate the UnityFbxForMaya.zip file. You can find it in Unity's Project view, under the Packages/FBX Exporter/Editor/Integrations folder.
Extract the archive to a folder where you have write permission. This can be in or outside of your Unity Project.
Copy the contents of Integrations/Autodesk/maya/UnityFbxForMaya.txt from the unzipped folder to the following file:
- On Windows: C:\Users\\{username}\Documents\maya\modules\UnityFbxForMaya.mod
- On Mac: $HOME/Library/Preferences/Autodesk/Maya/modules/UnityFbxForMaya.mod
In UnityFbxForMaya.mod, modify the following line (mel code):

UnityFbxForMaya {Version} {UnityIntegrationsPath}/Integrations/Autodesk/maya

Note: You need to replace:
- {Version} by the version number of your FBX Exporter package (for example, 4.0.1)
- {UnityIntegrationsPath} by the location where you unzipped UnityFbxForMaya.zip in first step.
Locate the following file (if it doesn't exist, create the file):
- On Windows: C:\Users\{username}\Documents\maya\scripts\userSetup.mel
- On Mac: $HOME/Library/Preferences/Autodesk/Maya/scripts/userSetup.mel
Add this line (mel code):

if(`exists unitySetupUI`){ unitySetupUI; }
Open Autodesk® Maya® or Autodesk® Maya LT™, and then open the Script Editor:
Run the following (mel code):

unityConfigure "{UnityProjectPath}" "{ExportSettingsPath}" "{ImportSettingsPath}" 0 0;

Note: You need to replace:
- {UnityProjectPath} with the path to your Unity Project
- {ExportSettingsPath} with the path to Integrations/Autodesk/maya/scripts/unityFbxExportSettings.mel
- {ImportSettingsPath} with the path to Integrations/Autodesk/maya/scripts/unityFbxImportSettings.mel.

Working with Autodesk® Maya® 2017+
and Autodesk® Maya LT™ 2017+

Importing from Unity

Importing an FBX Model automatically configures the plug-in for export. The plug-in remembers your Unity Project, the export filenames for your Models and animations, and which objects to export per file.

Open a file browser directly in your current Unity Project: select File > Unity > Import.
Use the file browser to select the FBX files to import.

Note: You can select multiple files at once: hold Shift or Ctrl to select multiple files.

Result

The FBX Exporter adds the contents of each imported file to an export set named after the imported FBX file. For example, if you import model.fbx, you can find its contents in an export set called model_UnityExportSet.

In addition, the contents of the file are placed into a namespace based on the filename. For model.fbx, the contents are placed into the model: namespace.

The `@` notation

Animation files that use the @ notation (modelname@animation.fbx) are recognized as animation files belonging to the Model contained in model.fbx.

For instance, if you import a file called model@anim.fbx, the export set and namespace name are based on the name before the @ symbol. Therefore, it uses the same set and namespace as model.fbx.

This allows animation files to be easily imported and applied to the appropriate objects in the Scene. Autodesk® Maya® and Autodesk® Maya LT™ store the animation filename and path for easy export. A single animation file is supported per model file. Importing a new animation overwrites the existing animation in the Scene.

Exporting to Unity

There are three options available for export in Autodesk® Maya® and Autodesk® Maya LT™:

Export
Export Model Only
Export Animation Only

Option	Description
File > Unity > Export	Exports both the Models and animation contained in the export sets selected for export.
File > Unity > Export Model Only	Exports all Models in the selected export sets, but does not export any animation.
File > Unity > Export Animation Only	Exports only the animation applied to the objects in the export set as well as the minimum components required for the animation (such as transforms).

To export objects from the desired export set, you can select one or more objects in the set, or the set itself. In either case, the FBX Exporter exports the entire contents of the set.

If you select multiple sets or objects from multiple sets, then the FBX Exporter exports each set to its respective file defined in the attributes of the set.

Creating a New Export Set in Maya

To export objects that are not part of an existing export set, you need to prepare a new export set. To do this, follow these steps:

Select the desired objects for export.
Select File > Unity and then select one of the following menu items:
- Select Create Export Set OR Export to create an export set with settings for exporting animation and model FBX files,
  OR
- Select Export Model Only OR Export Animation Only to setup an export set for exporting a model or animation file.

Use the window that opens to set the options for the export set:

Property	Function
Model File Path	The file path to export to when you select File > Unity > Export or File > Unity > Export Model Only.
Model File Name	The name of the file to export to when you select File > Unity > Export or File > Unity > Export Model Only.
Anim File Path	The file path to export to when you select File > Unity > Export Animation Only.
Anim File Name	The name of the file to export to when you select File > Unity > Export Animation Only.
Strip Namespaces on Export	Enable this option to automatically strip the most common namespace in the set on export. For example, if you enable this option and most objects are in namespace `model:`, then `model:` is stripped on export.

Action button	Function
Create Set And Export	Creates the set and immediately exports the selection.
Create Set	Creates the set without exporting.
Cancel	Cancels the set creation and closes the window.

Editing Export Set Attributes

After you created an export set (through File > Unity > Import or File > Unity > Create Export Set, or one of the export options), you can edit the export options on the set.

To do so, select the set, and in the Attribute Editor, in the Extra Attributes section, modify the Unity attributes.

NOTE: If Arnold is installed, the attributes might appear in the Arnold > Extra Attributes section.

Property	Function
Unity Fbx Model File Path	The file path to export to when you select File > Unity > Export or File > Unity > Export Model Only.
Unity Fbx Model File Name	The name of the file to export to when you select File > Unity > Export or File > Unity > Export Model Only.
Unity Fbx Anim File Path	The file path to export to when you select File > Unity > Export Animation Only.
Unity Fbx Anim File Name	The name of the file to export to when you select File > Unity > Export Animation Only.
Unity Fbx Strip Namespace	Enable this option to automatically strip the most common namespace in the set on export. For example, if you enable this option and most objects are in namespace `model:`, then the export strips `model:`. If you want to strip another namespace instead of the most common one, you can type it in the Strip Specific Namespace field.
Strip Specific Namespace	(Optional) Use this property to specify the namespace to strip on export when you enable the Unity Fbx Strip Namespace option, instead of the most common namespace. If you leave this field empty, the Unity Fbx Strip Namespace option uses by default the most common namespace in the set.