FBX Settings actor export

Actors contain geometry that has a skeleton and skinning data. An Actor is not necessarily a character. Assets that use a skeleton and skinning data to drive animation such as weapons, machines, and foliage, are Actors. Actors can be animated through keyframe animation imported as Motions or through PhysX simulation and other dynamic solvers such as Touch Bending.

Export an actor

1. Copy your .fbx file to a sub directory in your project located at lumberyard_version\dev\your_project.

   Alternatively, choose Import from the File menu in Lumberyard Editor to copy or move the .fbx file into your project.

2. Locate the .fbx in Asset Browser.

3. Right click the .fbx in Asset Browser and choose Edit Settings to open FBX Settings.

4. In FBX Settings, in the Actors tab, ensure the desired root bone of the actor’s skeleton is selected in the Select root bone property.

   An Actor group may contain only one skeleton hierarchy, and will only export bones that are part of the selected heirarchy.

5. In FBX Settings, in the Actors tab, choose the Hierarchy button to the right of Select base meshes and ensure only the meshes required for the Actor group are selected in the mesh list.

   You can choose Add another actor to create additional actor groups. A runtime .actor asset will be produced for each actor group. An actor group can contain any number of meshes from the Select meshes list and a single skeleton hierarchy.

6. Set the properties for each actor group. Add modifiers to each actor group as required. For information on Acttor group properties and modifiers, see FBX Settings Actors tab.

7. Optional - Set up PhysX colliders for your meshes. For more information, see FBX Settings PhysX export

8. Choose the Update button at the bottom right of the FBX Settings window. A File progress window opens to display information about asset processing. Choose OK to close the File progress window. This step creates or updates the .assetinfo file. Asset Processor automatically processes the .fbx file and generates the runtime .actor files, .pxmesh files for PhysX, and .mtl files for materials.

9. Close the FBX Settings window. Note
   When you close FBX Settings after making changes, you might see a pop-up window warning of unsaved changes. This is a known issue and can be disregarded.