Format Guide
The game and VFX industry's standard for animated 3D assets — mesh, skeleton, and animation in one file.
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| Extension | .fbx |
|---|---|
| Full name | Filmbox |
| Developer | Autodesk (acquired from Kaydara) |
| Geometry type | Polygon mesh |
| Open standard | No — proprietary Autodesk format |
| Supports animations | Yes — skeletal, morph target, blend shapes |
| Supports materials | Yes — Phong, Lambert, PBR |
| Supports assemblies | Yes — scene hierarchy, instancing |
FBX (Filmbox) was originally developed by Kaydara and acquired by Autodesk in 2006. It is a proprietary binary format (ASCII variant also exists) that stores mesh geometry, materials, textures, skeleton rigs, blend shapes, animation curves, and scene hierarchy. FBX is the dominant interchange format in game development and visual effects because it is the only widely supported format that preserves animation rigs, morph targets, and complex scene graphs during transfer between tools. Unity and Unreal Engine both use FBX as their primary import format for animated assets.
FBX is the primary format for importing animated characters, vehicles, and rigged assets into Unity and Unreal Engine. It carries the full rig, blend shapes, and multiple animation clips.
FBX is the standard interchange format between Maya, Houdini, Cinema 4D, and compositing pipelines. Animation curves and scene hierarchy transfer cleanly between tools.
Architectural scenes with linked objects, instancing, and camera animations are exchanged between Revit, SketchUp, 3ds Max, and Lumion in FBX format.
Maya, 3ds Max, Cinema 4D, Blender, Unity, Unreal Engine, MotionBuilder, Houdini, Revit, SketchUp, and most major 3D tools via Autodesk's FBX SDK.
3D CAD Converter reads FBX as an input format and batch converts it to glTF/GLB for web and AR, to OBJ for renderers that do not support FBX, or to STL for 3D printing. FBX is import-only — it cannot be selected as an output format.
FBX is the workhorse interchange format for games and animation. Converting it to an open format takes three steps.
Load your FBX
Drag one or more FBX files into 3D CAD Converter, or point the CLI at a folder of assets.
Choose an open output
Pick glTF or GLB for engine-ready, PBR-friendly assets, or OBJ when you only need plain geometry.
Convert
Export geometry and materials to a portable format you can load in any engine or viewer without a full DCC application.
Prefer the command line? These examples convert FBX:
glTF and GLB carry PBR materials and are the best target for the web and modern engines; OBJ is ideal when you only need geometry.
FBX is the de facto interchange format between Autodesk tools and game engines, carrying meshes, materials, skeletal animation and full scene hierarchies. Because it is proprietary, however, an open format is often a safer long-term home for your assets, especially on the web.
For engine-ready, future-proof assets, convert FBX to an open standard. Compare it with glTF, OBJ.
Building assets for a game pipeline? See how 3D CAD Converter fits a game-development workflow
FBX is closed and controlled by Autodesk, so support varies between applications. Converting to an open standard such as glTF makes your assets easier to share and far more durable over time.
FBX can hold PBR materials, textures and skeletal animation, but not every tool maps them the same way. Converting to glTF gives a predictable, engine-ready result; OBJ keeps geometry only when animation is not needed.
Applications export different FBX versions, so a file written by one tool may import oddly into another. 3D CAD Converter reads common FBX versions and re-exports to a consistent open format you can rely on.
A .fbx file (Filmbox) is a proprietary Autodesk 3D format used as an interchange format for game engines and animation pipelines. It can store polygon meshes, materials and textures, skeletal animation, blend shapes, cameras, lights and scene hierarchies, which is why Unity, Unreal, Maya and Blender all read and write it.
Open the FBX in 3D CAD Converter and export to OBJ, glTF or GLB, or run cadconvert convert -i model.fbx -o model.glb (or model.obj) from the CLI. glTF and GLB are best for the web and modern engines because they carry PBR materials; OBJ is a simple, universal mesh format when you only need geometry.
Yes. You do not need Blender or Maya to view or convert FBX. 3D CAD Converter opens FBX directly and re-exports it to glTF, GLB, OBJ, STL and more in batch, so you can move assets between tools without installing a full DCC application.
FBX is a proprietary format and different applications export different versions, so materials, units and animation may not transfer identically between tools. Converting to an open format such as glTF gives a more predictable, engine-ready result while preserving geometry and materials where the formats allow.