godot-website/pages/fbx-import.html

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permalink: /fbx-import/index.html
title: "FBX Import"
description: "How to enable importing of FBX scenes in Godot"
layout: default
---

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			<h1 class="intro-title">FBX support in Godot</h1>
		</div>
	</div>
</div>

<div class="container">
	<p>
		<em>The information on this page only pertains to Godot 4.0 and later. Godot 3.x does not have support for using FBX2glTF directly, but you can use it as a command line tool to convert scenes before placing the converted glTF file in the Godot project folder.</em>
	</p>
	<hr>
	<p>
		<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FBX">FBX</a> is a popular proprietary
		3D interchange format from Autodesk. It is often used in game engines to allow
		importing 3D scenes created using software such as Blender, Maya or 3DS Max.
	</p>
	<p>
		Godot does not include an FBX importer in its editor code, as doing so would
		require linking against a proprietary SDK. Relying on reverse engineering was
		<a href="https://godotengine.org/article/fbx-importer-rewritten-for-godot-3-2-4">attempted in the past</a>,
		but it turned out to be too unreliable.
	</p>
	<p>
		However, thanks to a tool known as FBX2glTF, <strong>it is still possible to import
		FBX scenes to Godot</strong> in a transparent manner. But first…
	</p>

	<h3 class="title">Consider using glTF 2.0 instead</h3>
	<p>
		<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GlTF">glTF</a> is an open 3D
		interchange format. Unlike FBX, it has many open source implementations
		available and is supported out of the box in Godot.
	</p>
	<p>
		We recommend using glTF over FBX for several reasons:
		<ul>
			<li>glTF is better supported in open source 3D software such as Blender.</li>
			<li>
				glTF import is integrated in the Godot editor. This way, team members
				working on your project don't need to install external tools before they
				can start working on the project.
			</li>
			<li>
				If you use headless exporting (continuous integration) for your project,
				you don't need to install external tools before you can export the
				project.
			</li>
			<li>
				If you use the Android or HTML5 editor, you can import glTF scenes, but
				not FBX scenes as these platforms don't allow running arbitrary external
				executables.
			</li>
			<li>
				If you use a device on a non-x86 architecture, you can import glTF scenes,
				but not FBX scenes as the Autodesk FBX SDK is only available for x86
				architectures.
			</li>
			<li>
				glTF is an open standard. Unlike FBX, it doesn't force other software to
				link against a proprietary SDK to reliably import 3D scenes.
			</li>
		</ul>
	<p>
		See <a href="https://godotengine.org/article/we-should-all-use-gltf-20-export-3d-assets-game-engines">this article</a> for more information.
	</p>

	<h3 class="title"">Download FBX2glTF</h3>
	<p><strong>
		By downloading FBX2glTF, you accept the
		<a href="https://github.com/godotengine/FBX2glTF/releases/latest/download/FBX-SDK-License.rtf">Autodesk LICENSE AND SERVICES AGREEMENT for Autodesk FBX SDK 2020</a>
		as FBX2glTF includes this proprietary FBX SDK.
	</strong></p>

	<p>
		<a href="https://github.com/facebookincubator/FBX2glTF">Upstream FBX2glTF</a> is not maintained anymore, so the <a href="https://github.com/godotengine/FBX2glTF">Godot Engine fork of FBX2glTF</a>
		must be used instead.
	</p>
	<p>
		Here are download links for the latest version of Godot Engine's FBX2glTF fork:
	</p>

		<div style="margin: 2rem 0">
			<a href="https://github.com/godotengine/FBX2glTF/releases/latest/download/FBX2glTF-windows-x86_64.zip" class="btn btn-default" style="margin: 0 0.5rem; white-space: nowrap">
				Windows (x86_64)
			</a>
			<a href="https://github.com/godotengine/FBX2glTF/releases/latest/download/FBX2glTF-macos-x86_64.zip" class="btn btn-default" style="margin: 0 0.5rem; white-space: nowrap">
				macOS (x86_64)
			</a>
			<a href="https://github.com/godotengine/FBX2glTF/releases/latest/download/FBX2glTF-linux-x86_64.zip" class="btn btn-default" style="margin: 0 0.5rem; white-space: nowrap">
				Linux (x86_64)
			</a>
		</div>

	<p>
		The macOS x86_64 binary can be used with an ARM Godot editor binary. In this
		case, macOS will automatically use Rosetta when running FBX2glTF. Creating an
		universal macOS binary (x86_64 + ARM) for FBX2glTF is planned in the future.
	</p>

	<p>
		There are no plans to support the Android and HTML5 editor with FBX import, as
		those platforms don't allow executing arbitrary external programs.<br>
		For Android and HTML5, you can use FBX2glTF on another device then save the
		converted glTF file.
	</p>
</div>

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