Creating FBX Model in Motion Builder through XNA

Question

I want to create a fbx model of a skeleton captured through Kinect sensor inside a XNA Application. Currently what I do is store Kinect coordinates as a Matrix in the database, retrieve them draw the skeleton frame by frame.

Is it possible to create a fbx model using Motion Builder when running the application inside XNA Framework.

Answer 1

I dont think you can make fbx model in run-time, you should rather build your model (with joints) using model making softwares like Maya or any other, then import the fbx in your xna project and in update function provide every joints with co-ordinate values you are getting from kinect.

Answer 2

If you just want to play back the data as you're capturing it you don't need to go through FBX.

If you want to persist it as an FBX file you can get the FBX SDK from Autodesk but it's only available in unmanaged C++ form. You'd use the SDK to convert your runtime data into conventional bones and store them out to disk - but doing this through the C++ api will be a pain since you'll need to handle all of the unmanaged code yourself.

You could try working around this by getting the python bindings for the SDK and running them in IronPython (which, being a dotnet language, can be embedded into your Xna project). However that's a lot of work for what amounts to a file format import/exporter. Plus I don't know for sure if they python bindings will work in IronPython.

However, if you're only storing skeletal data, simpler file formats like OBJ may be an easier choice. There are a few OBJ importers out there (for example, here). The format is simple enough that you should be able to do it for yourself too. You can use the Autodesk FBX converter to go to and from FBX once you have an OBJ on disk. Be warned, however, this will only work for skeletons (and meshes, if you need them) - OBJ does not support animation.

Is it possible to create a fbx model using Motion Builder when running the application inside XNA Framework.

I'm not 100% sure I get the question. You can create FBX's from motionbuilder for use in XNA. You could import FBXs from other sources (including ones you've made with the FBX Sdk and your kinect code) into motionbuilder. When you say 'when running an application inside xna' do you mean controlling Motionbuilder remotely, or are you just talking about being able to save data that MB can read?