Reality Converter fails to convert FBX on M1 Mac

Does Apple have any documentation on using Reality Converter to convert FBX to USDZ on an M1 Max?

I'm trying to convert an .fbx file to USDZ with Apple's Reality Converter on an M1 Mac (macOS 12.3 Beta), but everything I've tried so far has failed.

When I try to convert .fbx files on my Intel-based iMac Pro, it succeeds.

Following some advice on these forums, I tried to install all packages from Autodesk

https://www.autodesk.com/developer-network/platform-technologies/fbx-sdk-2020-0

  • FBX SDK 2020.0.1 Clang
  • FBX Python SDK Mac
  • FBX SDK 2020.0.1 Python Mac
  • FBX Extensions SDK 2020.0.1 Mac

Still no joy.

I have a work around - I still have my Intel-based iMac. But I'd like to switch over to my M1 Mac for all my development.

Any pointers?

Note: I couldn't get the usdzconvert command line tool to work on my M1 Mac either. /usr/bin/python isn't there.

Accepted Reply

Hi, Reality Converter has known issues on 12.3. Please feel free to report this issues on Feedback Assistant though.

  • Thanks. As a workaround I tried upgrading the usdpython command line tools to python 3, but I've run out of time this weekend. I've submitted feedback (FB9885578). Fingers crossed it gets fixed before 12.3 ships.

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Replies

This maybe because of removal of Python2 in MacOS 12.3 beta https://developer.apple.com/documentation/macos-release-notes/macos-12_3-release-notes

Reverting back to Release version of 12.2 will solve the issue though.

  • I couldn't get Reality Converter to convert FBX on macOS Monterey 12.2 running on a MacBook Pro with Apple M1 Pro either.

    😢

    The Autodesk developer kit I tried tonight are for 2020.2.1

    Maybe later I will try to use older versions of the Autodesk SDK. Maybe that will help.

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Success!

In another thread someone mentioned installing older versions of Autodesk software, and that did the trick for me too. (Note: This is still with Monterey 12.2 not the 12.3 beta where I initially had problems)

Here is the previous thread where I found the suggestion to try older versions of Autodesk software.

https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/661927

  • BTW, if you read the whole thread I referenced, this dependency on older Autodesk software is really a nightmare, and like I said, I'm not sure how to role back to identify exactly which combinations of older packages did the trick for me.

    I hope Apple has some new & better tools coming out soon.

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Hi, Reality Converter has known issues on 12.3. Please feel free to report this issues on Feedback Assistant though.

  • Thanks. As a workaround I tried upgrading the usdpython command line tools to python 3, but I've run out of time this weekend. I've submitted feedback (FB9885578). Fingers crossed it gets fixed before 12.3 ships.

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Apple released USDPYTHON 0.64 lib which uses old python 2.7, but in MacOS Monterey 12.3 the python2 is removed. I don't see any solutions, because the USDPYTHON library have been compiled with hardcoded system python path: /System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/Python.

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@Todd2 we've released an update to Reality Converter that should address this issue. https://developer.apple.com/download/

Python issues can be fixed (and usdpython command line tools works correctly) with the recommendation given on this post which advises to install an specific version of python directly (avoiding homebrew).

Now, Reality Converter app seems to have issues with sandboxing on Monterey as it outputs this to the console every time a conversion is attempted Sandbox: Python(1239) deny(1) file-write-create /Applications/Reality Converter.app/Contents/XPCServices/RealityConverterService.xpc/Contents/SharedSupport/usdpython/USD/lib/python/pxr/Ndr/__pycache__

(MacBook Pro M1 Pro, macOS 12.3.1, Reality Converter beta 4)