FBX Viewer: play animations and inspect the rig
Drop an FBX from Blender, Maya, Mixamo or an asset store. The viewer lists all animation clips with their length, draws the skeleton over the mesh, reads the unit scale and tells embedded textures apart from files that are still missing.
The FBX is read locally
Drop an FBX file here
Binary or ASCII FBX, with texture images or as ZIP
Rigs and animations are decoded in this browser tab, nothing is uploaded.
Model library
What is an FBX file?
FBX started as the file format of Filmbox, a motion capture program by Kaydara, and has belonged to Autodesk since 2006. It is the common exchange format between 3D programs and game engines because it carries a whole scene: meshes, materials, textures, a skeleton with skin weights, blend shapes, cameras, lights and several animation takes.
The format is proprietary and documented only through the Autodesk FBX SDK, so every importer outside Autodesk reads it a little differently. There are binary and ASCII variants, and versions 7.x are standard today. Textures can be packed into the file or referenced by path, and a unit scale tells whether one unit means a centimetre or a metre.
What the FBX tab shows
- Animation clips
- Every take in the file with its duration and track count. Click one to play it, the timeline below the view scrubs and changes speed.
- Skeleton overlay
- Bones drawn over the mesh, the bone count and how many meshes are skinned. Handy to see whether a download is really rigged.
- Embedded or external textures
- Each texture is marked as packed into the FBX, loaded from a file you dropped or missing, with its resolution.
- Version and unit scale
- FBX version, binary or ASCII, and the unit scale stored in the file, which decides whether the model arrives at the right size.
Programs that open FBX
- Autodesk Maya, 3ds Max, MotionBuilder
- Read and write FBX through the official SDK, so files from them are the reference for everyone else.
- Blender
- Imports and exports FBX with armatures and animation. Material maps partly end up in older FBX slots, GLB carries PBR maps more faithfully.
- Unity and Unreal Engine
- Import FBX natively, including skeletal meshes and animation clips. It is the default format for characters in both.
- Godot
- Godot 4.3 and newer import FBX directly, older versions need the external FBX2glTF tool.
Common FBX problems and fixes
- Textures are missing
- The FBX references images by path but does not contain them. Drop the image files together with the FBX or pack all of it into a ZIP. Blender embeds textures when the export uses Path Mode Copy with the embed button switched on.
- The model is 100 times too big or too small
- The unit scale says centimetres while the content was built in metres, or the other way round. Compare the size in the Info tab with the real object and set the file unit under View.
- The file opens but nothing is visible
- Animation only files, such as clips downloaded without skin, contain a skeleton but no mesh. Load the character FBX instead, or combine clip and character in a 3D program.
- The materials look flat or plastic
- FBX stores classic Phong or Lambert materials. The viewer shows them as the file defines them, and metal or roughness maps from PBR workflows are often lost on export.
- The FBX will not open at all
- Files older than version 7 cannot be read in the browser. Export again from the original program with a current FBX version, binary preferred.
Frequently asked questions
How can I play the animations in an FBX file?
Open the file and go to the FBX tab. All clips are listed with their length. Click one to play it and use the bar below the view to pause, scrub or slow it down.
How do I know if an FBX is rigged?
The FBX tab shows the number of bones and skinned meshes. Turn on the skeleton to see the bones on top of the model. Zero bones means a static mesh.
Are embedded textures supported?
Yes. Images packed into the FBX are extracted in the browser and listed as embedded. External textures load when you drop them together with the file.
Can I save the FBX as GLB?
Yes, under Export or with the FBX to GLB converter. Mesh, skeleton and clips are kept, materials are approximated as PBR. Writing FBX is not possible in the browser.
Do I need Autodesk software to view FBX?
No. This page reads FBX with the open source three.js loader. Files from unusual exporters can still show differences, the Autodesk tools remain the reference.