Overview

This is an example workflow for bringing in a 3d model from external software.

First an asset is acquired from Mixamo,
Second the asset is conditioned by balsam tool
Third the asset is added to the project via its qrc file.

The code is available here

Acquire a 3D model on Mixamo

Adobe’s Mixamo offers a large, free library of pre-made 3D characters, animations, and motions that can be customized and downloaded for use in games, films, and other 3D projects.

To keep things relatively simple I went with the X Bot doing the ‘silly dancing’ animation:

Download the .fbx file with the default settings:

Convert the `.fbx` file

An .fbx file can contain 3D models, animations, textures, and other data related to a 3D scene. A 3D model created in one software application can be exported as an .fbx file and imported into another application without losing important information about the model, such as the materials or animation data.

In our case, we are using the .fbx file format to go between Mixamo and Qt.

First create a directory called XBot in the 3dModels directory:

rigged_animated_3d_model_tutorial/3dModels$ mkdir XBot

Within the XBot directory run balsam tool on the acquired .fbx file. Balsam tool conditions 3d assets into a format usable within QML code. For ease of use, I renamed the fbx file xbot_silly_dancing.fbx. Make sure to use the correct version of Balsam tool.

rigged_animated_3d_model_tutorial/3dModels/XBot$ ~/Qt/6.4.0/gcc_64/bin/balsam ~/Downloads/xbot_silly_dancing.fbx

This should output a .qml file and some corresponding .mesh and .qad files:

generated file:  "/home/robby/Projects/qt_projects/rigged_animated_3d_model_tutorial/3dModels/XBot/Xbot_silly_dancing.qml"
generated file:  "/home/robby/Projects/qt_projects/rigged_animated_3d_model_tutorial/3dModels/XBot/meshes/beta_Surface.mesh"
generated file:  "/home/robby/Projects/qt_projects/rigged_animated_3d_model_tutorial/3dModels/XBot/meshes/beta_Joints.mesh"
generated file:  "/home/robby/Projects/qt_projects/rigged_animated_3d_model_tutorial/3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_Spine1_rotation.qad"
generated file:  "/home/robby/Projects/qt_projects/rigged_animated_3d_model_tutorial/3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_Spine2_rotation.qad"
generated file:  "/home/robby/Projects/qt_projects/rigged_animated_3d_model_tutorial/3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_LeftForeArm_rotation.qad"
generated file:  "/home/robby/Projects/qt_projects/rigged_animated_3d_model_tutorial/3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_LeftArm_rotation.qad"
generated file:  "/home/robby/Projects/qt_projects/rigged_animated_3d_model_tutorial/3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_Head_rotation.qad"
generated file:  "/home/robby/Projects/qt_projects/rigged_animated_3d_model_tutorial/3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_RightHand_rotation.qad"
generated file:  "/home/robby/Projects/qt_projects/rigged_animated_3d_model_tutorial/3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_RightLeg_rotation.qad"
generated file:  "/home/robby/Projects/qt_projects/rigged_animated_3d_model_tutorial/3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_RightForeArm_rotation.qad"
generated file:  "/home/robby/Projects/qt_projects/rigged_animated_3d_model_tutorial/3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_LeftFoot_rotation.qad"
generated file:  "/home/robby/Projects/qt_projects/rigged_animated_3d_model_tutorial/3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_Spine_rotation.qad"
generated file:  "/home/robby/Projects/qt_projects/rigged_animated_3d_model_tutorial/3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_LeftUpLeg_rotation.qad"
generated file:  "/home/robby/Projects/qt_projects/rigged_animated_3d_model_tutorial/3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_LeftHand_rotation.qad"
generated file:  "/home/robby/Projects/qt_projects/rigged_animated_3d_model_tutorial/3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_RightShoulder_rotation.qad"
generated file:  "/home/robby/Projects/qt_projects/rigged_animated_3d_model_tutorial/3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_LeftShoulder_rotation.qad"
generated file:  "/home/robby/Projects/qt_projects/rigged_animated_3d_model_tutorial/3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_RightFoot_rotation.qad"
generated file:  "/home/robby/Projects/qt_projects/rigged_animated_3d_model_tutorial/3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_LeftLeg_rotation.qad"
generated file:  "/home/robby/Projects/qt_projects/rigged_animated_3d_model_tutorial/3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_RightArm_rotation.qad"
generated file:  "/home/robby/Projects/qt_projects/rigged_animated_3d_model_tutorial/3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_RightUpLeg_rotation.qad"
generated file:  "/home/robby/Projects/qt_projects/rigged_animated_3d_model_tutorial/3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_RightToeBase_rotation.qad"
generated file:  "/home/robby/Projects/qt_projects/rigged_animated_3d_model_tutorial/3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_Hips_position.qad"
generated file:  "/home/robby/Projects/qt_projects/rigged_animated_3d_model_tutorial/3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_Hips_rotation.qad"
generated file:  "/home/robby/Projects/qt_projects/rigged_animated_3d_model_tutorial/3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_Neck_rotation.qad"
generated file:  "/home/robby/Projects/qt_projects/rigged_animated_3d_model_tutorial/3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_LeftToeBase_rotation.qad"

Add the Asset to the Project

Next, add all the generated files into assets.qrc . assets.qrc should now look like this:

<RCC>
    <qresource prefix="/">
        <file>3dModels/XBot/Xbot_silly_dancing.qml</file>
        <file>3dModels/XBot/meshes/beta_Joints.mesh</file>
        <file>3dModels/XBot/meshes/beta_Surface.mesh</file>
        <file>3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_LeftToeBase_rotation.qad</file>
        <file>3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_Neck_rotation.qad</file>
        <file>3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_Hips_rotation.qad</file>
        <file>3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_Hips_position.qad</file>
        <file>3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_RightToeBase_rotation.qad</file>
        <file>3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_RightUpLeg_rotation.qad</file>
        <file>3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_RightArm_rotation.qad</file>
        <file>3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_LeftLeg_rotation.qad</file>
        <file>3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_RightFoot_rotation.qad</file>
        <file>3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_LeftShoulder_rotation.qad</file>
        <file>3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_RightShoulder_rotation.qad</file>
        <file>3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_LeftHand_rotation.qad</file>
        <file>3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_LeftUpLeg_rotation.qad</file>
        <file>3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_Spine_rotation.qad</file>
        <file>3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_LeftFoot_rotation.qad</file>
        <file>3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_RightForeArm_rotation.qad</file>
        <file>3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_RightLeg_rotation.qad</file>
        <file>3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_RightHand_rotation.qad</file>
        <file>3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_Head_rotation.qad</file>
        <file>3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_LeftArm_rotation.qad</file>
        <file>3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_LeftForeArm_rotation.qad</file>
        <file>3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_Spine2_rotation.qad</file>
        <file>3dModels/XBot/animations/mixamorig_Spine1_rotation.qad</file>
    </qresource>
</RCC>

Overview

Acquire a 3D model on Mixamo

Convert the .fbx file

Add the Asset to the Project

Convert the `.fbx` file