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.

Answered by Graphics and Games Engineer in 703571022

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

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.

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

Accepted Answer

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

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.

@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)

Just leaving a note here, Reality Converter is nowhere to be found on the suggested https://developer.apple.com/download/ link.

Not Applications nor in 'More' tabs either.

Reality Converter fails to convert FBX on M1 Mac
 
 
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