Animation
Animation Settings
Choose whether to include animation, which Maya source to use, and whether to bake keys for web viewers.
Export Animation¶
Default: On
Turns animation export on or off. When off, the file is a static snapshot of the scene. Your Maya animation is not deleted - it is only skipped in the export.
Animation Mode¶
Default: Time Editor Clips
Recommended for web and real-time delivery
For Babylon.js, model-viewer, and other web or real-time viewers, use Time Editor Clips with Bake Animation Keyframes On (the default). That combination keeps named clips and writes dense, viewer-safe keys.
Scene Keys¶
Exports animation from keys already on your scene objects.
- Good for clean, hand-keyed animation
- Usually smaller than Sampled when Bake Animation Keyframes is off (Bake is on by default)
- After a glTF import, scene animation that lives in the Time Editor is included automatically, including clips from every composition
- Best for: Characters and props that already have the keys you want to ship
Sampled¶
Exports a dense, frame-by-frame version of the final motion you see in Maya.
- Best when constraints, motion paths, expressions, or complex rigs drive the result
- Files are usually larger because more keys are written
- Best for: Rigs and setups where the viewport motion is not the same as simple object keys alone
Time Editor Clips¶
Exports each Maya Time Editor clip from every composition in the scene as its own animation in the glTF file. The composition selected in Animation Clips is for editing. It does not limit the export.
- Keeps clip names and ranges from those compositions. When Use Direct Clip Definitions for Export is on, table rows are used and Time Editor clips whose names are not in the table are still included
- Good for assets that were imported with multiple animations
- Hold / rest clips (for example a
stillclip with only two matching keys) keep the pose and visibility for that clip, so a viewer shows the correct state when you select it - Visibility and light intensity animation are supported
- Recommended with Bake On for web and real-time viewers
- Best for: Round-trip work, multi-clip products (idle, explode, peel, still, and similar), and delivery to web / real-time engines
Bake Animation Keyframes¶
Shown for: Scene Keys and Time Editor Clips.
Not shown for: Sampled (Sampled is already baked).
Default: On
| Setting | What you get | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| On (default) | Writes denser keys that play more reliably in web and real-time viewers (including full spins such as 0 to 360 degrees) | Web, real-time engines, Babylon.js, model-viewer, and similar runtimes |
| Off | Keeps your authored keys and extra Maya curve information for a better Graph Editor round-trip | You plan to re-import into Maya and edit curves |
Maya curve editing after re-import
Leave Bake Animation Keyframes on for web and real-time delivery. Turn it off only when you need sparse authored keys and Maya Euler extras for Graph Editor editing after re-import. Bake off can make files larger because it keeps curve detail many viewers never use.
What the Export Log means¶
After export, the summary can show how animation was processed:
| Message in the log | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| AnimSource curves (fast) | Used Time Editor / imported clip animation - usually quick |
| AnimSource curves + bake densify (fast) | Same as above, then baked denser keys - usually still quick |
| timeline sampling (slow) | Stepped through the timeline frame by frame - slower on long clips; common for plain timeline keys without Time Editor clips |
Quick chooser¶
| Your goal | Use |
|---|---|
| Web / real-time delivery (recommended) | Time Editor Clips + Bake Animation Keyframes On |
| Static model only | Turn Export Animation off |
| Imported multi-clip asset | Time Editor Clips |
| Simple keys on objects | Scene Keys |
| Constraints / complex rig | Sampled |
| Best Maya curve edit after re-import | Turn Bake off |