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Importer Reference

Plugin Limitations and Known Issues

Review the current importer boundaries, known edge cases, and the asset types that still need workarounds.

Open Importer Overview Install the Plug-in View Supported Features

Note: For information about compatible assets and workarounds, see the Asset Compatibility and Workarounds guide.

General Plugin Limitations

Geometry Processing

  • Merge Vertices: UVs are created correctly even when Merge Vertices is enabled. In rare edge cases, UV creation may fail.

Blendshape Animations (Maya 2023 and below)

  • Blendshape targets and animation curves import, but in Maya 2023 and earlier they may not play back automatically.
  • You can use the Bake to Scene button in the Animation Clips panel to automate this workflow, or open the Time Editor and use the Bake menu options (for example, Bake to New Clip, Bake to Scene, Bake to Scene and Delete, or Flatten Layers) to bake the clips back to standard curves so playback works.
  • Maya 2024+ plays the imported blendshape animation without baking.
  • For a detailed baking workflow, see For Assets with Animation Clips in the Asset Compatibility and Workarounds guide.

Maya Integration Limitations

  • Texture Format Support: .webp textures are supported. BasisU or KTX2 textures referenced through KHR_texture_basisu are imported by transcoding them to PNG for Maya texture nodes.
  • Round-trip Texture Editing: Because BasisU or KTX2 textures are transcoded on import, this workflow is better suited for viewing, look development, or scene assembly than for strict texture round-trip editing.
  • Runtime Dependency: If the bundled KTX2 transcode runtime is unavailable in the current Maya environment, BasisU or KTX2 textures may be skipped with a warning.
  • Material Complexity: Advanced PBR features may not have direct Maya equivalents
  • KHR_texture_transform UV Rotation: KHR_texture_transform may not behave as expected when UV rotation is involved. Other transform properties — such as repeat (tiling), offset, and scale — work correctly. UV rotation results should be verified against the original asset.

Sketchfab Asset Import Issues

Sketchfab assets generally import correctly.

In rare edge cases (especially with auto-generated assets that have non-standard bind poses), you may still run into import issues.

Rigged Asset Deformation Issues

  • Rigged Sketchfab assets generally import correctly now.
  • In rare edge cases, non-standard bind pose data may still cause deformation issues.
  • Workaround: Re-import with Import Skin Binding enabled. The importer applies inverse bind matrices automatically, so no separate option is required.
  • If Issues Persist: Use the Blender preprocessing workflow in Asset Compatibility and Workarounds

Viewport Display Issues

Objects Disappear in Shaded Display Mode

If imported meshes or geometries disappear when you enable shaded display with texture maps (pressing 6), try these solutions:

Backface Culling - Change the Backface Culling setting to "off" in the mesh's shape node under the Mesh Component Display section - This allows you to see both sides of the geometry

Opacity Connection - The shader's Opacity attribute may be connected, causing transparency issues - Temporarily disconnect the opacity connection in the shader's attribute editor to see the geometry

Viewport Renderer - Start Arnold in the viewport to see the render result, which may display the geometry correctly - Maya's default viewport renderer may not display all advanced material properties correctly

Reporting Issues

If you encounter limitations not listed here, please join the Discord server to report issues, share suggestions, view announcements, and get support.

When reporting issues, please provide:

  • Maya version and operating system

  • Asset source (Sketchfab, custom export, etc.)

  • File size and complexity details

  • Specific error messages or unexpected behavior

  • Sample files (when possible and appropriate)

  • Output logs from the Maya Script Editor output window

  • Steps to reproduce the issue

For the most up-to-date information on plugin improvements and bug fixes, check the Discord server announcements and documentation updates.