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Cinema 4D FBX Camera Import — Camera Pointing Wrong Direction (90° Rotation Needed)

CONFIRMED ALL RIGS

Summary

When importing a Flair FBX camera move into Cinema 4D, the camera points in the wrong direction. The fix is to apply a 90° rotation on the Flair Z-axis — either in the Flair Import Window before exporting, or in Cinema 4D after import. Flair also exports ASCII files which C4D can import directly via its ASCII import function, offering more control than FBX.

Symptoms

  • Camera imported from Flair FBX into Cinema 4D points in an unexpected direction
  • Camera orientation does not match the real-world camera orientation from the robot move
  • The path/position imports correctly — only the direction is wrong

Fix

[CONFIRMED] Apply 90° rotation on the Flair Z-axis

2022-10-04 — Josh T.

Option 1 — Flair Import Window (easier): 1. When importing the FBX in Flair (or re-exporting for C4D), open the Import/Export FBX dialog 2. Apply a 90° rotation to the Flair Z-axis in the transform settings 3. Export and re-import into C4D — camera should now point correctly

Option 2 — Rotate in C4D after import: 1. Import the FBX normally 2. In Cinema 4D, apply a 90° rotation to the camera object or its parent null

Flair ASCII files for C4D

Josh T.: "A super hint is the Flair export files are ASCII files. C4D has an ASCII import function. You can then connect those values to a camera." This can give more direct control than FBX, especially for complex setups.

confidence_score: 0.85

WhatsApp Excerpts

[4/10/2022, 9:35:30 pm] ~ Lars Dahl: Anyone had success importing camera data into cinema 4d? My camera isn't looking in the right direction.

[4/10/2022, 9:37:41 pm] ~ Josh T.: The FBX in C4D is quite old and has not been updated in a while. You have to do a 90° rotation on the Flair Z-axis. I don't remember which way off of the top of my head.

[4/10/2022, 9:43:30 pm] ~ Josh T.: Which ever is easier for you. I would say do the transform in the Flair Import Window.

[4/10/2022, 9:45:50 pm] ~ Josh T.: A super hint is the Flair export files are ASCII files. C4D has an ASCII import function. You can then connect those values to a camera.