Friday, December 11th, 2015 Posted by Jim Thacker

Sketchfab adds animation support



An idle cycle for a character from Relic Entertainment‘s Company of Heroes 2, displayed in Sketchfab. The model-viewing service now lets users upload files in FBX format and have animations play back in a browser.

Originally posted on 17 August 2015. Scroll down for news of the official launch of the service.

Online 3D model-viewing service Sketchfab has added support for animation, enabling users to upload animated models in FBX format and play the results back interactively in a browser.

The system, which is currently in beta, supports bone-based rigs, so it can be used for animated characters.

A universal online display system for 3D models
Launched in 2012, Sketchfab is a WebGL-based service that lets users upload models in standard 3D formats, then see them displayed interactively online in a form that can be pasted into websites and social media.

You can see a round-up of the best new models uploaded to Sketchfab in our CG Theatre section each month.




Mad Fat Bat by Juan Carlos Montes (moxstudios). Press play to see Sketchfab’s animation support in action.

Updated 11 December: Animation support is now out of beta, and is officially available to all Sketchfab users.

As well as bone-based and technical animation, the system now supports morph targets for facial animation; and each model can contain multiple animation tracks, with users able to switch between them at will.

If the animated model above is anything to go by, Batman clearly approves.

Read more about animation support on Sketchfab’s blog