Data added manually to an FBX.Meta file does not exist in Editor even if it is correct?

Unity Engine
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1

We found an issue where updating a project from one Unity version to another wiped all Events from animations in imported FBX files. To help recover from this, we’ve been hand-editing the .meta files and copying the missing Event data from the old Unity version to the new Unity version. And for some reason, while the data is correct, Unity flat out does not display it in the editor. But if we add the events again within the editor, they will then persist - and they will look identical in the .meta as the data we copied over. This is rather baffling, as it’s all text, and we’re not sure why Unity won’t just let us copy/paste the data over (especially as hand-making all of the events again is very time consuming).

This feels like a bug or something - could we get some help or advice on understanding why copy/pasting between meta files just invisibly ‘doesn’t exist’, and what the right way to do this might be?

Thank you!

2

It’s ok to modify .meta directly. Can you specify which version you switched from and to? The local serialization keys need to match exactly between different versions. Unity automatically handles this when switching versions. However, manually copying between different versions might overlook this aspect.

3

Went from Unity Unity 2022.3.11 to 2022.3.28f1.

Here’s an example of what the metadata looked like in the old file for animation events:

  events:
  - time: 0.057165883
    functionName: DoLipSync
    data: grandmaEvent2BroughtYouSomethign
    objectReferenceParameter: {instanceID: 0}
    floatParameter: 0
    intParameter: 0
    messageOptions: 0

And here it is in the new file, rebuilt by hand within the inspector

  events:
  - time: 0.057165883
    functionName: DoLipSync
    data: grandmaEvent2BroughtYouSomethign
    objectReferenceParameter: {instanceID: 0}
    floatParameter: 0
    intParameter: 0
    messageOptions: 0

Best I can tell, these are identical. But if I copy/paste the first one over, it doesn’t work. But if I remake it in Unity by hand, it works and looks identical to what gets copy/pasted in.

4

I tried copying this event of yours into one of my model’s .meta file and found it feasible. Could you try it again? Make sure:
(1) The indentation is consistent and no other lines are modified.
(2) After modifying the text, press Ctrl-S to ensure it has been saved.
(3) Click anywhere in the Unity interface to trigger Reimport:

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image842×411 11.6 KB

(4) After importing, check under ModelImporter Inspector → Animation Tab → Events for the Event flag at 0:00, and click to view its corresponding information.

1 Like
5

I finally got it to work - you mention of the indentation made me wonder some things. So I tried pasting the data in again, but copy/pasted the initial indent from another part of the file into where the past started, and that did it. Looks like Notepad++ must copy/paste with some odd first character, as clearing that section and pasting the blank space from another part of the file resolved it.

Thank you for your help!