Hi there! I'm currently developing my own motion control system for miniature photography. My current setup would require 8 axes (all are stepper motors).

I'd like to write a tight package extending off either mach4 or linuxcnc (still deciding). The intent is to animate and export FBX files from Modo, import it using Autodesk's FBX SDK library, and parse them into gcode. The gcode file will go through a modification pass where I can set focus pulls in real-time with a jog box. Then the camera's shutter speed (by default 1 second exposure) will be input to modify the overall speed and acceleration of the animation.

Here's an example of a typical shot:
I'd like to photograph a 5 second flyby shot of a spaceship. There are two main rigs: the camera and model mover. The camera rig has 4 "axes:" track, camera yaw, camera pitch, and focus pull. The model mover has 4 axes: yaw, roll, pitch and a stepper motor in the miniature to animate an element.

The gross movement of the shot will be animated in Modo or Maya, exported as an FBX, and imported into either a mach4 or linuxcnc modified package. The FBX file will then be parsed into gcode. I will then program the focus pull into the gcode with a custom jog box and indicate the appropriate exposure time to modify the speed and acceleration. The program will run very slowly as each frame is a 1 second exposure. In the case of this example shot, 5 seconds is 120 frames (5 x 24). However, a 1 second exposure technically will take two seconds to mechanically operate. So in reality the entire shot will take 240 seconds = 4 minutes.

I just wanted to know if it's possible to integrate Autodesk's FBX SDK so I can import an animation file and parse it into a gcode file?

Thanks for your time.