The FBX File format was developed by Autodesk as a free, platform independent variant for 3D authoring and for transferring 3D content between applications. Besides 3D models, FBX files are also used to store 2D drawings. The format was developed with desktop apps in mind and it doesn't support data streaming (the entire content needs to be loaded first) making it difficult to use in a web environment.

As an open standard, FBX files remain consistent and fully functional across several platforms. There are currently two FBX SDK (Software Development Kit) supplied by Autodesk, one for C++ and one for Python.