Maya to Unity - Joint orientation ignored or lost on import

Update:
Using the Maya binary file (*.mb) directly the joint orientations work perfectly fine in Unity. Something is broken with the FBX it seems. Either on my end or with the software (export or import) itself. I tried both 2011 and 2012 exporters.
Not sure whether I should use native Maya files for the project or try to get the joints working with FBX - the native file approach might cause more overhead. Suggestions?

Original:
Hello all,

I keep losing joint information on import. Joints working perfectly fine in Maya end up using the objects local axis instead of their joint orientation.
Others are getting flipped upside down retaining their rotation axis but losing forward and up vector information this way.

What is going on here? These are screenshots from inside Maya 2010 and from inside Unity3D Pro:

 

Joint orientations work fine here using fbx 2012.2 and Unity 3.5/Maya 2012.

I don't think it really matters if you use fbx or ma/mb. Personally I export as fbx, since my source files tend to have lots of working stuff in them that I don't want in Unity.

 

We are using Maya 2010 with the newest Autodesk fbx exporter available. Could you be so kind as to post your exact export settings?
That might help. Thx.

 

Sure



Reference and Include Options are all off, as is Cameras/Lights/Media/Connections.
I turn on the tangents and normals options as required.

 

The joint orient system in Maya and Unity aren't working in the same way....

The X axis is always reversed and it affects the axis rule if you use your 3 fingers.

You need to trick with the Joint Orient tool into Maya to find the correct orientation into Unity...
This parts is a little bit tricky and already lost many hair with it

 

Thx, profanicus.
I am not sure what made the difference - perhaps it had to do with the Quaternion Interpolation Mode - but now the joint orientations work correctly inside Unity.

@sama.van:
That I know, yes. But that didn't turn out to be a problem with my rig setup. But thx for taking your time to read my posting and offering your insights into the world of Maya and Unity.