Gotta love this forum and the people here! Thank you @HappyPolygon also on behalf of my cpu. I learned something new today.
erase per character on path_1.mp4
Not quite. It uses Vellum Grains to pack the object with spheres and treat it as rigid. It's actually a pretty smart workaround to the problem, and scales well.
Here is some more info:
Shape matching (sidefx.com)
Having done this a lot, I know the solution.
Import to Cinema with default settings.
Then export the FBX from Cinema again, with 'Z Up'
Then re-import this new fbx with default settings & it will be correct.
Don't ask me why this is different to just importing with z-up but it is. It works every time.