Supported File Formats

 

  Type Format Extensions Applications
  CAD Models      
1   Additive Manufacturing Format amf 3D Printing industry consortium format alternative to STL
2   AutoCAD Export DWF Format dwf AutoCAD Inventor, AutoCAD Mechanical, Visual Representations
3   AutoCAD Generic DXF Format dxf AutoCAD historic versions, Survey, Geophysics, Modelling
4   AutoCAD Native DWG Format dwg AutoCAD Mechanical, Civil, Inventor, Parts, Colours, Widely Used
5   Bentley-Intergraph Microstation DGN Format dgn Microstation related applications
6   IGES 3D Model Interchange igs, iges Industry Interoperability Model Exchange, CAD Applications
7   Industry Foundation Classes IFC ifc BIM, AEC, Subset support, AutoCAD, Revit, Inventor, Civil 3D
8   Polygon File Format Stanford ply Surface, Line & Point Open Academic and Research Exchange
9   PRC Product Representation Compact Format prc ISO 14739-1 3D Model used in 3D PDF context as interactive view
10   STEP AP214 3D Model Interchange stp,step Industry Interoperability Model Exchange, PLM, CAD Applications
11   Stereolithography ASCII Multi-part File Format stla CAD-CAM, 3D Printing, Triangle Mesh Surfaces, Geometry Only
12   Stereolithography Binary File Format stlb CAD-CAM, 3D Printing, Single Triangle Mesh, Geometry Only
13   Stereolithography STL File Format w/Color stl 3D Printing, Triangle Geometry, Scanners, CAD, Materialise Magics
14   U3D Universal 3D Interchange Format u3d ECMA 363 used in 3D PDF context as interactive view
         
  Analysis Data      
15   AVS/Express UCD Format inp Advanced Visual Systems Proprietary, Unstructured Mesh & Attributes
16   COMSOL Simulation Results Format dat,txt,mphtxt COMSOL Proprietary Mesh & Result Plot Output Format
17   Protein Data Bank Molecular Format pdb Chemistry, Research, Academic, well established database
18   VTK PolyData Format vtp Visualization Toolkit polygon surface data, science, engineering
19   VTK Model File Format vtk Visualization Toolkit mesh, element, multi-attribute 2D & 3D data
         
  Images & Video      
20   Raster Image Files png,jpg,tif,bmp Universal standard image file formats, monochrome, color, alpha
         
  Geospatial      
21   ArcGIS Geospatial Grid Format asc ArcGIS Proprietary ASCII Grid Raster Elevation Data
22   ESRI ArcGIS Geospatial Vector Shapes shp ArcGIS Proprietary ShapeFile for Vector Features, 2D or 3D
23   GeoTIFF Geospatial Image and Grid Data Format tif, tiff Well-known TIFF image with additional Geographic coordinates included
24   GeoVRML Geospatial Format wrl, vrml VRML97 extended to include geographic coordinate systems, ArcScene
25   IMAGINE Multi-Channel Image or Elevation Grids img Hexagon Geospatial raster format for image and attribute data
26   KML Geospatial Vector Features kml XML based mark-up for geospatial features, ArcGIS, Google Earth
27   LiDAR LAS File Formats 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 las Point Cloud Industry Interchange Format, Space, Airborne & Terrestrial
28   LiDAR LAZ Compressed Format laz Very good compressed optimization option for LAS data
29   Point Cloud Formats csv,pts,xyz 3D points, ASCII, from LiDAR, Laser, point sample systems
30   Point Cloud with Color or attribute xyzrgb, stzi 3D points, ASCII with intensity or full RGB Color per point
31   Autodesk ReCAP RCS/RCP point cloud format rcs,rcp 3D points, Binary with optional full RGB Color per point
32   e57 Point Cloud format e57 3D points, Binary optional full RGB Color per point
33   PROJ Geographic Projection Format proj Geographic coordinate mapping data to place corresponding models
34   Surfer Grid Format grd Surfer from Golden Software Proprietary raster elevation grid data
35   Surfer Colormap Format clr Surfer from Golden Software Proprietary color classification files
36   USGS DEM Geospatial Grid File Format dem Elevation grid data for terrains, bathymetry, raster data
37   World Geographic Coordinate File jpw,pgw,tfw Geographic coordinate mapping data automatically loaded corresponding images, JPG, PNG, TIF
38   ZMapPlus Geospatial Grid Field Format dat Earth Science Subsurface Horizon Data, ZYCOR, Historic Data Exchange
39   IRAP Classic Grid Format IFGR ifgr Earth Science Subsurface Horizon Data from IRAP
40   Label File Format (x,y,z,label-text) CSV lbl 3D coordinate location and label text string in CSV format
         
  3D Graphics      
41   3D GameStudio 3DGS Format mdl Gamestudio Development & Authoring Application for Games
42   3D GameStudio 3DGS Terrain Format hmp Gamestudio Development Application Terrain Landscape Data
43   3D Studio MAX Format 3ds Widely used 3D graphics exchange, 3D Studio Max, AutoCAD, Textures
44   3ds Max ASE Format ase AutoDesk 3DS Max Proprietary 3D Model Format (subset)
45   AC3D Inivis Format ac AC3D Proprietary Model Creation and Editing 3D Format
46   Collada COLLAborative Design Activity Format dae Industry interchange rich 3D graphics, 3DS Max, Maya, Sketchup, Textures
47   Design Workshop Database dw AEC DesignWorkshop 3D modeling program for architectural design
48   DirectX 3D Model Format x Microsoft DirectX Graphics 3D Model Geometry
49   DirectX X Format x Microsoft DirectX Graphics Generic Data
50   FBX Graphics Format fbx AutoDesk binary 3D Graphics Format with optional embedded textures
51   glTF Graphics Format glb GL Transmission Format for WebGL 3D in Browsers
52   IVE OpenSceneGraph File Format ive OpenSceneGraph Framework Scene Format, version specific
53   Nendo Format ndo Proprietary 3D modeling and 3D painting package from IZWare
54   LightWave Object Format lwo LightWave Proprietary 3D Models with Materials, Texture, LWO2 or LWO3 (2019)
55   LightWave Scene Format lws LightWave Proprietary Scenes
56   Milkshape 3D Format ms3d Shareware low-polygon 3D modeling Application by Mete Ciragan
57   Modo Format lxo Proprietary Luxology Game System Scene File
58   Neutral File Format nnf RayTrace Program 3D Polygon Format
59   OSG Extendable ASCII Format osgt OpenSceneGraph Framework Scene Format, open serialization
60   OSG Extendable Binary Format osgb OpenSceneGraph Framework Scene Format, open serialization
61   OSG Extendable XML Format osgx OpenSceneGraph Framework Scene Format, open serialization
62   OSG Native Format osg OpenSceneGraph Framework Scene Format, with Textures
63   OSGTGZ Compressed Format osgtgz OpenSceneGraph Framework Scene Format, open serialization
64   Object File Format off Simple Surface Polygon Unstructured 3D ASCII format
65   Ogre Graphics Engine XML Format xml Open Source Game Rendering Engine 3D Model Format
66   OpenFlight Format flt Real-time Visual Simulation Scenes with Texture
67   OpenInventor 2.1 Compressed Format iv.gz Industry neutral interchange 3D graphics, similar to VRML, Textures
68   OpenInventor 2.1 Format iv Industry neutral interchange 3D graphics, similar to VRML, Textures
69   PDF Portable Document Format Template or 3D pdf ISO-32000 PDF Standard, with 3D Annotations, U3D or PRC
70   PovRAY Raw Format raw Triangular facet 3D geometry POV Ray Tracer
71   Quake II Format md2 Interactive Game Proprietary Scenes, Historic
72   Quake III Mesh Format md3 Interactive Game Proprietary Scenes, geometry, meshes
73   Quick3D Format q3s Proprietary Quick3D File Converter Application Native Format
74   Return to Castle Wolfenstein Format mdc Interactive Game Proprietary 3D Format
75   Sense8 WorldToolKit Format nff Historic ASCII 3D Format from 1990s
76   Starcraft II M3 Format m3 Proprietary Game Application 3D Actor Models
77   Terragen Terrain Format ter 3D Landscape Terrain Tile Format from Planetside Software
78   Unreal Game Format 3d Proprietary Game Engine 3D Model Format
79   VRML Compressed Format wrz,vrml.gz Very Widely used 3D graphics exchange VRML97 Standard, v1.0 or 2.0
80   VRML Uncompressed Format wrl,vrml Very Widely used 3D graphics exchange, ArcScene, Pro/E, Textures
81   VOXLER 2-4, Scene format iv Voxler Application from Golden Software 3D Scene Export (SGI version)
82   Wavefront Object Format obj Widely used 3D graphics exchange, 3DS Max, AutoCAD, Maya, Textures
83   XGL, ZGL Graphics Format xgl,zgl Aveva Plant 3D Scene Export, Inventor, Graphics dump
84   X3D Graphics Format x3d eXtensible 3D Graphics Format (XML variant of VRML97)

 

See release notes for current status of supported files. The actual status of various formats will vary according to platform and release version. Some formats may be available on a subset of platforms.

The available file formats during any live session is dependent on which of the file interfaces have been dynamically loaded. If any are missing or did not load successfully, then the corresponding file formats will not be available in the file selector menu. The current file types may be shown by selecting file-open, as: