The 3D Studio file format (3DS) is not officially documented, though several unofficial specifications exist. PlantStudio supports the 3DS format based on trial and error and from reviewing the following specifications, which can be found at http://www.wotsit.org, the programmer’s resource.

▪        “3D Studio version 3.0 3DS format” (3ds.rtf) by Martin van Velsen, Robin Fercoq and Jim Pitts from January 1997 (Document Revision 0.93)

▪        “The Unofficial 3DStudio 3DS File Format v1.0” (3ds_d.rtf) by Jeff Lewis

▪        “3D Studio File Format Information” (3dsinfo.txt) by Jochen Wilhelmy

We also tested our 3DS files in Opener, the freeware 3DS file reader by Mike Lischke (we did not use or read or even download the source code for Opener), as well as several other freeware and commercial software programs. We know that our 3DS files work fine in Bryce 4.0, but do not support them for any other software program.

Tips on saving and using 3DS files from PlantStudio

▪        3D programs may be more upset about plant name length in 3DS than in other formats. If you can’t read 3DS files from PlantStudio, try reducing the length of plant names first.

▪        Some file format converters do a good job of making 3DS files more palatable to different 3D programs. We particularly like 3D Exploration for “cleaning up” files. 

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