STL (STereoLithography) is a file format native to the stereolithography CAD software. This file format is supported by many other software packages; it is widely used for rapid prototyping, 3D printing and computer-aided manufacturing. STL files describe only the surface geometry of a three-dimensional object without any representation of color, texture or other common CAD model attributes. The STL format specifies both ASCII and binary representations. Binary files are more common, since they are more compact.
3DS is one of the file format used by the Autodesk 3D modeling, animation and rendering software. It once was native for the old Autodesk 3D Studio DOS and eventually has grown to become a de facto industry standard for transferring models between 3D programs, or for storing models for 3D resource catalogs.
3DS is aimed at providing an import/export format, retaining only essential geometry, texture and lighting data.
A CAD file is an output of a CAD software, containing key information about the designed object: its geometry and topology representation, 3D model hierarchy, metadata, and visual attributes depending on the format of the file.
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