Read and write 30+ CAD formats

Supported formats

Proprietary CAD and BIM formatsComplex CAD and BIM formats
Geometric modeling kernels
Mesh formats
  • CATIA V5
  • CATIA V6 (3D XML)
  • DWG
  • Inventor
  • PTC Creo
  • Revit
  • Siemens NX
  • Solid Edge
  • SOLIDWORKS
  • 3D PDF
  • DXF
  • IFC
  • IGES
  • JT
  • PRC
  • STEP
  • ACIS
  • Open CASCADE
  • Parasolid
  • Rhino
  • C3D
  • 3DS
  • 3MF
  • Collada
  • FBX
  • glTF
  • OBJ
  • PLY
  • STL
  • U3D
  • USD
  • VRML
  • X3D

Details

Format

File extensions

Read/Write

B-Rep

Mesh

Notes

Format
File extensions
.pdf
Read/Write
RW
B-Rep
-
Mesh
Notes
Format
File extensions
.3ds
Read/Write
R
B-Rep
-
Mesh
Notes
Windows only
Format
File extensions
.3mf
Read/Write
R
B-Rep
-
Mesh
Notes
Format
File extensions
Read/Write
RW
B-Rep
Mesh
-
Notes
Recommended for data exchange with Autodesk products and ACIS-based applications
Format
File extensions
Read/Write
R
B-Rep
Mesh
-
Notes
File extensions
.3dxml
Read/Write
R
B-Rep
-
Mesh
Notes
Format
File extensions
Read/Write
RW
B-Rep
-
Mesh
Notes
Format
File extensions
.dwg
Read/Write
R
B-Rep
Mesh
Notes
Format
File extensions
.dxf
Read/Write
RW
B-Rep
Mesh
Notes
Format
File extensions
.fbx
Read/Write
RW
B-Rep
-
Mesh
Notes
Recommended for data exchange with Autodesk Maya
Format
File extensions
.gltf, .glb
Read/Write
RW
B-Rep
-
Mesh
Notes
Recommended for data exchange with three.js
Format
File extensions
.ifc
Read/Write
RW
B-Rep
Mesh
-
Notes
Recommended for data exchange with AEC/BIM applications
Format
File extensions
.igs, .iges
Read/Write
RW
B-Rep
Mesh
-
Notes
Format
File extensions
Read/Write
R
B-Rep
-
Mesh
-
Notes
Format
File extensions
.jt
Read/Write
RW
B-Rep
Mesh
Notes
Recommended for export to Siemens NX and other PLM apps, or as alternative to the NX format
Format
File extensions
.obj
Read/Write
RW
B-Rep
-
Mesh
Notes
File extensions
Read/Write
RW
B-Rep
Mesh
-
Notes
Recommended for data exchange with OCC-based applications
Format
File extensions
.x_t, .x_b
Read/Write
RW
B-Rep
Mesh
-
Notes
Recommended for data exchange with SolidWorks, SolidEdge, NX, OnShape and other Parasolid-based applications
Format
File extensions
.ply
Read/Write
R
B-Rep
-
Mesh
Notes
Format
File extensions
.prc
Read/Write
R
B-Rep
-
Mesh
Notes
Format
File extensions
Read/Write
R
B-Rep
Mesh
-
Notes
Format
File extensions
.rvt
Read/Write
R
B-Rep
-
Mesh
-
Notes
Format
File extensions
Read/Write
RW
B-Rep
Mesh
Notes
Recommended for data exchange with Rhinoceros and Grasshopper
File extensions
Read/Write
R
B-Rep
Mesh
-
Notes
File extensions
Read/Write
R
B-Rep
Mesh
-
Notes
File extensions
Read/Write
R
B-Rep
Mesh
Notes
Format
File extensions
.stp, .step
Read/Write
RW
B-Rep
Mesh
Notes
Recommended for data exchange with CATIA and when ACIS/Parasolid/Rhino do not apply
Format
File extensions
.stl
Read/Write
RW
B-Rep
-
Mesh
Notes
Format
File extensions
.u3d
Read/Write
RW
B-Rep
-
Mesh
Notes
Format
File extensions
.usd, .usda, .usdc, .usdz
Read/Write
W
B-Rep
-
Mesh
Notes
Format
File extensions
Read/Write
RW
B-Rep
-
Mesh
Notes
Format
File extensions
.x3d
Read/Write
RW
B-Rep
-
Mesh
Notes
Format
C3D
File extensions
.c3d
Read/Write
RW
B-Rep
Mesh
Notes
Format
Graphical formats
File extensions
.png, .bmp, .jpeg, .jpg
Read/Write
W
B-Rep
-
Mesh
-
Notes
For further details on capabilities and supported scope of each format refer to CAD Exchanger SDK documentation.

Parts and assemblies

  • Depending on format capabilities, CAD Exchanger supports both parts and assemblies.
  • Files with external references (in STEP, JT, Solidworks and other applicable formats) are supported.

B-Rep and meshes

  • All types of geometries are supported – analytical, NURBS and procedural.
  • Triangulations, polylines and point clouds are supported.

Converting between B-Rep and meshes

  • When converting B-Rep (precise geometry) to mesh-only formats (e.g. IGES to STL) the mesh generator is applied to each B-Rep body. Depending on target format capabilities it can be either single or multiple meshes per B-Rep (the multi-LOD, or Level of Details concept).
  • When converting B-Rep & mesh formats to mesh-only formats (e.g. JT to OBJ), a specific LOD in the source file is used.
  • When converting mesh-only to B-Rep & mesh formats (e.g. VRML to JT), only the mesh is used.
  • Converting a mesh-only to B-Rep-only format (such as STL to Parasolid) effectively has a very low value and thus is not recommended. When enforced, the conversion creates a B-Rep body consisting of faces per each original mesh triangle. Such a B-Rep can merely be used for visualization purposes but not for modeling. Refer to details.

Meta-data

  • Depending on format capabilities, CAD Exchanger supports names, persistent id’s, user-defined properties, colors, materials and textures.

PMI (Product and Manufacturing Information)

  • Whenever applicable, PMI is supported at all three levels: as graphical PMI, semantic PMI and associations with B-Rep elements (such as face or edge).