MATHEMATICA IMPORT/EXPORT FORMAT

3DS (.3ds)

MIME types: application/x-3ds, image/x-3ds
Autodesk 3DS file format.
Scene description and 3D modeling format.
Used for 3D modeling and animation.
Native format of Autodesk 3D Studio.
Binary file format.
Stores 3D objects together with lighting and view point information.

Import reads the Polygon Mesh Object contents of the 3DS format.

Export to the 3DS format supports the following graphics primitives: GraphicsComplex, Cuboid, Cylinder, and Sphere.

IMPORT AND EXPORT

Importimports a 3DS file Graphics3D object.

Export exports a Graphics3D expression to a 3DS file.

Import["file.3ds"] returns an expression of the form Graphics3D[GraphicsComplex[vertices, primitives, opts]].

Import imports the specified element from a 3DS file.

Import imports a subelement.

Import imports multiple elements.

The import format can be specified with Import or Import.

Export creates a 3DS file by treating expr as specifying element elem.

Export treats each as specifying the corresponding .

Export exports expr with the specified option elements taken to have the specified values.

Export uses rules to specify the elements to be exported.

The export format can be explicitly specified in the form Export["file", expr, "3DS"] or Export.

See the reference pages for full general information on Import and Export.

ImportString and ExportString support the 3DS format.

ELEMENTS

General Import elements:

	"Elements"	list of elements and options available in this file
	"Rules"	full list of rules for each element and option
	"Options"	list of rules for options, properties and settings

Data representation elements:

	"Graphics3D"	3DS file represented as a Graphics3D object
	"GraphicsComplex"	list of GraphicsComplex objects, each representing a 3D geometry stored in the file
	"PolygonColors"	face color information, given as a list of color primitives associated with each polygon
	"PolygonData"	polygon data in indexed form
	"PolygonObjects"	list of Polygon primitives given in absolute coordinates
	"VertexData"	list of vertex coordinates

Import and Export use the element by default for 3DS files.

The element corresponds to the first argument of GraphicsComplex.

When rendering a 3DS color model, Import automatically uses the setting Lighting->"Neutral".

OPTIONS

General Import options:

Background	Automatic	what background color to use
ImageSize	Automatic	overall size of the graphics to display
Lighting	Automatic	what simulated lighting to use in coloring 3D surfaces

All options of Graphics3D can be given when importing from 3DS.

Advanced option:

"VerticalAxis"

{0,0,1}

orientation to assume for the coordinate system used in the file

By default, Mathematica assumes that in the coordinate system used by 3DS the vertical axis corresponds to the third coordinate.

With the setting , Mathematica will apply the transformation to all graphics coordinates when importing from 3DS, and the inverse transformation when exporting to 3DS.