My company makes InterChange, a program that translates between
more than thirty 3D file formats, including VRML and Open Inventor
export. We also read and write 3DS.
The advantage of using InterChange (as opposed to DXF) is that
the basic 3DS material colors will be translated to VRML. Each
3DS sub-object gets put in its own separator. DXF doesn't store any
material info. The closest thing it has is "pen numbers", which
are merely distinct integers used to plot entities. No RGB info is
present. Also, depending on how the DXF is created and interpreted,
you stand the chance of losing any parent-child hierarchies and
almost certainly will use long sub-object names.
Speaking from my viewpoint as a maker of 3D file format translators,
I know that no out-of-the-box instant solution exists for moving
3D data from any format to VRML. Until VRML-specific 3D editors are
released, or VRML-savvy features are added to existing 3D editors,
you're ultimately going to hand-edit the extra VRML-specific info
you want. InterChange translates the polygonal geometry, surface
info and hierarchy. It can't magically create URLs.
Michael Llaneza <[email protected]> writes:
>Since there won't be any Mac VRML support for quite a while, I'm
>interested in the closest approximation we have available:
>
>1) Virtus Walkthrough/Player
> This is a widely available browser, however since it is
>commercial, I doubt that the file specs are available for conversion.
My company has asked Virtus for their file spec, but they have
not sent it. I'm not sure it's even documented.
>2) Gossamer 2.0
> This is a viewer for Rend386 files. Since Rend386 is widely used
>on PC's for VR work, I'm hoping someone will produce a Rend386<->VRML
>converter. The file formats are 'similar' so it shouldn't be all that
>much work.
We do support the PLG file format, too.
- John Foust
- Syndesis Corporation