free 3D Design Magazine Data Conversion Article

3D Design Magazine's "In The Lab", features Okino's PolyTrans 3D data translation product. This is the second article written by Brendon Perkins on our PolyTrans software; the first review can be found here.

As an introduction to 3D data conversion, Mr. Perkins writes:

"If you work in 3D, chances are you rely on multiple software applications to complete your work - modeling, animation, rendering, image processing, and video editing apps; perhaps more than one of each. So it's interesting to note that no file format standard is accepted throughout the industry for exchanging 3D data among applications. On the other hand, it's not likely that one will emerge. Tool developers strive to create marketable advantages for their tools, and these advantages are reflected in, or implemented as, mutually incompatible file formats.

In lieu of a standard exchange format, most applications provide a limited set of import and export routines. But these routines usually don't provide a complete solution. In many cases, they don't account for intricate differences between formats that might help optimize models for the target application. Furthermore, they rarely deal with anything other than geometry. If you need a complete conversion that includes texture maps, animation paths, and the like, the usual import/export routines fall short.

The single fact is that converting between 3D file formats isn't a straightforward task, and vendors have little incentive to develop top-notch conversion utilities. Consequently, there's room in the market for specialized file format conversion applications." More