Editing Polygon mesh (section)

== File formats ==
There exist many different [[file formats]] for storing polygon mesh data. Each format is most effective when used for the purpose intended by its creator.
Popular formats include [[.fbx]], [[.dae]], [[Wavefront .obj file|.obj]], and [[STL (file format)|.stl]]. A table of some more of these formats is presented below:
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! File suffix !! Format name !! Organization(s) !! Program(s) !! Description
|-
| .raw || [[Raw mesh]] || Unknown || Various || Open, ASCII-only format. Each line contains three vertices, separated by spaces, to form a triangle, like so: X1 Y1 Z1 X2 Y2 Z2 X3 Y3 Z3
|-
| [[.blend (file format)|.blend]] || Blender File Format || [[Blender Foundation]] || [[Blender (software)|Blender 3D]] || Open source, binary-only format
|-
| [[FBX|.fbx]] || Autodesk FBX Format || [[Autodesk]] || Various || Proprietary. Binary and ASCII specifications exist.
|-
| [[.3ds]] || 3ds Max File || [[Autodesk]] || [[Autodesk 3ds Max|3ds Max]] || A common but outdated format with hard 16-bit limits on the number of vertices and faces. Neither standardised nor well documented, but used to be a "de facto standard" for data exchange.
|-
| [[COLLADA|.dae]] || Digital Asset Exchange (COLLADA) || [[Sony Computer Entertainment]], [[Khronos Group]] || N/A || Stands for "'''COLLA'''borative '''D'''esign '''A'''ctivity". A universal format designed to prevent incompatibility.
|-
| [[MicroStation|.dgn]] || MicroStation File || [[Bentley Systems]] || [[MicroStation]] || There are two dgn file formats: pre-version 8 and version 8 (V8)
|-
| [[Rhinoceros 3D|.3dm]] || Rhino File || Robert McNeel & Associates || [[Rhinoceros 3D]] ||
|-
| [[AutoCAD DXF|.dxf]], [[AutoCAD DWG|.dwg]] || Drawing Exchange Format || [[Autodesk]] || [[AutoCAD]] ||
|-
| [[Wavefront .obj file|.obj]] || Wavefront OBJ || [[Wavefront Technologies]] || Various || ASCII format describing 3D geometry. All faces' vertices are ordered counter-clockwise, making facet normals implicit. Smooth normals are specified per vertex.
|-
| [[PLY (file format)|.ply]] || Polygon File Format || [[Stanford University]] || Various || Binary and ASCII
|-
| [[MikuMikuDance|.pmd]] || Polygon Movie Maker data || Yu Higuchi || [[MikuMikuDance]] || Proprietary binary file format for storing humanoid model geometry with rigging, material, and physics information.
|-
| [[STL (file format)|.stl]] || [[Stereolithography]] Format || [[3D Systems]] || Many ||  Binary and ASCII format originally designed to aid in [[CNC]]. 
|-
| [[Additive Manufacturing File Format|.amf]] || Additive Manufacturing File Format || [[ASTM International]] || N/A || Like the STL format, but with added native color, material, and constellation support.
|-
| [[VRML|.wrl]] || Virtual Reality Modeling Language || [[Web3D Consortium]] || Web Browsers || ISO Standard 14772-1:1997
|-
| [[VRML|.wrz]] || VRML Compressed || [[Web3D Consortium]] || Web Browsers ||
|-
| [[X3D|.x3d, .x3db, .x3dv]] || Extensible 3D || [[Web3D Consortium]] || Web Browsers || XML-based, open source, royalty-free, extensible, and interoperable; also supports color, texture, and scene information. ISO Standard 19775/19776/19777
|-
| [[X3D|.x3dz, .x3dbz, .x3dvz]] || X3D Compressed Binary || [[Web3D Consortium]] || Web Browsers ||
|-
| [[Cinema 4D|.c4d]] || Cinema 4D File || [[Maxon Computer GmbH|Maxon]] || [[CINEMA 4D]] || 
|-
| [[LightWave 3D|.lwo]] || LightWave 3D object File || [[NewTek]] || [[LightWave 3D]] || 
|-
|.smb
|SCOREC apf
|RPI SCOREC
|[https://github.com/SCOREC/core PUMI]
|Open source parallel adaptive unstructured 3D meshes for PDE based simulation workflows.
|-
| [[GMsh mesh|.msh]] || Gmsh Mesh || GMsh Developers || [[Gmsh|GMsh Project]] || Open source, providing an ASCII mesh description for linear and polynomially interpolated elements in one to three dimensions.
|-
| [[OGRE mesh|.mesh]] || OGRE XML || OGRE Development Team || OGRE, purebasic || Open Source. Binary (.mesh) and ASCII (.mesh.xml) format available. Includes data for vertex animation and [[Morph target animation]] (blendshape). [[Skeletal animation]] data in separate file (.skeleton).
|-
| [[Vega FEM|.veg]] || Vega FEM tetrahedral mesh || Jernej Barbič || Vega FEM || Open Source. Stores a tetrahedral mesh and its material properties for FEM simulation. ASCII (.veg) and binary (.vegb) formats available. 
|-
| .[[z3d]] || Z3d || Oleg Melashenko || [[Zmodeler|Zanoza Modeler]] || -
|-
| [[VTK|.vtk]] || VTK mesh || [[VTK]], [[Kitware]] || [[VTK]], [[Paraview]] || Open, ASCII or binary format that contains many different data fields, including point data, cell data, and field data.

|-
| .l4d || LAI4D drawing || Laboratory of Artificial Intelligence for Design || [[LAI4D]] || ASCII data format that describes a hierarchical tree of entities.
|}