Format

Import

Export

Description

AI (*.ai)

Yes

No

Curves saved as AI (Adobe Illustrator) files to be used for creating 3D text. See Importing EPS Files [Surface and Curve Modeling].

AIFF/AIF (*.aiff/*.aif)

Yes

No

Audio Interchange File Format. Import audio as a reference when animating using the animation mixer. See Audio and Animation [Nonlinear Animation].

AIFC (*.aifc)

Yes

No

Audio Interchange Format—Compressed. Import audio as a reference when animating using the animation mixer. See Audio and Animation [Nonlinear Animation].

AMC (*.amc)

Yes

No

Import motion capture files in Acclaim (*.amc and *.asf) formats. See Importing Motion Capture Files [Character Animation].

ANI (*.ani)

Yes

No

Actions from SOFTIMAGE|3D animation files. See Importing and Exporting Action Sources [Nonlinear Animation].

ASF (*.asf)

Yes

No

Import motion capture files in Acclaim (*.amc and *.asf) formats. See Importing Motion Capture Files [Character Animation].

AVI (*.avi)

Yes

Yes

Import (load) an AVI with audio into the animation mixer. Only the sound is loaded and you can use it to adjust the timing of your animation. See Audio and Animation [Nonlinear Animation].

Export (output) rendered image sequences in the AVI (Audio Video Interleave) format. See Creating Movie Files (Windows Only) [Rendering].

BVH (*.bvh)

Yes

No

Import motion capture files in the Biovision (*.bvh) format. See Importing Motion Capture Files [Character Animation].

COLLADA (*.dae)

Yes

Yes

Import and export scenes saved in the COLLADA file format (*.dae). See Importing and Exporting COLLADA Files.

CgFX (*.cgfx)

Yes

No

Softimage can load nVIDIA’s CgFX files (*.cgfx) from the CgFX realtime shader. CgFX files can be dragged and dropped onto objects and clusters and automatically generate property pages based on their content. The shader supports external file referencing as well as inlined code compilation for rapid prototyping. See Effects Shaders (.cgfx Files) [Realtime Shaders].

DDS (*.dds)

Yes

No

Softimage can load the DirectDraw Surface (*.dds) file format as an image clip on Windows only. Note that cubic surfaces are tiled horizontally when loaded.

The following subformats are supported:

• DXT1

• DXT2

• DXT3

• DXT4

• DXT5

• A16B16G16R16

• DDPF_PALETTEINDEXED8

For more information about the DirectX file format, consult the DirectX SDK documentation on MSDN Library website at msdn.microsoft.com/library/

DirectX (*.x)

Yes

Yes

Import and export scenes saved in the DirectX format (*.x) which can contain data about meshes, textures, animation and so on. See Importing and Exporting DirectX Files.

For more information about the DirectX file format, consult the DirectX SDK documentation on MSDN Library website at msdn.microsoft.com/library/

DSC (*.dsc)

Yes

No

SOFTIMAGE|3D file format that contains information about a scene’s hierarchies, camera, lights, animation, and geometry. See Importing SOFTIMAGE|3D Scenes and Models.

DXFX (*.fx)

Yes

No

Softimage can load DirectX Effects files (*.fx) from the DXFX realtime shader. DirectX effects are high-level programs that allow you to combine a number of multi-pass vertex and pixel shading effects in a single file to produce sophisticated realtime-shading effects.

For information about using .fx files in the render tree, see Effects Shaders (.fx Files) [Realtime Shaders].

For more information about Effects and/or the DXFX file format, consult the DirectX SDK documentation on MSDN Library website at msdn.microsoft.com/library/

EANI (*.eani)

Yes

Yes

Import and export external action sources saved in the native Softimage binary format (*.eani). See Importing and Exporting Action Sources [Nonlinear Animation].

EMDL (*.emdl)

Yes

Yes

File format used to import and export Softimage models. See Importing and Exporting Softimage Models.

EPS (*.eps)

Yes

No

Curves saved as EPS (encapsulated PostScript) files to be used for creating 3D text. See Importing EPS Files [Surface and Curve Modeling].

EXP (*.exp)

Yes

No

You cannot open a binary .exp format expression file from SOFTIMAGE|3D directly. Instead, you import a scene or model with the expression in it. See SI|3D Expressions.

EXP2 (*.exp2)

Yes

Yes

Softimage expressions can be imported (loaded) and exported (saved) as .exp2 files. See Saving and Loading Expressions [Animation].

FBX (*.fbx)

Yes

Yes

Crosswalk: The Softimage FBX plug-in allows you to import, export, and merge-back scene data using the FBX (*.fbx) file format. See Importing and Exporting FBX Files.

FRAW (*.fraw)

Yes

Yes

SOFTIMAGE|3D function curves can be imported (loaded) and exported (saved) as .fraw files. See Saving and Loading Function Curves [Animation].

FRAW2 (*.fraw2)

Yes

Yes

Softimage function curves can be imported (loaded) and exported (saved) as .fraw2 files. See Saving and Loading Function Curves [Animation].

FXS (*.fxs)

No

Yes

Export Point Oven Messiah Scene files through the MDD Baker plug-in. See Importing and Exporting Point Oven MDD Files.

HRC (*.hrc)

Yes

No

SOFTIMAGE|3D file format that contains information about a scene’s objects and object hierarchies (known as SI3D models). See Importing SOFTIMAGE|3D Scenes and Models.

IGES (*.igs)

Yes

Yes

ANSI graphics file format for wireframe model interchange. See Importing and Exporting IGES Files.

KEY (*.key)

Yes

No

SOFTIMAGE|3D keys (static poses) files. See Importing and Exporting Action Sources [Nonlinear Animation].

LWO (*.lwo)

Yes

Yes

Import (load) and export (save) Point Oven Lightwave Object files. See Importing and Exporting Point Oven LWO Files.

LWS (*.lws)

No

Yes

Export Point Oven Lightwave Scene files through the MDD Baker plug-in. See Importing and Exporting Point Oven MDD Files.

MDD (*.mdd)

Yes

Yes

Import (Reader) and export (Baker) Point Oven MDD files. See Importing and Exporting Point Oven MDD Files.

MI2 (*.mi)

No

Yes

You can export a scene to the mental images MI2 file format that can be read by the mental ray rendering software. For more information on mental ray rendering, See Exporting to MI2 Files [Rendering].

MOV (*.mov)

Yes

Yes

Import (load) an Apple® QuickTime MOV with audio into the animation mixer. Only the sound is loaded and you can use it to adjust the timing of your animation. See Audio and Animation [Nonlinear Animation].

Export (output) rendered image sequences in the MOV format. See Creating Movie Files (Windows Only) [Rendering].

OBJ (*.obj)

Yes

Yes

Wavefront Object file format. See Importing and Exporting Wavefront OBJ Files.

PRESET (*.preset)

Yes

Yes

Edit properties in a property editor and save your settings as a preset. Presets are simple data files with a .preset file extension that contain property information. Presets allow you to transport information between scenes. See Creating Presets of Property Settings [Scene Elements].

PSC (*.psc)

Yes

Yes

Import and export the native Point Oven Scene file format. See Importing and Exporting With Point Oven.

PSD (*.psd)

Yes

No

Import Adobe Photoshop PSD image files as image clip and source pairs. Modifications to the PSD file in Photoshop are reflected in Softimage. See Loading (Creating) Sources and Clips [Texturing].

In the Fx Tree, you can import and export PSD files using the File Input operator and the File Output operator respectively. See Setting File Input Properties and Rendering Effects to File [Compositing and Effects].

PTP (*.ptp)

Yes

Yes

Cached simulation files. PTP files record the position and physical properties of each particle in the stream. The file sequence is written back each time you modify any parameter affecting the simulation. See Playing Particle-based Simulations [Particles].

QT (*.qt)

Yes

No

Import (load) an Apple® QuickTime QT with audio into the animation mixer. Only the sound is loaded and you can use it to adjust the timing of your animation. See Audio and Animation [Nonlinear Animation].

RTF (*.rtf)

Yes

Yes

Text can be imported and exported (saved) as an RTF (Rich Text Format) file. See Importing RTF Files and Saving RTF Files [Modeling and Deformation Basics].

SCN (*.scn)

Yes

Yes

Softimage scene file description uses binary code to efficiently store information about objects, textures, and animation. See Scenes.

SCNTOC (*.scntoc)

Yes

Yes

Softimage scene table of contents is an XML-based file that contains scene information. It has an extension of .scntoc with the same name and in the same folder as the corresponding scene file. The scene TOC can be opened and edited with any text editor or XML editor. See Getting and Setting Scene Data with the Scene TOC.

WAV (*.wav)

Yes

No

Import (load) a Windows Waveform WAV with audio into the animation mixer. Only the sound is loaded and you can use it to adjust the timing of your animation. See Audio and Animation [Nonlinear Animation].

XSI or dotXSI (*.xsi)

Yes

Yes

Crosswalk: Import and export an object, multiple–selected objects, or an entire scene in a single dotXSI (*.xsi) v.5 or v.6 file. See Using Crosswalk for Softimage.

dotXSI v.3, v.3.5, v.3.6: Import and export an object, multiple–selected objects, or an entire scene in a single dotXSI (*.xsi) file. See Importing and Exporting dotXSI Files.

Specialized scene data: Scene data can be stored externally using the dotXSI format.

• Model referencing supports the dotXSI file format. See Using Referenced Models.

• Material libraries can be stored externally. See Importing and Exporting Material Libraries [Material and Shader Basics].

• Action sources can be stored externally. See Importing and Exporting Action Sources [Nonlinear Animation].

XSIMIXER (*.xsimixer)

Yes

Yes

Import and export the entire animation mixer for a model, making it easy to share animation between models. See Importing and Exporting the Animation Mixer [Nonlinear Animation].