Zebra Imaging – Preferred File formats for Holography

Below is a list of file formats useable by Zebra Imaging. They are rated 1 to 5 with 5 retaining most or all of the file information and 1 retaining the least amount of information required to produce a quality Zebra hologram. Depending on the complexity of the scene, the time it takes to prepare a file for print will increase when using a file format rated 2 or below.

  1. Maya - (.mb, .ma,) – Rated 5.  Maya is the preferred 3D software for hologram content development. Nurbs surfaces are easily editable and the format is easily imported and all detail information will be left intact.
  2. MAX (.max) – Rated 5. 3D Studio Max is also a great program to use for 3D content development. The format is easily imported and all detail information will be left intact.
  3. 3DS (.3ds) – Rated 4.  3DS is another great file format native to 3D Studio Max. Some information such as plugins and modifiers may be lost in the conversion.
  4. Alias (.wire) – Rated 3.  Wire files exported from Alias will usually keep geometry intact but may lose material and texture information.
  5. Alias (.tri) – Rated 3.  Tri file exported from Alias will usually keep material and texture information but will convert nurbs surfaces to polygons.
  6. VRML (.wrl, .wrz) – Rated 3.  VRML and VRML2 files can be imported with ease though the files may take some time to open. However, sometimes the converter assigns every object it’s own material. This can make conversion cumbersome for scene with a large number of objects.
  7. Open Flight (.flt) – Rated 2.  Open flight will generally retain most geometry and texture information. However, the converter assigns every object it’s own material. This can make conversion cumbersome for scene with a large number of objects.
  8. AutoCAD (.dxf, .dwg) – Rated 1.  AutoCAD files contain only geometry information. They will not contain material, texture, lighting or camera information. In some cases the geometry will have to be rebuilt due to conversion issues.
  9. OBJ (.obj) – Rated 1.  OBJ files usually only retain the geometry information while losing texture and lighting information.
  10. IGES (.iges) – Rated 1.  IGES files usually only retain the geometry information   while losing texture and lighting information.