Pipeline & formats

3D format explorer

Twenty-six formats, eight capability axes, no marketing.

ReferenceAll 26

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26 of 26 formats

Format	Category	PBR materials	Animation	Scene hierarchy	Semantic metadata	Compression	Streaming / LOD	AR-ready	Direct browser load	Typical size
3D Gaussian Splats .splat / .ply / .spz Research / emerging · 2023	Neural & volumetric	○	◐	○	○	●	◐	◐	●	20–400 MB
3MF .3mf 3MF Consortium · 2015	Additive & manufacturing	◐	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	0.5–80 MB
AMF .amf ASTM F2915 · 2011	Additive & manufacturing	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	1–100 MB
CityGML / CityJSON .gml / .json OGC · 2008	BIM & geospatial	○	○	●	●	◐	◐	○	◐	5 MB–40 GB
Draco glTF extension Google · 2017	Web & real-time	○	◐	○	○	●	◐	◐	●	−85% geometry
E57 .e57 ASTM E2807 · 2011	Scan & point cloud	○	○	◐	●	●	○	○	○	500 MB–200 GB
FBX .fbx Autodesk · 2006	Mesh & exchange	◐	●	●	◐	○	○	○	○	1–500 MB
G-code .gcode / .nc ISO 6983 / vendor · 1958	Additive & manufacturing	○	●	○	◐	○	●	○	◐	1–400 MB
glTF 2.0 .gltf / .glb Khronos Group · 2017	Web & real-time	●	●	●	◐	●	◐	●	●	0.5–8 MB
IFC .ifc / .ifcx buildingSMART · 1997	BIM & geospatial	◐	○	●	●	◐	◐	◐	◐	20 MB–3 GB
IGES .igs / .iges ANSI · 1980	CAD & engineering	○	○	◐	○	○	○	○	○	2–200 MB
JT .jt Siemens / ISO 14306 · 2012	CAD & engineering	○	○	●	●	●	◐	○	○	2–300 MB
KTX2 / Basis Universal .ktx2 Khronos / Binomial · 2020	Web & real-time	●	○	○	○	●	●	◐	●	−75% textures
LAS / LAZ .las / .laz ASPRS · 2003	Scan & point cloud	○	○	○	●	●	◐	○	○	100 MB–500 GB
Meshopt glTF extension zeux / open source · 2019	Web & real-time	○	●	○	○	●	●	◐	●	−70% geometry
NeRF / radiance fields .ingp / .nerfstudio Research · 2020	Neural & volumetric	○	○	○	○	◐	○	○	◐	10–500 MB
OBJ .obj + .mtl Wavefront · 1992	Mesh & exchange	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	◐	1–800 MB
Octree point tiles .octree / 3D Tiles Potree / OGC 3D Tiles · 2016	Scan & point cloud	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	Paged, unbounded
OpenUSD .usd / .usda / .usdc Pixar / AOUSD · 2016	Mesh & exchange	●	●	●	●	◐	◐	◐	○	10 MB–4 GB
OpenVDB .vdb Academy Software Foundation · 2012	Neural & volumetric	○	●	◐	●	●	◐	○	○	50 MB–10 GB
Parasolid .x_t / .x_b Siemens · 1988	CAD & engineering	○	○	●	◐	○	○	○	○	1–150 MB
PLY .ply Stanford · 1994	Scan & point cloud	○	○	○	◐	○	○	○	◐	10 MB–20 GB
Revit .rvt Autodesk · 2000	BIM & geospatial	◐	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	50 MB–2 GB
STEP AP242 .stp / .step ISO 10303 · 1994	CAD & engineering	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	5–800 MB
STL .stl 3D Systems · 1987	Additive & manufacturing	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	◐	1–500 MB
USDZ .usdz Pixar / Apple · 2018	Web & real-time	●	●	●	◐	○	○	●	◐	2–25 MB

● Full support ◐ Partial or extension-dependent ○ Not supported Click any row for the honest note.

What this is

Filter every format we ingest or emit by category and capability, then read the honest note on where each one breaks.

The reference table we hand new engineers. Each entry says what the format is for, why we use it, and the specific way it will bite you. Filter by capability to answer questions like 'what can carry semantics and stream?' — the answer is shorter than you would hope.

Things worth trying

Filter to AR-ready and see how short the list is
Compare STEP against glTF on the semantic metadata axis
Read the watch-out on E57 before you accept a 200 GB delivery

Pipeline & formats

LOD & decimation lab

Watch 94% of the triangles leave without taking the silhouette with them.

Asset pipeline playground

Step a 412 MB CAD assembly down to a 610 kB web asset, one stage at a time.

iPhone scan to GLB

Capture on a phone, ship to the web and to AR — and meet the USDZ tax.

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