Importing and Exporting in 3ds Format

The Vectorworks Design Series products can both import from and export to the .3ds file format used by Autodesk® 3ds Max® software, version 3.0 and higher.

Importing in 3ds Format (3D only)

When importing a 3ds file, specify how the drawing components will be represented in the Vectorworks file.

To import a 3ds file:

1. Select File > Import > Import 3DS (3D only), and then select the 3ds file to import.

Alternatively, click the file to import and drag it into an open Vectorworks file.

2. The Import 3DS Options dialog box opens; the options available depend on the contents of the file being imported. Specify the file import options.

Click to show/hide the parameters.

Parameter	Description
Import Materials	Select whether to assign fill colors from the imported objects according to the colors of the materials of objects when selected
Import Transparency and Image Data as Renderworks Textures	Select to import texture and transparency materials as Renderworks texture resources
Create Renderworks Textures for All Materials	Select to create Renderworks textures for all imported materials from the input file
Import Mesh Objects	Imports each mesh object defined in the 3ds file as either a group of mesh objects or 3D polygons
Import as Vectorworks Mesh Object	Select to import all geometry as a group of mesh objects The 3DS file format does not contain smoothing information. The 3DS import will set document smoothing to the created mesh objects.
Import as Groups of 3D Polygons	Select to represent all imported geometry as a group of 3D polygons
Preserve Texture Assignment and Mapping	If Import Materials is selected, and you are importing geometry as polygons, specify whether textures and texture mappings are applied to imported 3D polygons to preserve their overall appearance (Renderworks required)
Scale	Opens the Import 3DS Scale dialog box, for specifying a scale to apply to all imported objects; see Scaling 3ds Objects
Import Light Objects	Imports light objects from the 3ds file
Import Spot Light	Select this option to import spot lights from the 3ds file as Vectorworks spot lights
Import Omni Light	Select this option to import omni lights from the 3ds file as Vectorworks point lights
Import Camera Objects	Imports camera objects from the 3ds file
Import Active Camera Only	Imports only the active camera from the 3ds file, and sets the current view to the camera view
Create Saved Views for Each Camera	Imports all camera objects from the 3ds file, and creates a saved view in the Vectorworks file for each

3. Click OK to import the file. The Object Info palette displays the image information.

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Exporting in 3ds Format (3D only)

Scaling 3ds Objects

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