| Full Name | 3D Manufacturing Format |
| Extension | 3MF |
| Type | 3D Model |
| Mime Type | application/vnd.ms-package.3dmanufacturing-3dmodel+xml |
| Format | Binary |
The primary purpose of the 3MF format is to store and transmit 3D models for 3D printing. The format is ideally suited to this due to its ability to store not only the 3D model but also additional metadata required for 3D printing an object, such as units of measurement, surface material characteristics, and more.
Mesh Geometry
The 3MF file format is a mesh-based format; more specifically, the mesh is stored as a series of triangles that, when combined, can represent any 3D object. The format can contain many 3D mesh objects in a single file.
3MF Converter Capabilities
As materials containing texture and color information are both supported by the 3MF format, our tool will do its best to include these materials, including any texture files, in the converted file.
| Full Name | COLLADA - Collaborative Design Activity |
| Extension | DAE |
| Type | 3D Model |
| Mime Type | text/xml |
| Format | Text |
The Khronos Group created the DAE file, a 3D model file format. The format is an XML text-based format, storing the 3D model information in a standardized XML structure, ensuring it is easy to add additional features without introducing compatibility issues.
Many 3D editing applications support the importing and exporting of DAE files, including the popular 3D editor Blender.
Mesh Geometry
DAE files support mesh geometry along with various types of surface definitions, from simple triangles to full polygon meshes. It has support for face and vertex normals and texture coordinates too. Mesh elements defined within the XML structure can be shared between multiple 3D objects within the final rendered scene.
DAE Converter Capabilities
As materials containing color information is supported by the 3MF and DAE formats, our tool will do its best to include this in the converted DAE file.
