CompuServe Messages

John, Since there is no serious discussion that I'm aware of by the major players in the 3D market for extending the DXF format, I had put my focus on the newer formats. Perhaps you're onto something here though. A new DXF format might be possible to promote on a grassroots level, but it would take a lot of work to twist all the 3D devs arms into supporting it. Again, I come back to my main concern. That is, the ability to link different 3D apps, or at least generate files with greater mobility from things like 3D Paint programs, Spline modelers, Metaball modelers, Procedural Animation programs etc., so devs of these apps can make their products standalone rather than plug-ins, and usable by a broader base. Would an enhanced DXF or OBJ be more suited to this job than some of the new-fangled API formats? Based on what I've heard lately, by next year we'll end up with a couple of popular enhanced formats: VRML, 3D Metafile, and something from Microsoft; and perhaps some revised object formats: DXF, OBJ, RIB (and 3DS?). I doubt that OpenGL and Keystone will make it into the mainstream, and I don't fully understand where OpenInventor will fit into this scheme. -Tim