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My company, Syndesis Corporation, makes InterChange Plus, a program that translates between many different 3D file formats. We're working on a CADL export converter for our next release. For example you could use this to convert a 3D Studio object to CADL format. We also support dozens of other 3D formats like Wavefront, DXF, Toaster, etc. I have a few questions about the possible variations of CADL that we might create. We translate strictly polygon-based information. It's an easy choice for us to translate these to POINT, LINE and POLYGON commands. Beyond polygons, we translate sub-object information that might represent a hierarchy like a hand, forearm and upper arm. Would groups be a good way to represent these in CADL? For what purposes do people use CADL's groups and sub-groups? We also translate surface information such as color. In one draft of our converter, we optionally output a PALETTE that includes the colors used in the object. How much of a 256-color palette would be safe for us to usurp? Also, can a CADL program read the existing palette color values? In this way, we might export a CADL file that could adapt the object's colors to the existing color palette. Read action !