3DS is a file format used by Autodesk’s 3D Studio® to store modeling and animation information. A 3DS file can have an object section and a keyframe section, which transfers animation parameters. form•Z reads and writes only the object section of a 3DS file and does not support its animation portion. 3DS is a binary encoded format.
A 3DS file is imported into form•Z in the standard manner and all the options in the Modeling Import Options: 3DS dialog are general type of options. The 3DS lights, cameras, and materials are converted as closely as possible to form•Z lights, views, and materials.
A form•Z project is exported as a 3DS file in the standard manner and only modeling objects can be exported to 3DS files. All the options in the Modeling Export Options: 3DS dialog are common options.
All the form•Z modeling objects are triangulated when they are exported to 3DS. Also, all the control objects lose their controls, since they are not supported by 3DS. The form•Z lights, views, and surface styles are converted to the closest 3DS lights, cameras, and materials.
The 3DS file format supports plain color, image maps, ambient, diffuse, and specular reflections, roughness, specular color, and transmission. It also supports transparency maps and bump maps.
When importing a 3DS file, and the file contains references to texture maps, all the image types recognized by form•Z are considered valid texture maps.
The form•Z texture map controls are converted to UV coordinates (or rendering coordinates in 3DS terms) at export and are imported as UV coordinates from the 3DS files.