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How to convert 3D Studio (.3ds) to STK (Satellite Tool Kit, Systems Tool Kit, MDL)?

PolyTrans|CAD+DCC performs mathematically precise CAD, DCC/Animation, GIS and BIM 3D file conversions into all key downstream 3D packages and file formats. Okino software is used and trusted throughout the world by many tens of thousands of 3D professionals in mission & production critical environments, backed by respectable personal support directly from our core development team.

3D Studio

The .3ds file format was the native file format of the old Autodesk '3D Studio R1-R4' software, which was popular up to about 1996 before its successor (3ds Max) replaced it. The file format is a dated, 16-bit, obsolete format. It is limited to triangle geometry, 65536 polygons per mesh, no vertex normals for accurate smoothing, 8.3 DOS filename naming and a maximum of 10 characters for object names.

Please do not confuse the .3ds format with the 3ds Max .max format. You will find throughout the 3D industry that some companies refer to .3ds as the "3ds Max file format" but this is not true. The native file format of 3ds Max is the .max format, whereas .3ds is just a legacy import/export file format ported over to 3ds Max by Tom Hudson during the transition from 3D Studio R4 back in the early 1990s. DO NOT use the .3ds file format to convert to/from 3ds Max but rather use Okino's dedicated PolyTrans-for-3dsMax plug-in system for 3ds Max.

STK

Systems Tool Kit (formerly Satellite Tool Kit), often referred to by its initials STK, is a multi-physics software application from Analytical Graphics, Inc. (an Ansys company) that enables engineers and scientists to perform complex analyses of ground, sea, air, and space platforms, and to share results in one integrated environment. 'MDL' is the native file format of the STK software.

Okino has been a fundamental and long term 3D file conversion partner to AGI since 1998. Originally the conversions from Okino software and into STK were done by exporting LightWave .lwo files, then COLLADA .dae files as of 2008, and in now recent years glTF files.

3D Studio import converter's overview

Vist the Ansys WEB Site

glTF export converter's overview