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How to convert Rhino (.3dm) to 3D Studio (.3ds)?

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.

Rhino

The '.3dm' file format, otherwise known as 'OpenNURBS', is the primary and native file format of the Rhino NURBS modeling package by Robert McNeel and Associates.

Okino was one of the earliest companies to recognize and support the McNeel Rhino software. We have natively supported the Rhino .3dm file format since the release of Rhino v2.0 and up to the current versions of the .3dm file format.

Okino also supports many of the other CAD and non-CAD file formats that Rhino can import and export.

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.

Rhino import converter's overview

3D Studio export converter's overview