File Types

The native file format for Rhinoceros 3D, a NURBS-based modeling tool used in industrial design, architecture, and jewelry design.

A legacy 3D model format from Autodesk 3ds Max. It supports mesh geometry, materials, and basic animations but has significant size and feature limitations.

Third Generation Partnership Project 2: a multimedia container similar to 3GP, designed for CDMA-based 3G services (used primarily in North America).

Third Generation Partnership Project: a multimedia container format designed for 3G mobile phones. It uses highly compressed video and audio to minimize bandwidth and storage.

3D Manufacturing Format: an open-source XML format designed for additive manufacturing (3D printing) with richer data support than STL.

The native file format of Autodesk 3ds Max, a professional 3D modeling, animation, and rendering application widely used in game development, architecture visualization, and VFX production.

An open archive format with high compression ratios using LZMA/LZMA2 algorithms. Developed for the 7-Zip archiver, it often achieves better compression than ZIP and RAR.

Advanced Audio Coding: a lossy audio compression format designed as the successor to MP3. It delivers better sound quality at similar or lower bitrates and is the default format for Apple Music and Yo...

AbiWord Document: the native XML-based document format for the AbiWord open-source word processor.

Audio Codec 3: the lossy audio compression format used in Dolby Digital surround sound. Standard in DVDs, Blu-rays, digital television, and cinema.

Microsoft Access Database (2007+): the current database format for Microsoft Access, replacing MDB with enhanced encryption and multi-valued field support.

A proprietary archive format offering high compression ratios. Popular in the late 1990s but now largely replaced by 7z and RAR.

A 3D modeling kernel file format by Spatial (Dassault Systemes). SAT is the text format; SAB is the binary variant.

Adobe Illustrator Artwork: the native file format for Adobe Illustrator, a vector graphics editor. It is based on EPS or PDF and is widely used in graphic design and illustration.

Audio Interchange File Format: an uncompressed audio format developed by Apple, based on the IFF format. It is the Apple equivalent of WAV for professional audio production.

Apple Lossless Audio Codec: a lossless audio compression format developed by Apple. It reduces file size by about 40-60% while preserving bit-perfect audio quality.

Additive Manufacturing File: an XML-based format for 3D printing that supports color, materials, lattices, and constellations (assemblies) unlike STL.

Adaptive Multi-Rate: an audio compression format optimized for speech encoding. Standard in GSM and 3G mobile networks for voice calls.

Monkey's Audio: a lossless audio compression format offering higher compression than FLAC but with slower encoding/decoding. Popular in Asia for archival music storage.

Android Package Kit: the file format for distributing and installing applications on Android devices.