Supported File Formats

HOOPS Envision for Desktop supports reading of the following formats out of the box, on all platforms:

Format Extensions
VTFx and VTF VTFX, VTF
VTK UnstructuredGrid VTU, PVTU, VTM, PVD

For additional formats beyond those listed above, you can use the Import CAE Component. The Import CAE Component adds easy loading of simulation results from commercial CAE formats. It provides a data source for the UnstructGrid Component that can read files from commercial FEA and CFD simulation software systems. With a few lines of code you can import your model from most commercial FEA and CFD file formats.

To learn more about how to use the ImportCae component, see Use the Import CAE Component.

The table below lists the file formats that can be imported with HOOPS Envision for Desktop through the Import CAE Component.

Format Version Extensions Supported Platforms
      Web web Desktop desktop
ABAQUS Binary Result 2026 FIL
ABAQUS Input 2026 INP
ABAQUS ODB [1] [3] 2026 ODB
ANSYS Binary Result 2026R1 RST, RTH, RFL
ANSYS CDB 2026R1 CDB
ANSYS CFX Result 26R1 RES
CGNS 4.4.0 CGNS
COMSOL Sectionwise N/A TXT
EnSight CASE 6 CASE
Femap 10 NEU
Fluent 16.0 CAS, DAT, MSH
HyperWorks H3D [1] [4] 25 H3D
IDEAS Universal 11 UNV, UNIV
LS-DYNA Keyword R14 K, KEY
LS-DYNA State Database R14 D3PLOT, PTF
MSC/Marc Post 2017 T16, T19
NASTRAN OUTPUT2 MSC Nastran 2018 NX Nastran 2506 OP2, BIN
NASTRAN HDF5 MSC Nastran 2018 H5
NASTRAN Bulk Data MSC Nastran 2018 NX Nastran 2506 DAT, BDF
Native VKI N/A VDM
OpenFOAM [5] 2.0 FOAM
PTC Analysis 4.0 NEU
Stereo Lithography (STL) N/A STL
Star CCM Result [2] N/A CCM
Tecplot 11.2 PLT
VTK Legacy N/A VTK
VTK UnstructuredGrid [5] N/A VTU, PVTU, VTM, PVD

Legend

  • / = Windows: supported / not supported
  • / = Linux: supported / not supported
  • / = macOS: supported / not supported

Footnotes

[1](1, 2) Requires libraries provided by a third party vendor. These libraries are found under ThirdParty in the distribution.
[2]Requires external set of libraries provided by a third party vendor. These libraries are NOT included in the distribution.
[3]Web: Due to a severe limitation in the official Abaqus ODB API, the server will run all Abaqus .odb file access in the main thread. This will block the server for any other requests while the file is being accessed. This should be taken into consideration when deploying a solution using the Abaqus ODB reader.
[4]The H3D reader also needs the HyperWorks option in the license.
[5](1, 2) These formates are supported by a Data Provider Plugin. Read more about using data provider plugins here: https://docs.techsoft3d.com/hoops/envision-desktop/topics/dataproviders/index.html