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Import & export formats
Adobe Dimension can import models, materials, images, and lights in a variety of formats.
Supported import formats
Models |
Materials |
Lights |
Images |
FBX (2020.2.0) GLB GLTF OBJ SBSM SKP (2020) STL USDa USDc USDz |
MDL SBSAR |
EXR HDR IBL SBSAR |
AI BMP EPS EXR GIF HDR IFF J2K JJPF JP2 JPE JPEG JPG JPX PCX PNG PSB PSD SVG SVGZ TGA TIF TIFF |
Supported export formats
Models |
Materials |
Lights |
Rendered images |
OBJ GLTF GLB USD |
MDL |
Dimension cannot yet export individual lights. |
PSD (layered) PNG |
Export format limitations
Dimension provides several formats for exporting 3D models for use in other projects or applications. Each format has different ways of handling the data during export.
DN
DN is the native Dimension format and is best for reusing models across Dimension projects to preserve decals and material quality. Dimension files can only be opened with Dimension or Adobe Substance 3D Stager, and cannot be imported into other applications.
DN can store all types of information contained in a Dimension scene. However, when exporting selected models, only those particular models are present in the file. No environment or scene settings will be saved. Use the File > Save As menu to preserve all information present in the current Dimension scene.
All hierarchy, geometry, material, substance, and decal information is preserved just as it is in the original scene. You retain all customizability.
Dimension files can, at the moment, only be loaded or imported into Dimension. It is not meant as an exchange format between other 3D applications, but it is a convenient way to export specific assets for reuse in other Dimension scenes.
OBJ
OBJ is a format for importing to many 3D applications. When exporting to OBJ you may lose object hierarchy, material fidelity, animation, or other aspects that OBJ does not support.
Geometry:
OBJ files will preserve the topology of the exported meshes. It can store vertex, face, uv, and normal data.
Animation:
OBJ does not store hierarchy, pivot, or animation data of any kind. All objects will be baked down to be siblings regardless of their hierarchy in Dimension. The pivot point of every object in an obj file will be at the origin of the scene.
Materials:
OBJ’s companion file "MTL" should preserve the look of your Dimension/Substance materials almost entirely, but any customization or interactivity is lost. Dimension's decals are "baked" into the textures of the underlying material which can decrease the resolution of the material. Not every 3D program supports loading MTLs to the same extent, so your exported object may look different depending on the program you take it to. Where possible, standard MTL property labels are used, but because of the limitation of the format, some uncommon properties will only load properly into Dimension.
Textures:
For file-size and compatibility reasons, textures are currently limited to 2048x2048 or below on export. Textures are exported as JPG and PNG images so you may experience JPEG compression artifacts. PNG's don't exhibit artifacts but are much larger so they are used only for images with alpha channels and for normal maps.
Environment:
OBJ does not store any environment (lighting, camera, etc) information. It is only a geometry description format.
GLTF
GLTF is a compressed format optimized for speed and runtime use. When exporting to GLTF you may experience some loss in quality due to the compression of this format.
GLTF is a scene format and is, therefore, able to store pretty much the entire Dimension scene, including camera bookmarks, lights and full object hierarchy.
Geometry:
Meshes will be visually unchanged but any non-triangles will be converted to triangles on export.
Materials:
GLTF should preserve the look of your Dimension/Substance materials almost entirely with a few exceptions. The most important limitation is that GLTF doesn't include transparency information so the opacity channel will be used to approximate transparency on export. In addition, Dimension's decals are "baked" into the textures of the underlying material which can decrease the resolution of the material. Finally, the "Glow" property in Dimension is converted to GLTF's "Emissive" property and the conversion isn't exact.
Textures:
For file-size and compatibility reasons, textures are currently limited to 2048x2048 or below on export. In addition, GLTF supports only JPG and PNG images so you may experience JPEG compression artifacts in your images. PNG's don't exhibit artifacts but are much larger so they are used only for images with alpha channels and for normal maps.
Environment:
Currently, several environment details such as the lighting, ground plane, and background image will not be included in the exported file.
GLB
GLB is a compressed format optimized for speed and runtime use. When exporting to GLB you may experience some loss in quality due to the compression of this format.
GLB is a variation of GLTF export and has the same handling for geometry, materials, textures, and environment export. See GLTF export details.
The primary difference between GLTF and GLB is that GLTF export will provide multiple file outputs while GLB will package all outputs into one file.
