3DS Export for SolidWorks is a 3D Studio® 3DS file export add-in for SolidWorks®. This add-in gives SolidWorks the ability to export 3D solid and surface data from a SolidWorks part and assembly document to meshes in a 3DS file.

3DS Export for SolidWorks tessellates the solid bodies in a SolidWorks part or assembly document into individual triangular meshes. These meshes are then exported to 3DS file as mesh objects. The level of tessellation can be controlled by adjusting the resolution slider in the 3DS Export for SolidWorks options dialog box. A lower resolution will yield coarse meshes (lesser faces), whereas a higher resolution will result in finer meshes (more faces).

3DS Export for SolidWorks is very easy to use. Once installed, it automatically loads itself into SolidWorks and adds a new submenu called "3DSExport" to the SolidWorks menu.

The '3DSExport' submenu consists of the following commands:
# Export - Export meshes to a 3DS file
# Help - Display the 3DS Export for SolidWorks help file
# Register - Register your copy of 3DS Export for SolidWorks
# About - Display the 3DS Export for SolidWorks About box

3DS Export for SolidWorks comes with detailed documentation for each command as well as a tutorial to get you started in the shortest possible time.


The 3DS File Format

The 3DS file format is the native file format of 3D Studio. 3D Studio has now been replaced by 3ds Max whose native file format has a .max file extension. However, 3ds Max is still able to read and write .3ds files. 3ds Max is one of the most widely-used off the shelf 3D animation programs. It has strong modeling capabilities, a flexible plug-in architecture and a long heritage on the Microsoft Windows platform. It is mostly used by video game developers, TV commercial studios and architectural visualization studios. It is also used for movie effects and movie pre-visualization.