Open Design Alliance (ODA) today announced that it has started a public beta program for the Collada file format that will allow users to translate 3D data from the .dwg file format to Collada. The interface is available to the general public as a stand-alone conversion application for Windows, and full API and platform support will be available to ODA members in the upcoming 3.5.1 release of Teigha due out by the end of the year.
Collada is an XML-based file format designed to exchange digital assets between interactive 3D graphics applications. The Collada interface for Teigha was developed in response to requests from ODA members for better compatibility between the .dwg file format and the numerous applications that support Collada. The new Collada interface makes it easy for ODA members to support Collada in their Teigha-based applications.
“With this beta program we would like to encourage users to work with the ODA development team to improve Collada support within Teigha,” said Neil Peterson, CTO of ODA. “The beta is available at no cost to the general public, and we look forward to working with both ODA members and developers in the open source community to improve the interface and to develop a better understanding of the needs of Collada users.”
The interface is available for immediate download at: http://www.opendesign.com/guestfiles/collada_beta