Supported Data Formats

Below is a list of all available readers and writers in VTK sorted by extension. Note that for the same extension it could be more than one matching reader/writer since the same extensions are often used across different formats. The list is generated based on a yaml file that contains all the relevant information.

To enable a reader/writer you need to enable the associated module during configuration:

cmake -DVTK_MODULE_ENABLE_<module name>=WANT ...

or setting the flag value via ccmake/cmake-qt.

For example to enable vtkPNGWriter which belongs to VTK::IOImage

cmake -DVTK_MODULE_ENABLE_VTK_IOImage=WANT ...

For more details on enabling module see the module system api.

Warning

the list is incomplete, this is work in progress

• Stanford Exploration Project files reader:

  • Extension: .H

  • reader: vtkSEPReader

  • module: VTK::IOImage

• Alembic scene format:

  • Extension: .abc

  • writer: vtkAlembicExporter

  • module: VTK::IOAlembic

• AVI video files (Windows only):

  • Extension: .avi

  • writer: vtkAVIWriter

  • module: VTK::IOMovie

• LIDAR data using PDAL:

  • Extensions: .bin, .bpf, .csd, .csv, .greyhound, .gpkg, .icebride, .las, .laz, .mat, .nitf, .nsf, .ntf, .pcd, .ply, .pts, .qi, .rxp, .sbet, .sqlite, .sid, .tindex, .txt, .h5

  • reader: vtkPDALReader

  • module: VTK::IOPDAL

• Windows BMP file:

  • Extension: .bmp

  • reader: vtkBMPReader

  • writer: vtkBMPWriter

  • module: VTK::IOImage

• FLUENT native format:

  • Extensions: .cas, .dat

  • reader: vtkFLUENTReader

  • module: VTK::IOGeometry

• MotionFX motion definitions cfg files:

  • Extension: .cfg

  • reader: vtkMotionFXCFGReader

  • module: VTK::IOMotionFX

• Computer Graphics Metafile:

  • Extension: .cgm

  • writer: vtkCGMWriter

  • module: VTK::IOGeometry

• CONVERGE CFD CGNS format:

  • Extension: .cgns

  • reader: vtkCONVERGECFDCGNSReader

  • module: VTK::IOCGNSReader

• CGNS format:

  • Extension: .cgns

  • reader: vtkCGNSReader

  • module: VTK::IOCGNSReader

• LS-Dyna databases:

  • Extension: .d3plot

  • reader: vtkLSDynaReader

  • module: VTK::IOLSDyna

• Tabulat data in Tecplot ascii format:

  • Extensions: .dat, .DAT

  • reader: vtkTecplotTableReader

  • module: VTK::IOTecplotTable

• FLUENT CFF format:

  • Extensions: .dat.h5, .cas.h5

  • reader: vtkFLUENTCFFReader

  • module: VTK::IOFLUENTCFF

• DICOM medical images:

  • Extension: .dcm

  • reader: vtkDICOMImageReader

  • module: VTK::IOImage

• Digital Elevation Map File:

  • Extension: .dem

  • reader: vtkDEMReader

  • module: VTK::IOImage

• Movie.BYU files:

  • Extension: .g

  • reader: vtkBYUReader

  • writer: vtkBYUWriter

  • module: VTK::IOGeometry

• IOSS (Sierra IO System), writer supports only Exodus files:

  • Extension: .g .e .h .gc .ex2 .ex2v2 .exo .gen .par .exoII .exii .ex-timeseries .cgns

  • reader: vtkIOSSReader

  • writer: vtkIOSSWriter

  • module: VTK::IOIOSS

• Chaco graph partitioning output files:

  • Extensions: .graph, .coords

  • reader: vtkChacoReader

  • module: VTK::IOGeometry

• VERAout-tools:

  • Extension: .h5

  • reader: vtkVeraOutReader

  • module: VTK::IOVeraOut

• CONVERGE CFD format:

  • Extension: .h5

  • reader: vtkCONVERGECFDReader

  • module: VTK::IOCONVERGECFD

• H5Part particle files:

  • Extension: .h5part

  • reader: vtkH5PartReader

  • module: VTK::IOH5Part

• hdf files generated from xRage, a LANL physics code:

  • Extension: .h5rage

  • reader: vtkH5RageReader

  • module: VTK::IOH5Rage

• GE TRUCHAS format:

  • Extensions: .hdf5, .h5

  • reader: vtkTRUCHASReader

  • module: VTK::IOTRUCHAS

• Radiance HDR file:

  • Extension: .hdr

  • reader: vtkHDRReader

  • module: VTK::IOImage

• AVS UCD Binary/ASCII Files:

  • Extension: .inp

  • reader: vtkAVSucdReader

  • module: VTK::IOGeometry

• JPEG Files:

  • Extensions: .jpg, .jpeg

  • reader: vtkJPEGReader

  • writer: vtkJPEGWriter

  • module: VTK::IOImage

• LIDAR data in LAS format:

  • Extension: .las

  • reader: vtkLASReader

  • module: VTK::IOLAS

• binary UNC meta image data:

  • Extensions: .mhd, .mha

  • reader: vtkMetaImageReader

  • writer: vtkMetaImageWriter

  • module: VTK::IOImage

• NetCDF-based medical image developed at [BIC:

  • Extension: .mnc

  • reader: vtkMINCImageReader

  • writer: vtkMINCImageWriter

  • module: VTK::IOMINC

• H.264-encoded MP4 files (Windows only):

  • Extension: .mp4

  • writer: vtkMP4Writer

  • module: VTK::IOMovie

• MRC Image Files:

  • Extensions: .mrc, .ali, .st, .rec

  • reader: vtkMRCReader

  • module: VTK::IOImage

• NetCDF UGRID file:

  • Extensions: .nc, .ncdf

  • reader: vtkNetCDFUGRIDReader

  • module: VTK::IONetCDF

• CAM NetCDF (Unstructured):

  • Extensions: .nc, .ncdf

  • reader: vtkNetCDFCAMReader

  • module: VTK::IONetCDF

• netCDF files generic and CF conventions:

  • Extensions: .nc, .ncdf

  • reader: vtkNetCDFReader

  • writer: vtkNetCDFCFWriter

  • module: VTK::IONetCDF

• UGRID NetCDF (Unstructured):

  • Extensions: .nc, .ncdf

  • reader: vtkNetCDFUGRIDReader

  • module: VTK::IONetCDF

• MPAS NetCDF (Unstructured):

  • Extensions: .nc, .ncdf

  • reader: vtkMPASReader

  • module: VTK::IONetCDF

• SLAC Data Reader:

  • Extensions: .nc, .ncdf

  • reader: vtkSLACReader

  • module: VTK::IONetCDF

• Particle data file used at SLAC:

  • Extensions: .ncdf, .netcdf

  • reader: vtkSLACParticleReader

  • module: VTK::IONetCDF

• GAMBIT GAMBIT ASCII format:

  • Extension: .neu

  • reader: vtkGAMBITReader

  • module: VTK::IOGeometry

• NIfTI-1 and NIfTI-2 medical image files:

  • Extensions: .nii, .img, .hdr

  • reader: vtkNIFTIImageReader

  • writer: vtkNIFTIImageWriter

  • module: VTK::IOImage

• Nrrd Raw Image Files:

  • Extensions: .nrrd, .nhdr

  • reader: vtkNrrdReader

  • module: VTK::IOImage

• MNI surface mesh files:

  • Extension: .obj

  • reader: vtkMNIObjectReader

  • writer: vtkMNIObjectWriter

  • module: VTK::IOMINC

• OggTheora:

  • Extension: .ogv

  • writer: vtkOggTheoraWriter

  • module: VTK::IOOggTheora

• OME TIFF files:

  • Extensions: .ome.tif, .ome.tiff

  • reader: vtkOMETIFFReader

  • module: VTK::IOImage

• OMF:

  • Extension: .omf

  • reader: vtkOMRReader

  • module: VTK::IOOMF

• PIO (Parallel Input Output) data files:

  • Extension: .pio

  • reader: vtkPIOReader

  • module: VTK::IOPIO

• Stanford University PLY format:

  • Extension: .ply

  • reader: vtkPLYReader

  • writer: vtkPLYWriter

  • module: VTK::IOPLY

• PNG file:

  • Extension: .png

  • reader: vtkPNGReader

  • writer: vtkPNGWriter

  • module: VTK::IOImage

• pnm (i.e., portable anymap) file:

  • Extensions: .pnm, .pgm, .ppm

  • reader: vtkPNMReader

  • writer: vtkPNMWriter

  • module: VTK::IOImage

• POP Ocean NetCDF (Rectilinear):

  • Extension: .pop.ncdf .pop.nc

  • reader: vtkNetCDFPOPReader

  • module: VTK::IONetCDF

• PostScript file:

  • Extension: .ps

  • writer: vtkPostScriptWriter

  • module: VTK::IOImage

• SEG-Y:

  • Extensions: .sgy, .segy

  • reader: vtkSegYReader

  • module: VTK::IOSegY

• SLC volume file:

  • Extension: .slc

  • reader: vtkSLCReader

  • module: VTK::IOImage

• VTK Reader for STEP and IGES files using OpenCASCADE:

  • Extensions: .step, .iges

  • reader: vtkOCCTReader

  • module: VTK::IOOCCT

• MNI tag files:

  • Extension: .tag

  • reader: vtkMNITagPointReader

  • writer: vtkMNITagPointWriter

  • module: VTK::IOMINC

• Targa files:

  • Extension: .tga

  • reader: vtkTGAReader

  • module: VTK::IOImage

• Tiff image format:

  • Extensions: .tif, .tiff

  • reader: vtkTIFFReader

  • writer: vtkTIFFWriter

  • module: VTK::IOImage

• OpenVDB:

  • Extension: .vdb

  • reader: vtkOpenVDBReader

  • writer: vtkOpenVDBWriter

  • module: VTK::IOOpenVDB

• VPIC:

  • Extension: .vpc

  • reader: vtkVPCIReader

  • module: VTK::IOVPIC

• MNI transformation files:

  • Extension: .xfm

  • reader: vtkMNITransformReader

  • writer: vtkMNITransformWriter

  • module: VTK::IOMINC

• GE Signa ximg files:

  • Extension: .ximg

  • reader: vtkGESignaReader

  • module: VTK::IOImage

• XDMF (eXtensible Data Model and Format):

  • Extensions: .xmf, .xdmf, .xmf2, .xdmf2

  • reader: vtkXdmfReader

  • writer: vtkXdmfWriter

  • module: VTK::IOXdmf2

• XDMF (eXtensible Data Model and Format):

  • Extensions: .xmf, .xdmf, .xmf3, .xdmf3

  • reader: vtkXdmf3Reader

  • writer: vtkXdmf3Writer

  • module: VTK::IOXdmf3