====== Data File Formats ======

===== C3D Format =====

The C3D format is the default file format for Visual3D. This is a well-documented public format that is supported by most [[Visual3D:Documentation:Definitions:Motion_Capture_(MoCap)|Motion Capture Manufacturers.]]
The official documentation can be found here [[http://www.c3d.org|www.c3d.org]]

===== CMO Format =====

The C3D file format was specified for the storage of one trial. Visual3D combines trials for data analysis. To accomodate multiple trials in a single file, we have designed a proprietary format called a CMO format that contains an entire movement analysis including multiple movement trials (e.g. multiple C3D files), static calibration trial, biomechanical model description, reports (graphs and formatting, normative data) and relational information of the trials. This proprietary format is intimately linked to the Visual3D software because it stores the entire Visual3D workspace.

At any time while using Visual3D, you can save the entire workspace into a CMO file (file extension .cmo, meaning **C-Motion output**). You can then safely quit Visual3D, and at some future time run it again and re-load the CMO file to begin working again exactly where you left off. CMO files are useful as repositories for long-term storage of experiment records. Even if the original input data files are unavailable, their contents remain safely stored and can be reviewed (but not altered). The CMO file also contains copies of various Visual3D settings which affect computed results (e.g., your laboratory coordinate system). This ensures that you will obtain identical results every time you load a CMO file, even if that file was produced with different settings than you usually use. This fact makes CMO files useful for exchange of experimental results between different laboratories, or between students and professors, etc.

**Although still supported for legacy reasons, the CMO file format has been superseded by the CMZ file format.**

===== CMZ Format =====

The CMZ file format improves upon the legacy CMO file format in two ways:

  - CMZ files contain calculated values, such as the results of model-based calculations, meaning that these do not have to be recalculated every time the file is loaded; and
  - CMZ files compress the underlying data they contain. 

These improvements reduce the size required on disk to store your data and reduce the time required to load your data into Visual3D or Inspect3D. Since CMZ files are often used to manage large data sets, these improvements can be significant. 

===== VND Format =====

The VND format is the normative data file format for Visual3D. The file contains p2d signals that are typically stored in a common folder within the p2d type. The typical method for creating these signals is documented

===== ASCII Format =====

There are a wide variety of [[visual3d:documentation:definitions:file_formats:ascii_format|ASCII formatted Data files]]. 
Visual3D will load many of these files into Visual3D; translating them into C3D format in the process.
It is quite a challenge to read all varieties of ASCII formatted files, but we do our best to accommodate data that our users collect. If Visual3D does not import your formatted files, contact support@c-motion.com and request that we implement your format. We recognize that the first task to analyze your data is to be able to load the files, so we try hard to make sure that users have their data.
[[Visual3D:Documentation:Definitions:File_Formats:ASCII_Format|Visual3D Format]]
[[Visual3D:Documentation:Definitions:File_Formats:P2D_Format|P2D Format]]
[[Visual3D:Documentation:Definitions:File_Formats:FSV_Format|FSV Format]]
[[Visual3D:Documentation:Kinematics_and_Kinetics:Exporting_six_degree_of_freedom_data|Six Degree of Freedom]]

===== Other Formats =====

Some manufacturers have provided us with information on their file formats.
[[Visual3D:Documentation:Definitions:File_Formats:NDI_Formats|NDI Formats]]