Extract text from Element 3D files (E3D)
To convert E3D 3D files to another format, you need Element 3D or other 3D software.
To convert other file formats to the "Proprietary 3D Object File" file type, you need software like Element 3D or a similar tool.
The .E3D file format is primarily used by Element 3D, a powerful rendering plugin developed by Video Copilot (now part of Maxon) for Adobe After Effects. These files store 3D models, textures, and material settings optimized for fast, hardware-accelerated rendering within video compositions. Other specialized software also use the .e3d extension, including Trainz Simulator for train 3D models, EPLAN for electrical component macros, and Corpus 3D for XML-based cabinet design elements.
The biggest disadvantage of the .E3D format is its heavily fragmented and proprietary nature. Because multiple different applications use the exact same file extension, an .e3d file from one program is entirely incompatible with another. They are closed formats that cannot be opened natively in web browsers or standard operating system previewers. Accessing the most common variant (Element 3D) requires an expensive Adobe Creative Cloud subscription and the specific third-party plugin.
Users often need to convert .E3D files to standard 3D formats like OBJ, FBX, or STL to edit the geometry in standard software like Blender or Autodesk Maya. However, standard online converters usually fail because the format locks geometry and shaders behind proprietary rendering engines. Often, only the original application can properly read or export the data. If our analysis detects a supported underlying or embedded format (such as the XML data found in Corpus 3D variants), viewing or conversion may still be possible.
Convert.Guru analyzes your E3D file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted T3D, ZIP, C4D, XLIB and LIB4D files.
If you want to convert E3D file to OBJ, FBX, DAE, 3DS, MAX, BLEND, MA, MB, C4D, STL, PLY or WRL, you can use Element 3D or similar software from the "3D Model and Element Storage" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert DWG, DAE, X3D, IGES, WRL, JT, SKP, 3DS, 3DM, OBJ, STEP or FBX files to E3D, try Element 3D or another comparable tool in the "3D Model and Element Storage" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our E3D converter.