Extract text from CryENGINE animations (IK)
To convert IK animations to another format, you need CryENGINE or other 3D software.
To convert other file formats to the "3D Animation File" file type, you need software like CryENGINE or a similar tool.
The .ik file is an Inverse Kinematics animation data file used primarily by CryENGINE, a high-performance game engine developed by Crytek. It stores positional constraints, bone limits, and joint movement logic for 3D character skeletons. Game developers and modders encounter .ik files when building character animations that interact dynamically with the game environment, such as a foot aligning with stairs.
This format comes with severe limitations for general users. It is highly proprietary and mathematically complex. An .ik file is useless on its own because it requires its parent character rig (typically a CHR or CGA file) to make sense of the joint data. You cannot open an .ik file natively in Windows, macOS, or standard web browsers, and it requires a heavy game engine installation to utilize.
Users often attempt to convert .ik files into standard motion capture or 3D animation formats like FBX, BVH, or DAE to migrate assets into other engines like Unity or Unreal Engine. However, standard online converters fail because the file does not contain a mesh or standard keyframes; it only contains engine-specific physics solvers.
This file format is exceptionally difficult to open or convert because only the original engine or specialized DCC plugins for Autodesk Maya or 3ds Max can accurately parse the IK data. We can inspect the file and show internal text, rig references, or embedded content to help you debug your animation pipeline.
Convert.Guru analyzes your IK file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted PNG, NCS, APPLESCRIPT and IAS files.
If you want to convert IK file to OBJ, FBX, DAE, 3DS, MAX, BLEND, MA, MB, C4D, STL, PLY or WRL, you can use CryENGINE or similar software from the "Inverse Kinematics Animation 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 IK, try CryENGINE or another comparable tool in the "Inverse Kinematics Animation 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 IK converter.