Click the "Select File" button above, and choose your VDB file.
You’ll see a preview, if available.
Click the "Convert file to..." button to extract text information.
Convert VDB to another file type
To convert VDB volumetric files to another format, you need Houdini or other 3D software.
Convert a file to VDB
To convert other file formats to the "Volumetric Data File" file type, you need software like Houdini or a similar tool.
About VDB files
A .VDB file is primarily an OpenVDB Volumetric Data format used in 3D computer graphics to store high-resolution volumetric elements like smoke, fire, clouds, and fluids. Originally developed by DreamWorks Animation, this open-source format is managed by the Academy Software Foundation. You can open and edit these files using professional 3D suites like Houdini, Blender, or Autodesk Maya. Users often need to convert .VDB files because they are incredibly large, require high-end hardware to render, and are strictly proprietary to professional 3D pipelines. You cannot simply view a 5GB voxel simulation in a web browser or standard image viewer. If you need to share the shape or 3D print the model, you should convert the .VDB volume into a standard polygonal mesh format like OBJ, STL, or FBX. However, be aware that converting volumetric data to polygons will lose all internal density, temperature, and velocity details, leaving only the outer surface shell. This format is notoriously difficult to convert because it stores data as voxels (a 3D grid of numerical values) rather than flat surface polygons. Standard online converters fail because meshing volumetric data requires specialized, memory-intensive algorithms. Since the .VDB extension is also used for SQLite databases, dashcam videos, automotive diagnostic data, and antivirus updates, our analysis can detect the true underlying format and help you find the right solution.
Convert.Guru analyzes your VDB file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
If you want to convert VDB file to MESH, OBJ, CSV, JSON, XML, YAML, YML, TOML, INI, CFG, CONF or DAT, you can use Houdini or similar software from the "Volumetric 3D Graphics Storage" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert DBF, XML, SQLITE, XLSX, SQL, TSV, ACCDB, YAML, MDB, CSV, ODS or JSON files to VDB, try Houdini or another comparable tool in the "Volumetric 3D Graphics Storage" category.
The VDB Converter Story
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 VDB converter.