Extract text from Valve map files (VMF)
To convert VMF maps to another format, you need Valve Hammer Editor or other Game software.
To convert other file formats to the "Level Source Map" file type, you need software like Valve Hammer Editor or a similar tool.
A .VMF file primarily functions as a Valve Map File, which stores uncompiled level geometry, textures, and entity placements for games running on the Source engine (like Half-Life 2 or CS:GO). Alternatively, it operates as a Video Management File used as a video index in Dahua surveillance systems, or as a legacy audio format for the Covox Speech Thing.
Working with .VMF files presents significant real-world challenges. Valve's .VMF files are essentially massive plain text files containing coordinate data. They are proprietary to the Valve Hammer Editor and are completely unplayable until properly compiled. Furthermore, they can grow to hundreds of megabytes, causing severe lag in external text editors. The Dahua .VMF surveillance files are equally restrictive; they act only as metadata indexes and require the proprietary Smart PSS software to parse, making them useless to standard media players.
To overcome these limitations, you must convert your files. For game development, compile your map into a BSP for engine playback, or convert the geometry to OBJ or FBX for 3D modeling in external software. For surveillance video indexes, you need to extract and convert the associated raw streams into standard MP4 or AVI files for easy viewing or sharing. For legacy Covox files, convert to WAV or MP3 for modern playback. Drag and drop your file here to analyze and convert it - free, online, and without installing software.
Use Convert.Guru to open and convert your VMF file.
Users also converted BSP, WMF, VMT, VMFX, AIN, OBJ, ZIP, TXT, GMA, BIN, PNG, MAP and VPK files.
If you want to convert VMF file to BSP, VMAP, MP3, WAV, AAC, FLAC, OGG, WMA, M4A, AIFF, OPUS or ALAC, you can use Valve Hammer Editor or similar software from the "Game Level Source File" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert MIDI, AAC, TTA, AU, WV, DTS, MID, FLAC, RA, MP3, PCM or WAV files to VMF, try Valve Hammer Editor or another comparable tool in the "Game Level Source File" 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 VMF converter.