Extract text from VXL files
To convert your VXL file to another format, you need Command & Conquer or other Game software.
To convert other file formats to the "Voxel Animation Asset" file type, you need software like Command & Conquer or a similar tool.
The .vxl extension is a technical chameleon, most frequently encountered today as a Voxel Animation Asset from the classic Westwood Studios games Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun and Red Alert 2. Unlike modern 3D formats like FBX or OBJ that use polygons, these files store units (like tanks and airships) as "volumetric pixels" - essentially a 3D stack of bitmaps. This creates a major compatibility barrier: standard 3D software like Blender or Autodesk Maya cannot natively open or edit them. Modders looking to modernize these assets often find themselves locked out, unable to extract the models for 3D printing or use in engines like Unity.
Another significant variation is the Virtual Screen Library file developed by Genus Microprogramming. These are legacy development archives used to bundle graphics and video data for older DOS/Windows applications. Finally, in niche engineering contexts, a .vxl file may contain raw 3D Time-of-Flight (ToF) depth data from Panasonic or PMD Technologies sensors.
For game assets, the pragmatic solution is converting the proprietary voxel grid into a standard OBJ mesh or a PNG sprite sheet. This allows you to re-texture models in Adobe Photoshop or smooth the geometry for modern games. For ToF data, converting to CSV or PLY (Point Cloud) is essential for analysis in scientific tools.
Convert.Guru analyzes your VXL file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted ABT, TXT, H3R, REC and AVI files.
If you want to convert VXL file to OBJ, FBX, DAE, 3DS, MAX, BLEND, MA, MB, C4D, STL, PLY or WRL, you can use Command & Conquer or similar software from the "Voxel Animation Game Asset" 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 VXL, try Command & Conquer or another comparable tool in the "Voxel Animation Game Asset" 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 VXL converter.