assimp/README

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Open Asset Import Library (assimp) README
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Table of Contents

	1.		Overview
	 1.1		Supported file formats
	 1.2		File structure
	2.		Build the library
	3. 		Where to get help
	4.		License


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1.	Overview
------------------------------

Open Asset Import Library is a Open Source library designed to load various 3d
file formats and convert them into a shared, in-memory format. It supports more
than 30 file formats (basically, it is like DevIL for 3D models). It also 
supports exporting, but the number of export formats is lower.

Its short name is 'assimp', which is an unintended joke (the abbreviation is
derived from 'Asset Importer'). 

Note: this README refers to the file structure used by release packages, which
differs in some points from the development trunk.

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 1.1	Supported file formats
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The library provides importers for a lot of file formats, including:
	- 3DS
	- BLEND 
	- DAE (Collada)
	- IFC-STEP 
	- ASE
	- DXF
	- HMP
	- MD2
 	- MD3 
	- MD5
	- MDC
	- MDL
	- NFF
 	- PLY
	- STL
	- X 
	- OBJ 
	- SMD
	- LWO 
        - LXO 
        - LWS 
	- XML 
        - TER 
        - AC3D 
        - MS3D 

Exporters include:
        - DAE (Collada)
        - STL
        - OBJ
	
 .. See http://assimp.sourceforge.net/main_features_formats.html for
 a more exhaustive list.


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1.2 Repository structure
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Open Asset Import Library is implemented in C++ (but provides both a C and a 
C++ish interface). The directory structure is:

	/bin		Folder for binaries, only used on Windows
	/code		Source code
	/contrib	Third-party libraries
	/doc		Documentation (doxysource and pre-compiled docs)
	/include	Public header C and C++ header files.
	/lib		Static library location for Windows.
	/obj		Object file location for Windows.
	/port		Ports to other languages and scripts to maintain those. 
	/test		Unit- and regression tests, test suite of models.
	/tools		Tools (viewer, command line `assimp`).
	/samples	A small number of samples to illustrate possible 
                        use cases for Assimp.
	/workspaces	Build enviroments for vc,xcode,... (deprecated,
			CMake has superseeded all legacy build options!)


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2. Build the library
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Take a look into the INSTALL file.


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3. Where to get help
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For more information, visit http://assimp.sourceforge.net/. Or have a look into
the ./doc- folder, which contains the official documentation in HTML format.
(CHMs for Windows are included in some release packages and should be located 
right here in the root folder).

If the documentation doesn't solve your problems, try our forums at SF.net 
> Open Discussion: http://sourceforge.net/projects/assimp/forums/forum/817653) 
> General Help: http://sourceforge.net/projects/assimp/forums/forum/817654

For development stuff, there is also a mailing list, assimp-discussions 
  subscribe: https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/assimp-discussions 


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4. License
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The license of the Asset Import Library is based on the modified, 3-clause BSD-
License, which is a very liberal license. An _informal_ summary is: do whatever 
you want, but include Assimp's license text with your product - and don't sue 
us if our code doesn't work.

Note that, unlike LGPLed code, you may link statically to Assimp.
For the formal details, see the LICENSE file.