The Complete Inventor to Rhino 3DM Conversion Guide.

August 01, 2025

General Information

This guide is part of the RapidPipeline 3D Formats Knowledge Database. It shows how to convert Inventor to Rhino 3DM, if you'd like to know more about the formats, please check out the following links:

Converting and Optimizing Inventor Files to Rhino 3DM

There are various ways to convert between Inventor and Rhino 3DM. With RapidPipeline, you can easily convert and and optimize Inventor files, at scale. It supports Rhino 3DM, as well as many other file formats (examples: FBX, glTF, OBJ, PLY, STL, USD, USDZ, VRM), at high quality.

Below you can find a video explaining how to convert your files:

What are Inventor and Rhino 3DM files commonly used for?

The Inventor file is a format mostly used for Professional 3D CAD software for mechanical design, simulation, visualization, and documentation.
The Rhino 3DM file is a format mostly used for NURBS-based 3D modeling and design.

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Comparison of Features Supported by Inventor and Rhino 3DM

FeatureSupported by InventorSupported by Rhino 3DM
Morph TargetsNoNo
Rigid AnimationsPartial0No
Skinned AnimationsNoNo
AnimationsPartial1No
Free-Form SurfacesYesYes
Geometry CompressionNoNo
Quad MeshesYesYes
Basic 3D GeometryYesYes
PBR MaterialsPartial2Yes
Transparent MaterialsYesYes
Vertex ColorsPartial3Yes
MaterialsYesYes
Scene CompositionYesYes
Hierarchical Scene GraphYesYes
Scene NodesYesYes
Standardized FormatPartial4Partial5
Embedded TexturesPartial6Partial7
Multiple UV ChannelsPartial8Yes
Normal MappingNoYes
Procedural TexturesNoPartial9
Texture CompressionNoNo
Texture TransformsPartial10Yes
TexturingPartial11Yes

0 - Supports rigid body animations for mechanical assemblies, motion studies, and presentation purposes to demonstrate product functionality.
1 - Basic animation capabilities for assembly motion studies, presentations, and design validation rather than complex character or organic animations.
2 - Basic physically-based rendering material support through appearance properties for realistic visualization and presentation.
3 - Limited per-vertex color support, primarily through part coloring and display properties rather than detailed vertex color manipulation.
4 - Uses proprietary Inventor file formats but provides extensive import/export capabilities for industry standards like STEP, IGES, and other CAD formats for interoperability.
5 - Proprietary format with open specification (openNURBS)
6 - Textures can be included with material definitions but with limited embedding capabilities compared to graphics-focused formats.
7 - Textures can be embedded in the 3DM file
8 - Basic UV mapping support through material assignments, focused on mechanical visualization rather than complex mapping workflows.
9 - Basic procedural material support
10 - Limited texture transformation support mainly through material properties and visual styles for presentation purposes.
11 - Basic texture mapping capabilities primarily for visualization and rendering purposes through material assignments and appearance properties.

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Limitations of Inventor Files to Rhino 3DM Conversion Workflow

The following limitations should be taken into account when converting Inventor files to Rhino 3DM format:

Inventor Feature (not supported by Rhino 3DM)Limitation Details
Animations

Animations Support:

Inventor: Partial support | Rhino 3DM: No support

Animations illustratedlack of support for Animations illustrated

Inventor Notes:

Basic animation capabilities for assembly motion studies, presentations, and design validation rather than complex character or organic animations.

Impact:

Animations are an important part of many interactive 3D assets, for example in real-time rendering (including games, XR training, assembly instructions, product demos, and other use cases). There are various kinds of animations that can be used on 3D models. In this example model, a rigid animation is used to make the gears spin. Without support for this feature, in this example, the gears won't move.

Rigid Animations

Rigid Animations Support:

Inventor: Partial support | Rhino 3DM: No support

Rigid Animations illustratedlack of support for Rigid Animations illustrated

Inventor Notes:

Supports rigid body animations for mechanical assemblies, motion studies, and presentation purposes to demonstrate product functionality.

Impact:

Rigid Animations are typically used to animate mechanical parts. In this example, the door of this 3D model of a microwave can be interactively opened or closed, using a rigid animation that gradually changes the 3D transformation of the door. Without support for this feature, in this example, the door will just stay in place and won't move.

What's the best way to get Inventor files into my 3D applications, and are there alternatives to using Rhino 3DM?

Doing 3D conversion right, especially at scale, can be tricky, as 3D data is in general a rather complex (yet very powerful!) medium. This also applies to Inventor and Rhino 3DM files - the conversion guide above provides a rough first idea about that. Once you know what you would like to do, tools like RapidPipeline can help you perform the necessary steps, and to even automate the process for thousands or even millions of files.

Especially when introducing pipelines and workflows at scale in an enterprise context, it is usually good to rely on dedicated tools and expertise, making sure you do not introduce any steps into your 3D workflow that are detrimental to the final output's quality, or that take your team too much time (and money).

If you're interested to hire dedicated expertise from the best in the field to help your company reach your goals fast and reliably, please do not hestitate to contact DGG. Being the creators of RapidPipeline, and ambassadors for open 3D standards for more than a decade, we have been building some of the world's most advanced 3D pipelines, having processed many millions of 3D assets.

Therefore, our expertise will help you to reach your goals faster, at scale, and with the least possible friction, since we are focused on maximum interoperability.

To get started with 3D data conversion and optimization today, sign up for a free account!

If you have any questions, feel free to chat with our human team.

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3D Knowledge Team

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