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HOME/USEFUL GUIDES/COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO 3D FILE FORMATS/BVH FILE FORMAT EXPLAINED

BVH File Format Explained

The Biovision Hierarchy (BVH) is a widely adopted format for storing motion capture data. Originally developed by Biovision, it is widely used for transferring skeletal animation between different 3D software and game engines.

	Icon	Extension	Original Software	Year	Primary Industry	Geometry	UV Maps	Textures	PBR	Animation	Rigging	Open Use
		.BVH	Biovision	1993	Motion Capture	None	–	–	–	✔	✔	✔
BVH File Format Details What It Stores BVH files contain a joint hierarchy with offsets and channels, followed by per-frame motion data. The root joint often includes 3 translation and 3 rotation channels, while non-root joints typically include only rotation channels, though the format itself permits other channel configurations. Primary Use Cases Transferring motion capture data to 3D characters. Storing and exchanging skeletal animation sequences. Exchanging character movement between specialized mocap software and DCC tools. Strengths Simple, human-readable ASCII text structure. Efficient and well-suited for representing skeletal movement without mesh data. Broad compatibility across major 3D animation suites. Limitations Does not store geometry, materials, or skinning weights. Lack of standardized axis conventions can lead to rotation and orientation issues during import, and unit mismatches can also cause scale problems. Common Software Support Supported by Blender, Cinema 4D, and MotionBuilder.

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