OBJ (OBJ8 X-Plane)

The OBJ8 format is a 3D model format used in conjunction with the popular X-Plane simulator software. The format was first introduced in 2005 as a means of transferring data between the X-Plane simulator and other standard 3D file formats, with the format being updated over the following years to ensure compatibility with the updates to X-Plane.

OBJ8 files are an ASCII text-based format storing each vertex along with its normal and any texture coordinates on a single line with the file with the prefix "VT". Along with the vertices, each triangle face index is stored in blocks of either 10 (prefix IDX10) or 1 (prefix IDX), allowing for efficient storage of model data while retaining the benefit of human readability.

The format also supports textures, lights, and other attributes. Textures are defined at the start of the file using the "TEXTURE" prefix. There are several plugins for popular 3D editing software that allow for the importing and exporting of X-Plane OBJ8 files, along with our own conversion tools.