[Chimera-users] Can't open a VTK file in chimera

[Tom Goddard]

Hi Diego,

  There are various types of data in VTK files.  Chimera writes some molecular model data and surfaces as VTK as described in the Chimera documentation

	https://www.cgl.ucsf.edu/chimera/docs/UsersGuide/export.html#limitations <https://www.cgl.ucsf.edu/chimera/docs/UsersGuide/export.html#limitations>

The Chimera VTK reader is only for volume data (3D grids of data values) and will definitely not read VTK files exported from Chimera since the data types are not the same.  The Chimera documentation about volume export in VTK format that says it can read lines and polygons is incorrect.

	https://www.cgl.ucsf.edu/chimera/docs/UsersGuide/filetypes.html#volume

	Tom

> On Mar 24, 2021, at 3:54 PM, Elaine Meng <meng at cgl.ucsf.edu> wrote:
> 
> Hello Diego,
> Chimera input formats are listed here:
> <https://www.rbvi.ucsf.edu/chimera/docs/UsersGuide/filetypes.html>
> 
> I see VTK is included in that list, with description "lines and polygons," so as far as I know if you saved VTK with menu: File... Export Scene (or Chimera "export" command) it should be readable by that same version of Chimera.  I am not very familiar with VTK, however, so it's possible that the file that is written contains more things than just the lines and polygons, and maybe that part causes problems.
> <https://www.rbvi.ucsf.edu/chimera/docs/UsersGuide/export.html>
> 
> If you (1) have a recent version of Chimera, and (2) used Chimera export to save the file and you can't open it with the same Chimera, then you could use menu: Help... Report a Bug and attach the file.  Include your e-mail address in the bug report if you would like a response about what we find.
> Thanks,
> Elaine
> -----
> Elaine C. Meng, Ph.D.                       
> UCSF Chimera(X) team
> Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry
> University of California, San Francisco
> 
>> On Mar 24, 2021, at 3:22 PM, Diego Amaya <diaamayaram at unal.edu.co> wrote:
>> 
>> Hello,
>> I exported a surface in VTK format with the chimera extension but I can't open this vtk file back with chimera. This behavior is expected ?
>> Best regards
>> -- 
>> Diego A. Amaya Ramírez
> 
> 
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