What is a DAE file?
DAE stands for Digital Asset Exchange, the file extension used for COLLADA documents. A DAE file is an XML file that describes a 3D scene: a hierarchy of nodes with their transforms, the polygon meshes attached to them, materials and effects, and optionally cameras, lights and animation.
COLLADA was designed as a neutral interchange format between digital content creation tools, game engines and visualization software. Version 1.5 of the specification also defines the .zae extension, a ZIP archive that bundles one or more DAE documents with the textures and other content they reference.
What does a COLLADA file contain?
| Content | Description |
| Scene graph | A tree of nodes with transforms, describing how objects are placed and grouped |
| Geometry | Polygon meshes made of vertices, normals and texture coordinates |
| Materials and effects | Colors, transparency, textures and classic shading models |
| Scene elements | Cameras and lights |
| Animation and physics | Optional keyframes, skinning, kinematics and physics data |
| Packaging | .dae for a single XML document, .zae for a ZIP archive with referenced files |
What Is DAE Used For? Applications and Industry Use Cases
COLLADA is used to move 3D content between modeling, rendering and real-time applications, for example in visualization, simulation, training and game pipelines. Because it is an open, documented XML format, it is a common choice when tools from different vendors need to share meshes, materials and scene structure.
For software developers, COLLADA import gives access to tessellated scenes created in many 3D tools, while export lets CAD-based applications publish lightweight models, with their assembly structure, color and transparency, to viewers and visualization platforms.
Challenges or Common Pitfalls
COLLADA is a mesh and scene format, not a CAD format. Once a model is exported to DAE, its exact B-rep geometry, PMI and design data are gone, and the quality of the result depends on the tessellation settings used.
The flexibility of the specification also means that files from different tools can vary widely, and not every application supports every feature, such as animation, physics or specific material models. COLLADA uses classic shading models rather than physically based materials, which newer real-time formats tend to favor.
How Spatial Helps
Our 3D InterOp SDK imports COLLADA files with the .dae and .zae extensions and exports .dae files through its UConnect interface. On import, it extracts the product structure and the tessellation data of the model, which your application can use to render it or for polyhedral modeling operations in CGM Modeler, 3D ACIS Modeler or Parasolid. Imported solids and surfaces are represented as tessellated faces.
COLLADA export, introduced in Release 2024 1.0, lets you write facet data that was imported from another format or authored with 3D InterOp, along with a multi-level product structure and facet properties such as color and transparency. This makes it possible to turn native CAD assemblies into lightweight COLLADA scenes for visualization.
Check the 3D InterOp documentation for the COLLADA versions supported in your release and for current limitations.