cadmpeg
Converter for all CAD formats, decoding closed formats (SolidWorks, FreeCAD) to neutral geometry.
What it does and how it connects
cadmpeg inspects and converts native CAD files from the command line, and adds native CAD import to an application. Native CAD formats are proprietary, sparsely documented and cumbersome to work with, and cadmpeg aims to offer an open-source solution. Format knowledge comes from legally possessed CAD files and public documentation; vendor SDKs, decompiled binaries and confidential material are prohibited, per its LEGAL.md.
The pipeline runs input file, container decoder, format decoder, IR, validator, exporter, then output plus reports. Each format carries one support level from the ladder, and cadmpeg inspect answers for a specific file: IGES at L9, STEP Part 21 at L8, FreeCAD .FCStd and Fusion 360 .f3d at L5, Autodesk Inventor, SolidWorks .sldprt, CATIA V5 and Creo View at L3, Rhino .3dm and OpenUSD layers at L2, and Siemens NX and Creo Parametric at L1.
Commands cover inspect, convert, measure (one face, or every cylindrical face) and diff, for example comparing a native file against its STEP export by geometry. It installs from source with Rust 1.88 or later, from Homebrew on macOS, or from an installer script, and its current need, per the README, is public test files donated to the corpus under CC0.
Alternatives
Compare side by side- easyconvert
A general 302-format web conversion platform with a CAD and 3D category, rather than a CAD-native converter that decodes closed formats from the command line.
- next.BREP.io
A unified mechanical and electronics CAD in Rust that imports STEP and IGES exactly, rather than a converter for closed native formats.
- polykrom
A parametric CAD application in pure Rust that reads STEP, IGES, 3MF, STL, OBJ and glTF, rather than a converter for closed native formats.
Sources
Not verified
- Pricing (none stated on the repo)
- Real user voices (the repo has no public issues)
- Standalone website (repo only)
- Related Error Index entries (no entry matches this tool's format-decoding work)
Last verified November 6, 2026. Listings are informational. The evidence score measures public, verifiable evidence and is not an endorsement or a compatibility claim.