VF : VectorField file format

VF is intended to provide a really easy, efficient to read & write file format in a binary way.

File Format Revisions & FourCC

• VF_F / VF_V Revision 1 : Initial file format supports Float fields & Vector3 fields. Data is stored into a 3D array of structured values.

File Structure

Files are structured with the following:

• FourCC (4 Bytes)
• The FourCC describes the contents of the volume. It always starts with 3 char VF_ then another char F or V to describe if the volume contains float data or vector data.
• Volume Size (6 Bytes)
• 3 ushort describes the X,Y, & Z size of the volume, with a maximum of 65535.
• Data (Variable, depending on FourCC & Size)
• Depending of the type of the volume (float or vector) a succession of size_X * size_Y * size_Z * Stride elements where: stride = 1 for float, stride = 3 for vector
• Elements are packed as an array of struct, organized by X then Y then Z.

Data Conventions of the file format

Various types are used in file format, as a reminder:

type		size	packed		sign
-----------------------------------------
char	  1 byte				unsigned
ushort    2 bytes				unsigned
float     4 bytes				signed
vector	 12 bytes	float[3]	signed 

TODOs

• importers / exporters for more languages and tools