BIN File Format

The RealFlow Particle BIN file (.BIN) is a binary file format developed by Next Limit and used for data exchange between RealFlow and other 3D applications.

Krakatoa allows the loading of RealFlow 3 and RealFlow 4 Particle BIN files in both Krakatoa Particle Flow Operators and Krakatoa Particle Loader objects. It also supports saving to RealFlow 4 Particle BIN files.

Format Variations

• It is important to be aware that RealFlow supports two different file formats with the BIN extension - a Particle BIN file and a Geometry BIN file. Krakatoa supports only the Particle variation of the BIN file format.
• The BIN file format has gone through many revisions. The current flavor in RealFlow 4, which Krakatoa writes, is revision 9.

Format Specification

The BIN file format specifications are provided by Next Limit in PDF format as part of the RealFlow application (included in the evaluation version). Please download the evaluation version of RealFlow or purchase the full product if you need the specs.

Peculiarities

• In the RealFlow application, file names are expected to have EXACTLY 5 trailing digits (no more, no less). Anything else will fail to load in RealFlow or its associated I/O plug-ins for 3D application, but will load in Krakatoa without problems. Krakatoa provides an optional GUI-level check to ensure BIN files are saved with five trailing digits.
• When RealFlow saves particle files, it appends the digits immediately after the emitter name. This can produce files like Circle0100014.bin, which Krakatoa will interpret as at frame 100014 rather than at frame 14.
  • One possible precaution measure to avoid this is adding an underscore after the emitter's name in RealFlow, for example Circle01_ will output Circle01_00014.bin and will cause no problems in Krakatoa.
  • If the BIN files have already been saved without a trailing underscore, you can load the BIN sequence in a Krakatoa PRT Loader and use the Offset field to shift the animation by as many frames as needed. In the above example, entering 100000 in the Offset field will play frame 100000 on frame 0, causing the file Circle0100014.bin to be loaded correctly on frame 14. Then you can resave the particles to a new PRT or BIN sequence using Krakatoa with correct names with underscore at the end, or just use the original sequence with the Offset as is.