How to create `.u3d` files?

I'm working o开发者_运维问答n a project for school and I've got some 3D vector data as well as surface plots. These are saved in .dat files outputted from a c++ program.

I'm able to plot these files in gnuplot as wanted, but I'd really like to make .u3d files so I can include them in a TeX document (using the movie15package).

How do I create u3d files? (I'm working on mac).

Here is a library on Sourceforge for working with the u3d format. This just came up on a quick search, never tried it so I cannot provide more detailed info.

You may use MeshLab, as it can import common 3D file formats, and exports U3D files.

From the main page:

• imports: PLY, STL, OFF, OBJ, 3DS, COLLADA, PTX, V3D, PTS, APTS, XYZ, GTS, TRI, ASC, X3D, X3DV, VRML, ALN.
• exports: PLY, STL, OFF, OBJ, 3DS, COLLADA, VRML, DXF, GTS, U3D, IDTF, X3D

Since that software can be used from command line to process files, the idea would be to generate a file using one of the formats it imports (for example, a X3D or PLY, both can be used to represent vector data and point sets) and let Meshlab convert it to U3D trough the command line.

Wikipedia cites several applications can create .u3d files. Here are the specifications for all four versions of the u3d file format.