v.out.vtk - GRASS manual
Author: GRASS Development Team
Description: v.out.vtk: Converts a vector map to VTK ASCII output.
Keywords: vector, export, output, VTK

## NAME

v.out.vtk - Converts a vector map to VTK ASCII output.

## KEYWORDS

vector, export, output, VTK

## SYNOPSIS

v.out.vtk
v.out.vtk --help
v.out.vtk [-cn] input=name [layer=string] [output=name] [type=string[,string,...]] [precision=integer] [zscale=float] [--overwrite] [--help] [--verbose] [--quiet] [--ui]

### Flags:

-c
  Correct the coordinates to fit the VTK-OpenGL precision
-n
  Export numeric attribute table fields as VTK scalar variables
--overwrite
  Allow output files to overwrite existing files
--help
  Print usage summary
--verbose
  Verbose module output
--quiet
  Quiet module output
--ui
  Force launching GUI dialog

### Parameters:

input=name [required]
  Name of input vector map
  Or data source for direct OGR access
layer=string
  Layer number or name
  Vector features can have category values in different layers. This number determines which layer to use. When used with direct OGR access this is the layer name.
  Default: 1
output=name
  Name for output VTK file
type=string[,string,...]
  Input feature type
  Options: point, kernel, centroid, line, boundary, area, face
  Default: point,kernel,centroid,line,boundary,area,face
precision=integer
  Number of significant digits
zscale=float
  Scale factor for elevation
  Default: 1.0

## DESCRIPTION

v.out.vtk converts a GRASS vector map in binary format to the VTK ASCII output.

If the output parameter is not given, the output will be send to stdout.

## NOTES

The following vector types can be exported together in one VTK ascii file:

- point
- line
- centroid
- boundary
- area
- face

Category data (cat) for the selected vector type and layer will be written as scalar data with name "cat_{vectorname}". If no cat exists, the value will set to -1 as normal cat's are always positive. If a vector has more categories in one layer, only the first category will be exported.
3d vectors are supported by default. The created VTK data always includes x, y and z coordinates (z = 0 if not a 3d vector map). Note that you can easily convert your 2d vectors into 3d vectors with v.drape.
Because of the 32bit limits of OpenGL which is used by VTK, visualisation errors may occur if the grass region contains coordinates greater than 1.000.000 and vector coordinates with 0.01 - 0.001 meters precisison. For this reason, the flag "-c" was added. The coordinates are transformed to smaller coordinates (by decreasing the coordinates with the region center).
If the "-c" flag is used and the data should be visualised together with other data exported via *.out.vtk modules, be sure the "-c" flag was also set in these modules. But this will only work with data from the SAME location (The reference point for the coordinates transformation is based on the default region).
The GRASS vector data is converted into the polydata format of VTK:

- vtk Vertices -- representing points and centroids
- vtk lines -- representing lines and boundaries
- vtk polygons -- representing areas and faces

The VTK file can be visualized with VTK Toolkit, Paraview and MayaVi.

### Attention

If areas or faces are exported, the data have to be triangulated within Paraview or MayaVi.

## EXAMPLE

Spearfish example:

Export the soils with cats in layer 1:

    v.out.vtk input=soils type=area layer=1 output=/tmp/soils.vtk

Export the streams with cats in layer 1:

    v.out.vtk input=streams type=line layer=1 output=/tmp/streams.vtk

Write the archsite vtk output to stdout with cats in layer 1:

    v.out.vtk input=archsites type=point layer=1

## SEE ALSO

v.out.ascii, r.out.vtk, r3.out.vtk

## AUTHOR

Soeren Gebbert

## SOURCE CODE

Available at: v.out.vtk source code (history)

Latest change: Friday Apr 17 01:04:26 2026 in commit: 5a31d549cc0150239894bd2b9e67250af87d38b5

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© 2003-2026 GRASS Development Team, GRASS 8.6.0dev Reference Manual