d3plot-compress 0.1.0

Lossless gzip compression for LS-DYNA d3plot binary result files

d3plot-compress

Lossless gzip compression for LS-DYNA d3plot binary result files.

Compressed files are read directly by BETA CAE META post-processor — no manual decompression needed before viewing animations.

Install

pip install d3plot-compress

Usage

Command line

# Compress all d3plot files in a folder (replaces originals with .gz)
d3plot-compress compress /path/to/results

# Compress but keep originals
d3plot-compress compress /path/to/results --keep-original

# Use maximum compression (slower but smallest size)
d3plot-compress compress /path/to/results --level 9

# Decompress (if you need raw files for a tool that doesn't support .gz)
d3plot-compress decompress /path/to/results

Python API

from d3plot_compress import compress_folder, decompress_folder

# Compress
compress_folder("/path/to/results")

# Decompress
decompress_folder("/path/to/results")

How it works

LS-DYNA writes results as a sequence of binary files:

d3plot        ← header + first state
d3plot01      ← subsequent time steps
d3plot02
...

This tool compresses each file individually using gzip (lossless), producing:

d3plot.gz
d3plot01.gz
d3plot02.gz
...

BETA CAE META post-processor recognises the .gz extension and decompresses on-the-fly, so animations play exactly as with the original files.

Options

Flag	Description
--level 1-9	Compression level (1=fastest, 9=smallest, default=6)
--keep-original	Keep uncompressed files alongside .gz
--keep-compressed	(decompress) Keep .gz alongside restored files
--quiet	Suppress progress output

Requirements

• Python 3.10+
• No external dependencies (uses Python's built-in gzip module)