What is the MOT file format?
.mot files are plain-text ASCII animation files for LightWave 3D, a professional 3D software package originally developed by NewTek (now LightWave Digital).
A .mot file stores keyframe data for a single object or the camera in a LightWave scene. It records up to nine motion channels - X, Y and Z position, heading, pitch and bank rotation, and X, Y and Z scale - with each keyframe's time, value and interpolation type. LightWave's Layout engine reads these values and interpolates smooth motion between keyframes.
Because the format is plain ASCII, a .mot file can be opened and inspected in any text editor. Its main practical use is as a reusable motion clip: an animator saves an object's animation with Save Motion File in LightWave Layout and loads it onto a different object or bone in any LWS scene with Load Motion File, making it straightforward to share or reapply animation across projects.
.mot is not a full scene file (.lws) nor a geometry model (.lwo). For cross-application animation interchange, modern pipelines often use .mdd or .chan point-cache formats; .mot remains LightWave's own native motion-clip format and was supported through LightWave 3D 2020, the final NewTek release.
Security & safety
RISK: LOWA LightWave .mot file is plain ASCII keyframe data with no executable code - safe to open and read in a text editor. The only practical caution: confirm what you actually have, since .mot is a shared extension. If the file is hex records beginning with S0/S1/S3 it's a Motorola S-record (firmware), not LightWave motion - flashing the wrong firmware to a device is the real risk, not the file itself.
Format details
in a nutshell- Motorola S-record firmware file - A common, unrelated .mot use: a plain-text hex record (Motorola S-record / SREC) holding firmware/program memory for microcontrollers - flashed with a programmer, not opened in a 3D app.
- Ensoniq / sampler motion or various app data - Several niche programs reuse .mot for their own motion or settings data; check the file contents to tell which format you have.
Programs that open MOT files
Windows2 apps
LightWave 3D
Paid In Layout, select the item, then File/Item > Load Motion File and pick the .mot to apply its keyframes. 
Notepad / Notepad++
Open-source Open the .mot as plain text to read or hand-edit the keyframe values (it's ASCII). 
macOS2 apps
Technical details
deep spec| Format type | Plain-text ASCII animation keyframe file for LightWave 3D |
| Encoding | ASCII text |
| Typical file size | A few KB for short animations; larger for long or dense keyframe sequences |
| Motion channels | Up to 9 per file - X/Y/Z position, heading/pitch/bank rotation and X/Y/Z scale |
| Keyframe data | Frame time, channel value and interpolation type (e.g. TCB spline, linear) per keyframe |
| Scope | Single object or camera only - not a full scene (.lws) or geometry model (.lwo) |
| Workflow | Save Motion File (export from LightWave Layout) / Load Motion File (import onto any object or bone) |
| Platform | Windows and macOS (wherever LightWave 3D runs) |
| Application | LightWave 3D (NewTek, now LightWave Digital); supported through the LightWave 3D 2020 release |
| Interchange alternatives | .mdd and .chan point-cache formats used for cross-application animation exchange |
| Magic bytes | None; plain ASCII text with no binary header |
| Released | Early 1990s (LightWave 3D, originally part of the Amiga Video Toaster) |
| Latest version | LightWave Motion format as used through LightWave 3D 2020 (the last NewTek release) |
| Specification | docs.lightwave3d.com |
MOT conversions
Community Q&A
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