A .WRZ file is most accurately a VRML world (.WRL) that has been compressed with gzip, since VRML is a text-based 3D scene format capable of describing full worlds—shapes, textures, lighting, camera positions, and simple behaviors—and compresses extremely well, which led to distributions labeled .WRZ or `.wrl.gz`, and opening one generally involves using a gzip tool to extract it into a .WRL file for VRML-capable viewers, ensuring referenced texture files remain in the correct relative locations for proper display.
A quick way to verify a real gzip file is to check whether it starts with the signature bytes 1F 8B, which strongly indicates a compressed stream consistent with WRZ being a gzipped WRL, and a frequent confusion comes from mixing WRZ with RWZ, since .RWZ is tied to Microsoft Outlook rule exports rather than 3D content, meaning a file from email migration may be RWZ, while something from a 3D or CAD workflow is more likely a true WRZ.
Saying a .WRZ is a “Compressed VRML World” means it’s simply a VRML scene—normally saved as .WRL, with “WRL” standing for *world*—that has been wrapped in gzip to make the file smaller, as VRML uses structured text to describe full interactive 3D scenes including objects, materials, textures, lighting, and even animations, and since text compresses very efficiently, the VRML community standardized on .wrl. If you have any type of concerns regarding where and the best ways to utilize WRZ file compatibility, you can contact us at our own web site. gz or .wrz as names for gzipped VRML files.
In simple terms, describing it as a “compressed VRML world” means the file should be treated as gzip initially, producing a .WRL that VRML/X3D tools can still open, and the quick technical giveaway is whether its first bytes match gzip’s signature hex 1F 8B, which indicates it’s genuinely a gzipped VRML world rather than some unrelated file type using a similar extension.
Opening the VRML “world” (the .WRL extracted from a .WRZ) reveals a scene graph made of typed nodes that define visuals and movement, built from Transform/Group hierarchies controlling transforms, beneath which Shape nodes combine geometry like IndexedFaceSet with appearance nodes such as Material and ImageTexture, along with typical environment elements including Viewpoint camera spots, NavigationInfo settings, Background coloring or sky textures, optional Fog, and even Sound.
VRML worlds use Sensor nodes like TouchSensor to produce events, and animations are driven by TimeSensor along with Position/Orientation/Color/Scalar interpolators that output time-based values, all routed together via ROUTE event links, while advanced behavior relies on Script nodes (VRMLScript/JavaScript and sometimes Java) and navigation jumps come from Anchor nodes, and the spec draws a line between transform hierarchy nodes and non-spatial nodes like interpolators, NavigationInfo, TimeSensor, and Script, which is why a VRML world feels like an interactive program instead of just geometry.
The phrase “Compressed VRML World” for .WRZ indicates that WRZ isn’t a separate 3D type but a normal VRML .WRL scene that’s been compressed using gzip to make distribution smaller, preserving the VRML text that defines meshes, textures, lights, cameras, navigation, and basic interactivity, wrapped in gzip with typical extensions .wrz or .wrl.gz, a convention cited by the Library of Congress; that’s why tools like 7-Zip/gzip open it, and why checking for gzip’s magic bytes the header 1F 8B is a good sanity check.