If you’re running behavioral experiments using Smart Video Tracking (SVT) from Panlab or Harvard Apparatus, you’re likely working with .svt, .smp, or even .exp files. These project files are essential inside the SVT ecosystem but when it comes time to share your results, archive your data, or comply with the NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy (DMS), they fall short.
The challenge? Proprietary formats and missing metadata stand in the way of compliance, collaboration, and long-term reproducibility.
But there’s a solution—and it’s called ConductVision.
If you’ve used Smart Video Tracking (SVT) software from Panlab/Harvard Apparatus, you’ve worked with project files like .svt, .smp, and .exp. These files are the lifeblood of behavioral experiment workflows within SVT. They store everything from how your maze was built to what the subjects did, yet they’re completely inaccessible without SVT software.
Each file type reflects a different era or version of Smart Video Tracking:
These files are not interchangeable with other tools. They’re tightly bound to Smart Video Tracking, which creates barriers when you want to:
Despite containing critical experimental data, these file types do not follow open standards and can’t be opened, read, or interpreted without specialized software. That means your science—no matter how valuable, could become inaccessible without careful planning.
While Smart Video Tracking project files like .svt, .smp, and .exp are essential for running and analyzing behavioral experiments, they pose significant barriers when it’s time to share data, collaborate with other labs, or comply with NIH data mandates.
First and foremost, these files are stored in a proprietary format that lacks public documentation or standardization. This means only Smart Video Tracking software can open and interpret them. Collaborators without access to SVT, or those using alternative platforms are essentially locked out. There’s no open viewer or universal parser available, which greatly limits transparency and reproducibility.
Additionally, these files don’t contain the actual videos, only links to where those video files are stored. If a file path is broken, moved, or mislabeled, the project becomes incomplete. This makes it risky when trying to move projects between machines, share them externally, or archive them for long-term use. The data might exist, but without the associated video, much of its value is lost.
Exporting results is also restrictive. SVT allows manual exports of data tables into CSV or Excel formats, but there’s no direct way to convert the entire project including video, metadata, and configuration settings into an open, reusable format. And because the export process doesn’t include all key metadata, you’re often left with significant gaps.
Most critically, NIH-required metadata such as species, strain, sex, age, weight, environmental parameters, and equipment specifications is typically not included in default exports. If this information is missing or incomplete, your dataset won’t meet the standards outlined in the NIH Data Management and Sharing (DMS) Policy. This creates compliance risks for NIH-funded labs and slows down the data deposition process.
In short, Smart Video Tracking project files are optimized for internal use, not public sharing. Without deliberate conversion and metadata enrichment, they remain isolated, non-compliant, and difficult to reproduce, undermining the broader goals of open science.
There’s no way around it: You need SVT software to access the contents of .svt, .smp, and .exp files. The manual conversion workflow looks like this:
Doable? Yes. Efficient or scalable? Definitely not.
If you’re dealing with Smart Video Tracking data and feeling stuck in a maze of proprietary formats, ConductVision is your shortcut to NIH compliance and effortless data sharing.
ConductVision takes the frustration out of converting .svt, .smp, or .exp files by automating the entire process. With just a few clicks, you can import your SVT projects including tracking data, event definitions, and even linked video files directly into ConductVision’s platform. From there, it does all the heavy lifting for you.
It rebuilds your experimental structure from arena and zone definitions to calibration settings so you don’t lose any context. Then it exports all your data in open formats like CSV, JSON-LD, and MP4 that meet NIH Data Management and Sharing (DMS) guidelines. Even better, it enriches your dataset with required metadata such as species, age, sex, environmental parameters, and equipment specs—all validated and ontology-mapped for precision.
With ConductVision, you’re not just converting data, you’re producing clean, structured, repository-ready research packages that meet today’s rigorous open science standards. No tedious formatting. No guesswork. Just instant, accurate compliance and sharable results.
If your lab relies on Smart Video Tracking, this is the smarter way forward.
A fully converted SVT project includes:
All file formats are:
If you’re NIH-funded, your data must be open, reusable, and documented, and not locked in a proprietary format with missing context.
ConductVision helps you:
If you’re working with .svt, .smp, or .exp files and preparing to publish, collaborate, or comply:
Book a Complimentary Migration Consultation
We’ll help you get your data NIH-ready—quickly, completely, and without the manual headache.
