3D model converter

Why glTF became the JPEG of 3D

For years, putting a 3D model on the web meant wrestling with formats designed for desktop software — large, slow to parse, and scattered across several files. glTF was designed by the Khronos Group (the people behind OpenGL) to fix exactly that: it stores geometry in a form a graphics card can use almost directly, so models load quickly without heavy conversion work in the browser. The GLB variant packs everything — geometry, materials, textures — into one binary file you can e-mail, drop into a viewer or link on a page. That single-file property is why nearly every modern 3D viewer, game engine and AR platform accepts it, and why converting to GLB is usually the last step before a model goes anywhere near a browser.

What each input format is actually good at

The formats this converter accepts each come from a different world, and it helps to know which. OBJ is the plain-text veteran — nearly everything exports it, and it is ideal for simple static meshes. STL comes from 3D printing: pure triangles, no colour, no materials — perfect for a printable part, bare by design. PLY is common for 3D scans and can carry colour per vertex, which survives conversion nicely. DAE (Collada) is an older XML exchange format that still turns up in archives and older tools. FBX is the film-and-games workhorse with rigs and animation — and also the closed format among them, read here via an independent implementation, so simple FBX files convert well while elaborate ones are less predictable.

Why your model may arrive grey — and what to do

The most common surprise is a model that converts perfectly but arrives without its textures. That is rarely a conversion fault — it is how the source format stores things. An OBJ keeps its materials in a separate .mtl file and its textures as loose images alongside it; upload just the .obj, and that information simply is not in the file you sent. If appearance matters, you have two good options: export from your 3D software as FBX or DAE with textures embedded before converting, or convert the geometry here and re-apply materials afterwards in a free tool like Blender. For parts, scans and print-ready models where the shape is the point, none of this matters — the geometry itself comes through reliably.

Where the GLB will work, and the free allowance

The result drops straight into the standard web 3D stack: three.js and Babylon.js load GLB natively, and the model-viewer web component turns one into an interactive viewer with a single HTML tag. On Android, a GLB can feed Scene Viewer for augmented reality straight from a web page; iOS AR Quick Look wants Apple's USDZ format instead, so plan a second export if iPhone AR matters to you. Files up to 50 MB are accepted, the conversion runs on our EU server, and the free tier covers two conversions per day — a day pass, credits or a plan remove the cap. One workflow tip: if your source is a precise CAD model rather than a mesh, run it through our STEP/IGES to STL tool first and then convert the resulting mesh here — CAD surfaces need meshing before any of the formats on this page can carry them.

What converts well — an honest answer

Geometry converts reliably from all supported formats — shapes, meshes, normals. Simple materials usually survive. The honest limits: OBJ materials and textures live in separate files (.mtl, images) that a single-file upload can't include, so OBJ models arrive untextured; and complex FBX features (animations, rigs, exotic material setups) are hit-or-miss because FBX is a closed format read via an independent implementation. For clean static models — parts, scans, printable designs — this works very well.