Free GLB to PLY Converter

How to convert GLB to PLY

Step 1. Drop your GLB file on the converter above, or choose it from your device.

Step 2. Look at the preview. If the model lies on its side, change the up direction to match your file.

Step 3. Press the download button. The PLY file is saved to your device, named like your original with .ply at the end.

Taking a GLB into scan and mesh tools

PLY is a favorite of mesh-processing tools such as MeshLab and CloudCompare. Researchers and scan teams use it to clean and measure models. Converting a GLB gives those tools a file they read without add-ons.

Colors need care. A PLY keeps a color for each vertex. A GLB with colors painted on its vertices keeps them. A GLB that gets its color from a texture picture does not, because the converter does not paint the picture onto the vertices. The UV coordinates are saved, but the picture is not.

What survives the conversion

Shapes. Every triangle in the GLB is read. Shapes are written as triangles in a binary PLY, with normals.

Colors and materials. Colors, normal maps, and transparency are read. Colors are kept only when they are painted on the model's vertices. A material's color is not written.

Textures. Pictures stored inside the GLB are read. Texture pictures are not kept. UV coordinates are written.

Animation. Animation clips are read. Animation is not kept, so the model is saved in its first pose.

Units and direction. GLB files are always in meters. Numbers are written as they are, with Y pointing up. PLY has no unit.

If something looks wrong

Draco and Meshopt compression are read. Other kinds, such as KTX2 textures, are not, so export the file again without that option.

The PLY is binary. Open it in a mesh tool, not a text editor.

Many scans keep their color in a texture picture, not on the vertices. Those colors do not reach the PLY.

If your browser cannot draw 3D, there is no preview, but the conversion still works.

Your file stays on your device

The converter reads your GLB file in the browser and writes the PLY file there too. Nothing is uploaded, and the page does not load anything the file points to, other than files you choose yourself. The page counts a visit like any other page, but it never sees the file's name or contents.