# 3D Model Viewer

> A 3D model viewer is a tool that lets you open and rotate a 3D file without installing 3D software. Kenerate's free viewer runs in your browser: it opens six common formats, shows clay, wireframe and normals views, lists triangle and vertex counts, and saves a screenshot or a converted copy. Files are never uploaded.

URL: https://kenerateai.com/3d-model-viewer
Publisher: Kenerate AI (https://kenerateai.com)
Last updated: 2026-10-01

## Key facts
- Price: Free, no account
- Opens: STL, OBJ, FBX, GLB (glTF 2.0), 3MF, PLY — up to 200 MB
- Views: Textured · Clay · Wire · Normals, grid, auto-rotate
- Shows: Triangles, vertices, meshes, bounding-box size
- Save as: STL, 3MF, OBJ, GLB, PLY, USDZ, PNG screenshot
- Runs on: Any modern browser with WebGL — desktop or phone
- Turntable it: Auto-rotate shows the whole model hands-free; grab it to stop and look closer.
- Four ways to look: Textured for the finished look, Clay for the bare surface, Wire for topology and Normals for broken or flipped faces.
- Polycount and size: Triangles, vertices, meshes and bounding-box size — the numbers you need for printing, games and the web.
- Screenshot: Save the current view as a PNG for listings, documentation or a quick message.
- Convert on the spot: Save as STL or 3MF for printing, GLB for the web, USDZ for iPhone AR or OBJ for other apps.
- Private by design: Files are parsed on your device. Nothing is uploaded, stored or shared.
- Detect: The extension picks the right three.js loader — STL, OBJ, FBX, GLTF, 3MF or PLY — loaded only when needed.
- Parse: Meshes, materials and textures (where the format has them) are rebuilt in memory.
- Frame: The model is centred on a floor grid and scaled to fit, with soft studio lighting and shadows.
- Inspect: Orbit, change shading, read stats, screenshot or convert.
- STL (Stereolithography): Triangle mesh (binary or ASCII); by 3D Systems, 1987. Holds: Triangle surfaces, Facet normals. Lacks: Colour and textures, Units, Materials. Best for: 3D printing — every slicer opens it. Opens in: Cura, PrusaSlicer, Bambu Studio, OrcaSlicer, Blender.
- OBJ (Wavefront OBJ): Plain-text mesh; by Wavefront Technologies, 1980s. Holds: Vertices, faces, UVs and normals, Materials via a separate .mtl file. Lacks: Animation and rigs, Embedded textures. Best for: Moving static meshes between 3D apps. Opens in: Blender, Maya, 3ds Max, ZBrush, most slicers.
- FBX (Filmbox): Proprietary scene format; by Autodesk, 1996 (Kaydara). Holds: Meshes and materials, Skeletons, skinning and animation, Cameras and lights. Lacks: An open specification. Best for: Game engines and animation pipelines. Opens in: Unity, Unreal Engine, Maya, 3ds Max, Blender.
- GLB (glTF 2.0 Binary): Single-file scene with PBR materials; by Khronos Group, 2017 (glTF 2.0). Holds: Meshes and PBR materials, Textures in the same file, Animation and skins. Lacks: Units beyond metres, CAD precision. Best for: Web, AR and real-time apps — the “JPEG of 3D”. Opens in: Browsers (three.js, model-viewer), Blender, Unity, Unreal, Godot.
- 3MF (3D Manufacturing Format): ZIP package with XML; by 3MF Consortium, 2015. Holds: Meshes with units (millimetres), Colours and materials, Several objects and build plates. Lacks: Animation. Best for: Modern 3D printing and multi-colour prints. Opens in: Bambu Studio, PrusaSlicer, OrcaSlicer, Cura, Windows 3D Builder.
- PLY (Polygon File Format): Mesh or point cloud; by Stanford University, 1994. Holds: Vertices with colours, Faces or points only. Lacks: Textures and materials (usually). Best for: 3D scans and point clouds. Opens in: MeshLab, CloudCompare, Blender.

## Steps
1. Open a file — Drop an STL, OBJ, FBX, GLB, 3MF or PLY file onto the box above, or click to choose it.
2. Orbit and zoom — Drag to rotate, scroll or pinch to zoom, right-drag to pan. Reset the view any time.
3. Switch shading — Try Clay, Wire and Normals, and read the model's stats.
4. Save — Download a PNG screenshot, or convert to another format.

## In depth

### Choosing a format
For printing, STL is universal [1] and 3MF is the modern choice with units and colour [5]. For moving meshes between apps, OBJ is the safe plain-text option [2]. For games and animation, FBX [3] or GLB [4]. For the web and AI 3D, GLB. For AR on Apple devices, USDZ [6].

### Why browsers can do this now
WebGL gives web pages direct access to the GPU, and open-source libraries like three.js include loaders for every major format [10]. That's why a 3D viewer no longer needs an install — or a server.

### Reading the four shading modes
Textured shows materials as authored. Clay replaces them with one matte material so the shape is easy to judge. Wire draws every triangle edge. Normals colours each surface by the direction it faces — patches of unexpected colour point to flipped faces.

References:
[1] Wikipedia — STL (file format): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STL_(file_format)
[2] Wikipedia — Wavefront .obj file: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wavefront_.obj_file
[3] Wikipedia — FBX: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FBX
[4] Khronos Group — glTF: https://www.khronos.org/gltf/
[5] 3MF Consortium — 3MF specification: https://3mf.io/specification/
[6] Wikipedia — Universal Scene Description (USD / USDZ): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Scene_Description
[7] Wikipedia — PLY (file format): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PLY_(file_format)
[8] Khronos Group — glTF 2.0 specification: https://registry.khronos.org/glTF/specs/2.0/glTF-2.0.html
[9] Apple — AR Quick Look: https://developer.apple.com/augmented-reality/quick-look/
[10] three.js — documentation: https://threejs.org/docs/
[11] Prusa Knowledge Base — Modeling with 3D printing in mind: https://help.prusa3d.com/article/modeling-with-3d-printing-in-mind_164135
[12] Prusa Blog — lithophanes and filament transparency: https://blog.prusa3d.com/lets-play-with-filament-transparency-how-to-make-amazing-lifelike-color-photos-with-just-a-simple-color-change_104338/
[13] Polymers (2024) 16(20):2862 — FFF parameters and translucency of PLA: https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16202862
[14] Wikipedia — Lithophane: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithophane
[15] W3C — CSS Values and Units Level 3 (absolute lengths): https://www.w3.org/TR/css-values-3/
[16] Adobe Substance 3D — OpenGL vs DirectX normal maps: https://experienceleague.adobe.com/en/docs/substance-3d/bakers/common-questions/what-is-the-difference-between-the-opengl-and-directx-normal-format
[17] Blender Manual — Normal Map node: https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/render/shader_nodes/displacement/normal_map.html
[18] Wikipedia — Normal mapping: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_mapping
[19] SIL Open Font License: https://openfontlicense.org/

## FAQ
Q: Which 3D formats can I open?
A: STL, OBJ, FBX, GLB (glTF 2.0 binary), 3MF and PLY. For .gltf, upload the single-file .glb version.

Q: Is it really free?
A: Yes. There's no account, watermark or limit — the viewer runs on your own device.

Q: Are my files uploaded?
A: No. They're read by JavaScript in your browser and never sent to a server.

Q: Does it work on iPhone and Android?
A: Yes, in Safari and Chrome. Very large files may be slow on older phones.

Q: Can I view a 3D model in AR?
A: Save it as USDZ here and open it on an iPhone or iPad to place it with AR Quick Look.

Q: Why is my model grey?
A: STL, PLY and plain OBJ files don't carry textures in the file. GLB, FBX with embedded media and 3MF with colours do.

Q: Can I make a 3D model if I don't have one?
A: Yes — the Kenerate 3D Studio turns text or photos into models with nine AI engines, on any paid plan or credit pack.

## Related pages
- AI 3D Model Generator: https://kenerateai.com/ai-3d-model-generator
- Image to 3D: https://kenerateai.com/image-to-3d-converter
- AI STL Generator: https://kenerateai.com/ai-3d-printing-model-generator
- Text to 3D: https://kenerateai.com/text-to-3d-generator

## Sources
- Wikipedia — STL (file format): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STL_(file_format)
- Wikipedia — Wavefront .obj file: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wavefront_.obj_file
- Wikipedia — FBX: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FBX
- Khronos Group — glTF: https://www.khronos.org/gltf/
- 3MF Consortium — 3MF specification: https://3mf.io/specification/
- Wikipedia — Universal Scene Description (USD / USDZ): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Scene_Description
- Wikipedia — PLY (file format): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PLY_(file_format)
- Khronos Group — glTF 2.0 specification: https://registry.khronos.org/glTF/specs/2.0/glTF-2.0.html
- Apple — AR Quick Look: https://developer.apple.com/augmented-reality/quick-look/
- three.js — documentation: https://threejs.org/docs/
- Prusa Knowledge Base — Modeling with 3D printing in mind: https://help.prusa3d.com/article/modeling-with-3d-printing-in-mind_164135
- Prusa Blog — lithophanes and filament transparency: https://blog.prusa3d.com/lets-play-with-filament-transparency-how-to-make-amazing-lifelike-color-photos-with-just-a-simple-color-change_104338/
- Polymers (2024) 16(20):2862 — FFF parameters and translucency of PLA: https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16202862
- Wikipedia — Lithophane: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithophane
- W3C — CSS Values and Units Level 3 (absolute lengths): https://www.w3.org/TR/css-values-3/
- Adobe Substance 3D — OpenGL vs DirectX normal maps: https://experienceleague.adobe.com/en/docs/substance-3d/bakers/common-questions/what-is-the-difference-between-the-opengl-and-directx-normal-format
- Blender Manual — Normal Map node: https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/render/shader_nodes/displacement/normal_map.html
- Wikipedia — Normal mapping: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_mapping
- SIL Open Font License: https://openfontlicense.org/