Convert PLY to GLB Online — Publish 3D Scans on the Web
Turn PLY scan data into GLB for interactive web display, augmented reality, and real-time 3D applications. PLY is the standard output from photogrammetry software (Agisoft Metashape, RealityCapture, COLMAP) and 3D scanners (Artec, Revopoint, iPhone LiDAR). GLB is the binary glTF 2.0 container — the JPEG of 3D — natively supported by every major web engine.
Last updated Mar 2026
Drag PLY file here, or click to upload
Supports .ply files up to 150MB
Usually under 3 seconds — depends on file size.
What You Should Know
What Changes During Conversion
Geometry (vertices and faces) is fully preserved with zero data loss. Vertex colors (RGB/RGBA) are mapped to glTF COLOR_0 accessor — this is the key advantage over the OBJ path, which has no vertex color support. Vertex normals are preserved for smooth shading. Custom PLY properties (scanner confidence values, intensity channels, timestamps, custom float attributes) are discarded because glTF 2.0 has no equivalent fields. If the PLY has no vertex colors, a default PBR material is assigned (base color #808080, metallic 0.0, roughness 0.5).
File Size: PLY vs GLB
Binary PLY and GLB store geometry similarly, so raw file sizes are comparable (a 1M-vertex mesh is ~40-50MB in both). The real savings come from post-conversion compression: gltfpack with Draco encoding typically achieves 80-90% reduction (50MB → 5-8MB). Meshopt compression offers 60-70% reduction with faster decompression. For web delivery, always compress — uncompressed GLB over 10MB causes noticeable load times on mobile networks.
Polygon Budget Guidelines
Raw scans are too heavy for real-time rendering. Target polygon counts by platform: mobile AR (model-viewer) — under 200K triangles for 60fps; desktop web viewer (Three.js) — under 1M triangles; high-end workstation — up to 5M with LOD. Decimate in MeshLab (Quadric Edge Collapse Decimation) or CloudCompare before converting. A 20M-face scan decimated to 500K faces loses minimal visual quality at web viewing distances.
PLY vs GLB: Detailed Comparison
| Feature | PLY | GLB |
|---|---|---|
| Vertex Colors | Native (RGB/RGBA per vertex) | Supported (COLOR_0 accessor) |
| PBR Materials | Not supported | Full metallic-roughness workflow |
| Animations | Not supported | Skeletal, morph targets, keyframe |
| Compression | Binary mode only | Draco (80-90%) / Meshopt (60-70%) |
| Custom Properties | Extensible header (any property) | Extensions (KHR_ prefixed) |
| Typical Use | Scanning, research, point clouds | Web3D, AR/VR, game engines |
| Browser Support | Requires JS parser | Native in all major engines |
Keep PLY for scan processing pipelines (MeshLab, CloudCompare, Open3D, COLMAP). Convert to GLB when publishing scans on the web, delivering to clients, or building AR experiences. For 3D printing scanned objects, convert PLY to STL instead.
When to Convert PLY to GLB
Cultural Heritage & Museum Collections
Museums and archaeology departments publish 3D scans of artifacts online. Workflow: scan artifact → export PLY from Agisoft Metashape → convert to GLB here → embed with model-viewer on collection website. Visitors rotate and inspect artifacts with preserved scan colors, no plugin required. The Smithsonian, British Museum, and Sketchfab all use GLB for web-based 3D collections.
AR Product Visualization
Place scanned objects in augmented reality for e-commerce or real estate. Convert PLY to GLB, add to your page with model-viewer's AR mode (ar attribute), and users view the scan in their physical space on Android (Scene Viewer) or iOS (AR Quick Look with USDZ fallback). A scanned piece of furniture at 300K triangles loads in under 2 seconds on 4G.
Photogrammetry Portfolio & Client Delivery
Showcase photogrammetry work on your portfolio. Convert PLY scan output to GLB, embed interactive Three.js viewers, and let clients explore scans in full color. Deliver final scans as GLB files — clients can view them in Windows 3D Viewer, macOS Preview, or any web browser without installing specialized software.
Point Cloud to Mesh for Web Engines
LiDAR and structured-light scanners often output PLY point clouds (vertices without faces). If your PLY contains faces, this converter produces a standard mesh GLB. For point-cloud-only PLY files, the GLB will contain point primitives — viewable in Three.js (Points material) but not in model-viewer. For best results, reconstruct a mesh surface in MeshLab (Poisson Surface Reconstruction) before converting.