| Full Name | 3D Manufacturing Format |
| Extension | 3MF |
| Type | 3D Model |
| Mime Type | application/vnd.ms-package.3dmanufacturing-3dmodel+xml |
| Format | Binary |
The primary purpose of the 3MF format is to store and transmit 3D models for 3D printing. The format is ideally suited to this due to its ability to store not only the 3D model but also additional metadata required for 3D printing an object, such as units of measurement, surface material characteristics, and more.
Mesh Geometry
The 3MF file format is a mesh-based format; more specifically, the mesh is stored as a series of triangles that, when combined, can represent any 3D object. The format can contain many 3D mesh objects in a single file.
3MF Converter Capabilities
As materials containing texture and color information are both supported by the 3MF format, our tool will do its best to include these materials, including any texture files, in the converted file.
| Full Name | Graphics Language Transmission Format |
| Extension | GLB |
| Type | 3D Model |
| Mime Type | model/gltf-binary |
| Format | Binary |
The Khronos Group developed GLB files as a format for storing complex 3D models. The format was first introduced in 2015 and aimed to create a format that could be easily adopted by third-party developers. Subsequent versions have followed this initial release, adding more complex features.
Support for GLB files is growing and has found support in many modern 3D model editors, such as Blender, which currently supports importing from and exporting to the GLB format.
Mesh Geometry
At the heart of the GLB format is its ability to store 3D geometric mesh data, which comprises vertices, faces, normals (both face and vertex normals), and texture coordinates. The data is saved in a compact binary format, ensuring GLB files are compact and easy to distribute.
GLB Converter Capabilities
As materials containing color information is supported by the 3MF and GLB formats, our tool will do its best to include this in the converted GLB file.
