The Complete CATIA to glTF Conversion Guide

July 08, 2025

General Information

This guide is part of the RapidPipeline 3D Formats Knowledge Database. It shows how to convert CATIA to glTF, if you'd like to know more about the formats, please check out the following links:

Converting and Optimizing CATIA Files to glTF

There are various ways to convert between CATIA and glTF. With RapidPipeline, you can easily convert and and optimize CATIA files, at scale. It supports glTF, as well as many other file formats (examples: 3dsMax, FBX, OBJ, PLY, STEP, STL, USD, USDZ, VRM), at high quality.

Below you can find a video explaining how to convert your files:

What are CATIA and glTF files commonly used for?

The CATIA file is a format mostly used for Advanced 3D design, engineering and manufacturing applications.
The glTF file is a format mostly used for interactive 3D, on the Web and elsewhere (e.g., in XR).

a screenshot of the rapidpipeline UI

Best-in-Class 3D Processing. Try RapidPipeline, for Free.

No credit card needed.

Try for Free

Comparison of Features Supported by CATIA and glTF

FeatureSupported by CATIA Supported by glTF
Morph TargetsPartial0 Yes
Rigid AnimationsYes Yes
Skinned AnimationsPartial1 Yes
AnimationsYes Yes
Free-Form SurfacesYes No
Geometry CompressionPartial2 Yes
Quad MeshesYes No
Basic 3D GeometryYes Yes
PBR MaterialsYes3 Yes
Transparent MaterialsYes Yes
Vertex ColorsYes Yes
MaterialsYes Yes
Scene CompositionYes No
Hierarchical Scene GraphYes Yes
Scene NodesYes Yes
Standardized FormatPartial4 Yes
Embedded TexturesYes Yes
Multiple UV ChannelsYes Yes
Normal MappingYes Yes
Procedural TexturesPartial5 No
Texture CompressionPartial6 Yes
Texture TransformsYes Yes
TexturingYes Yes

0 - Basic morphing capabilities available through parametric modeling and feature-based design changes.
1 - Limited support for skinned animations, mainly through assembly motion simulation rather than character animation.
2 - CATIA supports various compression techniques for geometry data, particularly in the 3DXML format, though not as extensively as dedicated compression formats.
3 - CATIA supports physically-based rendering materials, especially in newer versions with advanced visualization capabilities.
4 - While CATIA files are proprietary, the software supports many industry standards and has openly published the 3DXML format specification.
5 - CATIA supports procedural materials and textures through its advanced material system, though primarily focused on engineering applications.
6 - Basic texture compression is supported, mainly for visualization and lightweight formats like 3DXML.

Best-in-Class 3D Processing. Try RapidPipeline, for Free.

No credit card needed.

Try for Free

Limitations of CATIA Files to glTF Conversion Workflow

The following limitations should be taken into account when converting CATIA files to glTF format:

CATIA Feature (not supported by glTF)Limitation Details
Free-Form SurfacesFree-Form Surfaces illustratedlack of support for Free-Form Surfaces illustrated
Free-Form Surfaces: supported in CATIA, but not in glTF.

Free-form surfaces allow a CAD user to design surfaces with advanced controls over curvature and continuitiy. While these surfaces are common for CAD models (in the form of so-called boundary representations or "B-reps"), they need to be converted to polygonal triangle or quad data to work with most 3D rendering engines - a process called tessellation. In this example, a surface patch is used to describe a part of a curved surface of a product. Without support for this feature, the free-form surface has to be tessellated into quads or triangles.
Quad MeshesQuad Meshes illustratedlack of support for Quad Meshes illustrated
Quad Meshes: supported in CATIA, but not in glTF.

Quad meshes are a common way to hand-model and edit 3D models. 3D artists get intuitive control and such meshes are also easy to refine, as well as well-suited for creation of skinned animations. However, real-time rendering pipelines and hardware are usually all based on triangles, so if a 3D model should not be edited any more, it is safe to convert quads to triangles (and engines will do this automatically before sending data to the rendering hardware). In this example, a part of a mesh is modeled with quads. Without support for this feature, quads will have to be triangulated, producing a pure triangle mesh.
Procedural TexturesProcedural Textures illustratedlack of support for Procedural Textures illustrated
Procedural Textures: supported in CATIA, but not in glTF.

Procedural texture allow the modeling of surface details through mathematical functions, along with artistic control over various parameters. Typically, they are used for patterns like wood grain or other semi-regular structures. Since they are not using any pixels as source data, procedural textures have, in principle, infinite resolution and are very lightweight to describe. In this example, a procedural texture is used to model the look of a wooden material. Without support for this feature, in this case, the wooden parts won't show any visible details.
Scene CompositionScene Composition illustratedlack of support for Scene Composition illustrated
Scene Composition: supported in CATIA, but not in glTF.

Scene Composition describes the process of composing a scene through links from a main scene that pull in various other scenes/3D models. This can also happen in a nested fashion (through multiple levels of linkage). With a target format not supporting this feature, references to external models must be resolved and the content be baked into one 3D model, which is then saved in that target format.

What's the best way to get CATIA files into my 3D applications, and are there alternatives to using glTF?

Doing 3D conversion right, especially at scale, can be tricky, as 3D data is in general a rather complex (yet very powerful!) medium. This also applies to CATIA and glTF files - the conversion guide above provides a rough first idea about that. Once you know what you would like to do, tools like RapidPipeline can help you perform the necessary steps, and to even automate the process for thousands or even millions of files.

Especially when introducing pipelines and workflows at scale in an enterprise context, it is usually good to rely on dedicated tools and expertise, making sure you do not introduce any steps into your 3D workflow that are detrimental to the final output's quality, or that take your team too much time (and money).

If you're interested to hire dedicated expertise from the best in the field to help your company reach your goals fast and reliably, please do not hestitate to contact DGG. Being the creators of RapidPipeline, and ambassadors for open 3D standards for more than a decade, we have been building some of the world's most advanced 3D pipelines, having processed many millions of 3D assets.

Therefore, our expertise will help you to reach your goals faster, at scale, and with the least possible friction, since we are focused on maximum interoperability.

To get started with 3D data conversion and optimization today, sign up for a free account!

If you have any questions, feel free to chat with our human team.

Best-in-Class 3D Processing. Try RapidPipeline, for Free.

No credit card needed.

Try for Free

Meet the Author

author image

3D Knowledge Team

3D Technical Artists

RapidPipeline lets you convert, optimize and prepare your 3D models, easily.
Try it today, or meet our human 3D experts. The Best-in-Class Tools for Your 3D Processing Jobs