The Complete PLY to STL Conversion Guide
General Information
This guide is part of the RapidPipeline 3D Formats Knowledge Database. It shows how to convert PLY to STL, if you'd like to know more about the formats, please check out the following links:
Comparison of Features Supported by PLY and STL
| Feature | Supported by PLY | Supported by STL |
|---|---|---|
| Morph Targets | No | No |
| Rigid Animations | No | No |
| Skinned Animations | No | No |
| Animations | No | No |
| Free-Form Surfaces | No | No |
| Geometry Compression | No | No |
| Quad Meshes | Yes | No |
| Basic 3D Geometry | Yes | Yes |
| PBR Materials | No | No |
| Transparent Materials | No | No |
| Vertex Colors | Yes | No |
| Materials | Partial | No |
| Scene Composition | No | No |
| Hierarchical Scene Graph | No | No |
| Scene Nodes | No | No |
| Standardized Format | No0 | Yes |
| Embedded Textures | No | No |
| Multiple UV Channels | No | No |
| Normal Mapping | No | No |
| Procedural Textures | No | No |
| Texture Compression | No | No |
| Texture Transforms | No | No |
| Texturing | Partial | No |
Limitations of a PLY Files to STL Conversion Workflow
The following limitations should be taken into account when converting PLY files to STL format:
| PLY Feature (not supported by STL) | Limitation Details |
|---|---|
| Quad Meshes |   Quad Meshes: supported in PLY, but not in STL. 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. |
| Texturing |   Texturing: supported in PLY, but not in STL. Texturing describes the process or refining the visual appearance of a 3D model's surface through additional 2D or 3D data, defined in a different reference system. The by far most common use of texturing are 2D texture images, applied to model visual material properties the 3D surface. Other cases include the use of procedural 2D or 3D funtions that produce intensity or color signals, which are then mapped to the 3D surface. For the vast majority of these cases (all of them except for 3D procedural functions), a parameterization or "Texture Mapping" is needed, which maps the 2D content to the 3D surface. Coming from a 2D coordinate space with coordinate axes often entitled U and V (in contrast to XYZ, which are the 3D surface positions), this process of mapping is also called UV Mapping, and it can be done with a dedicated UV map, or through a live mapping (e.g., box mapping). In this example, a texture image is applied to the 3D model to give the control panel a realistic look. Without support for texturing, the panel would have to use a single material instead, or all controls (including text) would need to be modeled through 3D geometry, instead of a 2D texture image. |
| Materials |   Materials: supported in PLY, but not in STL. Materials are a fundamental concept in 3D modeling, enabling colored and - in many cases - photorealistic rendering of the 3D model that they are applied to. There are also some formats that don't make use of 3D materials, for example because they need to solely describe a shape (e.g., for many cases in additive manufacturing). In this example, photorealistic PBR materials are used to equip the 3D model with a realistic look. Without support for materials, the model will have to be rendered with a default material (often a default shade of gray). |
| Vertex Colors |   Vertex Colors: supported in PLY, but not in STL. Vertex colors allow the attachment of colors to each vertex of a 3D model. This can be useful in scenarios such as scientific visualization, or when converting/meshing data from a colored 3D point cloud, for example. On the polygonal surface connecting the vertices, the respective vertex colors are usually smoothly interpolated. In this example, different colors are attached to the different corners of a cube. Without support for this feature, the cube won't have any colors. |
Converting and Optimizing PLY Files to STL
There are various ways to convert between PLY and STL.
With RapidPipeline, you can easily convert and and optimize PLY files, at scale.
It supports STL, as well as many other file formats (examples: 3dsMax, FBX, glTF, OBJ, STEP, USD, USDZ, VRM), at high quality.
Due to the aforementioned potential limitations of STL, in principle, one cannot always perfectly convert 3D data between STL and other formats. In the following, you can find conversion guides between STL and the most important other formats, along with a rough score for compatibility of this workflow:
What's the best way to get PLY files into my 3D applications, and are there alternatives to using STL?
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 PLY and STL 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. Try out RapidPipeline for free today, or get in touch with our team here:
to get started with 3D data conversion and optimization today!
If you have any questions, feel free to chat with our human team.