Hello, Convert3D!
Even if you're not using 3D models every day, you probably know how annoying 3D model formats can be.
You got your hands on a model, but to use it, you have to do the "open, save as, open, save as" dance between multiple (and heavy) apps. Make a mistake, and you're looking at another 30 minutes. As if the 3D workflow wasn't convoluted enough!
But it's not just convoluted, it also holds you back from doing what you've set out to do. No one sits down at their desk in the morning, looking forward to converting 3D models. Yet, we spend so much time on it.
You can juggle apps. You can use an online converter that uploads your model to their server, holds on to it for hours until they delete it (and how do you know they actually delete it?). Our goals for the first version were
- Remove the ads
- Remove the uploading
- Don't charge a fee
- Don't ask the user to sign up until absolutely necessary
- Make it 5x faster than the most popular online converters
- Make sure it just works
How do you convert a model?
Our goal is to remove all the friction we can get our hands on. Find your source format. Find your destination format. Drag the model. Preview and download. That's all there is to it.
How does it actually work behind the scenes?
We're using NextJS to make sure that pages load instantly. Then, when. you drag in a model, we run a Web Assembly program that does the actual conversion in your browser rather than a server in the cloud.
The app is written in C and C++ to get as close to the metal as we can and convert your model as fast as possible. We then combine a bunch of technologies under the hood; Assimp, Threejs, and other libraries that are bespoke for specific formats. And finally, we preview the scene with Babylon JS and let you download the converted model. Well, "download" might not be the right word, but "transport from your browser's sandbox" is, well, not great either.
A world without 3D formats
Imagine never having to think about converting 3D models. You get a model, and it just works for whatever you're trying to do. Imagine an API that just serves the right format at the right time, plugged in to your pipeline in a few lines of codes - if any code at all. Imagine sharing your model and not having to worry if the receiver knows how to open it.
That's where we want to go.
We want to hear from you
I (Morten) have been working with 3D for years while building the 3D mockup animation tool Rotato, used by more than 100,000 designers and marketers. But that's nothing compared to Jens. He spent decades in the industry, starting his journey as the 7th employee at Unity - before it was even called Unity.
But we don't know your workflow and the pains you experience with model formats every day. So please shoot us an email at morten@convert3d.org and jens@convert3d.org and tell us about your problems and hopes for the future of your workflow.
We're just getting started
Use this site as much as you want. There are no limits, and we're going to stick around until we get rid the problems with 3D formats altogether.
Jens Fursund
@fursund - jens@convert3d.org - LinkedIn
Morten Just
@mortenjust - morten@convert3d.org - LinkedIn