GLB, FBX, OBJ, USDZ or STL — which format should you download?

Every 3D format is a trade-off between what it stores, how widely it is supported and how easy it is to work with. MeshForge offers five: GLB, FBX, OBJ, USDZ and STL. GLB comes with every generation; the others are produced by a conversion step when you ask for them, and each is listed with its price before you confirm.

This guide explains what each format keeps, where it fits, and how to choose.

The short version

Format	Best for	Keeps textures	Keeps rig / animation	One file?
GLB	Web, three.js, Godot, Unity (with glTFast), Blender	Yes, embedded	Yes	Yes
FBX	Unreal, Unity, Maya, 3ds Max, Mixamo	Yes	Yes	Usually
OBJ	Universal exchange, sculpting and CAD-adjacent tools	Via separate MTL + image files	No	No
USDZ	Apple AR Quick Look on iPhone, iPad and Vision Pro	Yes	Limited	Yes
STL	3D printing	No	No	Yes

If you are not sure, download GLB. It is a single file, it opens almost everywhere, and it can be converted later.

GLB (binary glTF)

glTF is an open standard from the Khronos Group, often described as "the JPEG of 3D": designed to be compact to transmit and fast to load. GLB is its binary form — one file containing the mesh, the PBR materials, the textures and, if present, the skeleton and animations.

Why it is the default:

• The metallic-roughness PBR material is part of the specification, so materials look consistent between tools.
• Godot lists glTF 2.0 as its recommended 3D format and notes that .glb is the smaller option with textures embedded.
• Unity reads glTF through Unity's glTFast package, which supports editor import and runtime loading.
• Browsers and web viewers built on three.js or similar libraries load it directly.

The alternative ".gltf" form splits the same data into a JSON file, a binary buffer and separate images. It is handy for version control, but GLB is easier to move around.

FBX

FBX is Autodesk's format and the long-standing standard for moving animated content between tools and engines. Unity's manual calls FBX its primary supported model format, and Unreal Engine's FBX pipeline handles static meshes, skeletal meshes, animation and morph targets from a single format.

Choose FBX when:

• you are importing into Unreal Engine or a DCC tool such as Maya or 3ds Max,
• you want to upload a character to a service that expects FBX,
• you requested quad topology — MeshForge delivers quad models as FBX.

FBX is proprietary and has several versions, so occasionally two tools disagree about scale or axis orientation. Check the scale on import.

OBJ

Wavefront OBJ is one of the oldest and simplest mesh formats: plain text listing vertices, texture coordinates, normals and faces. Nearly everything can read it. Materials live in a companion .mtl file and textures as separate images, so an OBJ "model" is often a small folder of files that must travel together.

OBJ stores no skeleton and no animation. Use it for static meshes going into sculpting tools, older software, or pipelines that specifically ask for it.

USDZ

USDZ is a package format from the OpenUSD ecosystem: according to the USDZ specification, a zero-compression, unencrypted zip archive of USD files and media that can be read directly without unpacking. Apple uses it for AR Quick Look, which lets built-in apps such as Safari, Messages, Mail and Notes show a model in 3D and place it in the real world on iPhone, iPad and Apple Vision Pro.

Choose USDZ when you want someone to tap a link on an Apple device and see the model in their room. For anything else, GLB is more widely supported.

STL

STL describes a surface as a list of triangles and nothing else: no colour, no textures, no units, no materials. That simplicity is exactly why every slicer accepts it. Choose STL for 3D printing. Remember that STL has no units, so you will set the real-world size in your slicer.

If you need colour for a multi-material or full-colour print, look at 3MF in your slicer or print service. 3MF is an open, XML-based format for additive manufacturing that carries colour, materials and units; many slicers can import an OBJ or GLB and save a 3MF project.

Choosing by destination

You want to…	Download
Put it on a website or in a three.js scene	GLB
Drop it into Godot	GLB
Import into Unity	FBX, or GLB with glTFast
Import into Unreal Engine	FBX
Show it in AR on an iPhone	USDZ
Print it	STL (or OBJ if your slicer prefers)
Edit it in Blender	GLB (Blender's glTF importer brings materials along)
Send it to a sculpting tool	OBJ

Keeping rigs and animations

Only GLB and FBX reliably carry a skeleton and animation clips. If you rigged and animated a model in MeshForge, export one of those two. OBJ and STL drop the rig entirely; USDZ support for animation depends on the viewer.

Converting later

You do not have to choose every format up front. Because GLB carries the mesh, materials, textures and any rig, it is a good master copy. You can request another format from MeshForge later, or convert with a tool such as Blender, which imports and exports glTF, FBX, OBJ, STL and USD.

Sources & further reading

• Khronos glTF overview and the glTF 2.0 specification.
• Godot: available 3D formats — why glTF is recommended.
• Unity Manual: importing model files and Unity glTFast.
• Unreal Engine: FBX content pipeline.
• Apple AR Quick Look and the USDZ specification (OpenUSD).
• Wavefront OBJ format notes (Paul Bourke).
• 3MF Consortium — the 3MF format for printing.