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Our free and fast tool will convert most 3D mesh or 3DS (3D Studio Mesh) model files to a standard STL (Standard Triangle Language) file that can then be edited further in most popular 3D editing packages such as Blender or 3D printed without any further processing. Our conversion tool can also batch convert multiple 3DS files, up to 25 files at a time can be converted.
To convert your 3DS file click the Upload button above and select the file to convert. Once selected, the file will be converted to a STL file and will ready for download shortly afterwards. For more information about the 3DS to STL conversion process see the conversion information section below for more information.
Here are 2 simple steps to convert your 3DS to STL.
First click the "Upload..." button, select your 3DS file to upload. Select any configuration options. When the 3DS to STL conversion has completed, you can download your STL file straight away.
We aim to process all 3DS to STL conversions as quickly as possible, this usually takes around 5 seconds but can be more for larger more complex files so please be patient.
We aim to create the most accurate conversions with our tools. Our tools are under constant development with new features and improvements being added every week.
Yes, of course! We do not store the 3DS file you submit to us. The resulting STL file, once created is deleted 15 minutes after upload and the download link will expire after this time.
Yes! Our 3DS to STL tool will run on any system with a modern web browser. No specialist software is needed to run any of our conversion tools.
Yes. Although you can use an Ad Blocker, if you like our 3DS conversion tool please consider white-listing our site. When an Ad Blocker is enabled there are some conversion limits on some of our tools and processing/conversion times will be longer.
Our tool will save all STL files in binary format. Optionally, our tool will allow you to save to the non-standard color STL format.
Yes! Our 3DS tool supports full batch conversions. You can upload up to 25 3DS files at a time. Our tool will convert them all as quickly as possible. Once completed, you can either download the STL files individually or download them all in a single ZIP file.
Converting from the 3DS file format to STL can be a complex process and any tool used for this conversion process needs to be able to handle a variety of data conversion tasks as well as identify any defects within the 3D model and fix them. Here we will explain the conversion process used by our tool to accurately convert your 3DS file to a valid STL 3D model. Lets start with the conversion process, which involves the following steps:
In its simplest form, an 3DS file is a binary data file containing 3D data such as vertices, faces, normals and more. When combined, these make up the 3D model you see on your screen.
With the 3DS file data read, our tool generates an internal representation of the full 3D model and will attempt to fix any geometry issues encountered. Along with repairing any issues with the 3D model, the tool will remove any duplicated vertices and prepare the model ready for exporting to the STL format.
The STL format has been around for many years and has become a standard format for 3D printing. Most 3D printing software can open STL files which means our tool now needs to take the in-memory 3D model we have created in step 2 and convert this to the STL format.
| Extension | 3DS |
| Full Name | 3D Studio Mesh |
| Type | 3D Model |
| Mime Type | N/A |
| Format | Binary |
| Tools | 3DS Converters, 3D Model Voxelizer, Create 3DS Animation, View 3DS |
| Open With | MeshLab |
The 3DS format has been a standard 3D format for many years. It has been the native file format for Autodesk's 3D Studio from the days of Microsoft's MS DOS. The age of the format began to show its limitations many years ago and was replaced by Autodesk when 3D Studio Max was launched.
There are however still many 3D model files circulating in the 3DS format and these can be easily converted using our 3DS conversion tools. Some of the limitations of the 3DS file format include: texture names limited to DOS 8.3 filenames, maximum number of vertices allowed in the 3D mesh is capped at 65536 and no support for directional lighting.
Currently our tool does not support importing materials or color information from your 3DS file.
| Extension | STL |
| Full Name | Standard Triangle Language |
| Type | 3D Model |
| Mime Type | application/vnd.ms-pki.stl |
| Format | Text & Binary |
| Tools | STL Converters, 3D Model Voxelizer, Create STL Animation, Text to STL, View STL |
| Open With | Blender, DAZ Studio, MeshLab, CAD Assistant |
The STL file format has its roots in the 1980's and is the native file format for 3D Systems stereolithography CAD software. The format defines a triangulated mesh with vertices and faces and is a popular format for sharing 3D printable model files.
There were several formats that attempted to extend the STL format namely SolidView and VisCAM whose formats included limited 15-bit color information for each mesh face which is often ignored by most modern 3D software. The STL format can be either Text or Binary, our tools will support both formats.
The standard STL file format does not support colored faces or vertices or texture information. The STL file generated by the tool will contain only raw mesh/triangle data by default which is perfect for 3D printing.
The tool also has an option to save the file to one of the non-standard formats that support colored faces such as VisCAM and SolidView which is perfect if you want to further process the STL in software which supports these formats.
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