FBX to OBJ Converter
Pull the mesh, UV maps and textures out of an FBX and save them as a plain OBJ that nearly every 3D program, slicer and online viewer can open. Rigs and animation stay behind; the shape and its look come with you.
3D Model Converter
or drop STL, OBJ, MTL … files here ·
Max 95 MB per file· Up to 20 files· Deleted after 30 minutes
Files are processed on our servers and deleted after 30 minutes.
STL and OBJ store no units. If a part shows up 10× or 25.4× too small or too big in the slicer, the units were read wrong — set them here.
Blender, CAD programs and slicers use Z-up; glTF, Unity and most game engines use Y-up. Switch it if the model lies on its side after import.
Used when converting STEP or IGES solids to a mesh. Fine gives smooth curves but larger files; coarse is enough for quick previews.
Only used for PNG, JPG or SVG input. Relief raises dark areas; a lithophane is a thin panel that shows the photo when lit from behind; extrude turns a logo or SVG outline into a flat solid shape.
Width of the printed model; the height follows the image's aspect ratio.
Maximum raised height for a relief or lithophane, or the thickness of an extruded shape. Lithophanes usually use 2–3 mm.
Solid plate under the relief so the print holds together. 0 means no base.
How to use this tool
- 1
Upload the FBX
Binary or ASCII FBX, up to 20 files and 95 MB each. If the textures sit in a separate folder, put the FBX and its textures in one ZIP and upload that.
- 2
Keep the materials
Keep textures & materials is on, so the OBJ gets an .mtl file and the texture images it refers to. Set Up axis under Advanced settings if the model should stand differently in the target app.
- 3
Convert to OBJ
Press Convert to OBJ and download. Keep the .obj, .mtl and image files together in one folder so the materials load.
Why convert an FBX file to OBJ
FBX is the format game engines and animation packages trade in, and that is exactly why it is awkward elsewhere. It is proprietary: Autodesk publishes an SDK but not a full specification, so open-source tools implement it by reverse engineering and support only some versions. It comes in binary and ASCII flavors and has changed version numbers many times. Slicers, sculpting tools, online viewers and older CAD programs often skip it altogether.
OBJ is the opposite: a text format from Wavefront Technologies that has hardly changed since the 1990s. Any program that imports 3D models reads it, and you can open one in a text editor to see the vertices. The trade-off is that it describes a frozen shape. That makes it the right target for printing a character, sculpting over a game asset in ZBrush or dropping a model into a viewer, and the wrong one for anything that has to move. If the model is headed for a browser or an AR viewer, OBJ to GLB packs the converted mesh and its textures into one file.
What survives the conversion from FBX to OBJ
| FBX content | In the OBJ | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Meshes and object names | Kept | Written as named objects in one file |
| UV coordinates and normals | Kept | Hard and soft edges look the same |
| Diffuse, normal and bump textures | Kept | Referenced from the .mtl file |
| Metallic and roughness maps | Partly | MTL has no standard slot; apps vary |
| Skeleton and skin weights | Dropped | Mesh is written in its rest pose |
| Animation clips and blend shapes | Dropped | OBJ has no time axis |
| Cameras and lights | Dropped | Not part of the OBJ format |
| Scene units | Applied | OBJ stores numbers only, no unit |
FBX
Filmbox (FBX)
FBX is a 3D format created by Kaydara for its Filmbox software and owned by Autodesk since 2006. It stores meshes, materials, textures, skeletons, skinning, cameras, lights and animation in one file. It is the standard interchange format for game assets in Unity, Unreal Engine, Maya, 3ds Max and Blender. The format is proprietary, and behaviour can differ between exporters and SDK versions.
- Compression
- –
- Transparency
- –
- Animation
- Yes
- Introduced
- Kaydara (now Autodesk)
OBJ
Wavefront OBJ
OBJ is a 3D geometry format developed by Wavefront Technologies. It is a plain-text file listing vertices, texture coordinates, normals and faces, with materials and textures referenced in a separate .mtl file. Almost every 3D modelling program, game engine and 3D printing tool can import it. OBJ does not support animation, rigging or scene hierarchies, and textures go missing if the MTL and image files are not kept together.
- Compression
- –
- Transparency
- –
- Animation
- No
- Introduced
- Wavefront Technologies
People convert FBX to OBJ when a tool cannot read Autodesk's format, when an old or ASCII FBX will not import, or when only the static mesh is needed for printing, sculpting or a simple viewer.
FBX versions and why old files fail to import
1990s
Filmbox by Kaydara
FBX starts as the file format of Kaydara's Filmbox motion-capture software, later renamed MotionBuilder.
2004
Alias buys Kaydara
The format moves to the maker of Maya and becomes a common bridge between animation packages.
2006
Autodesk buys Alias
FBX becomes an Autodesk format, used by Maya, 3ds Max, MotionBuilder and later Unity and Unreal.
2010s
FBX 7 binary
Version 7 files become the norm. Blender's importer reads binary 7.1 and newer, which is why older and ASCII files fail there.
FBX to OBJ questions
What happens to the animation in my FBX?
OBJ has no way to store bones, skin weights or keyframes, so the result is a static mesh. Characters come out in their rest pose, usually a T-pose or A-pose. If you need the animation in a format other than FBX, convert to GLB instead, which keeps skeletons and clips.
Why won't Blender import my FBX in the first place?
Blender's built-in importer reads binary FBX from version 7.1 onward and rejects ASCII FBX and older versions. Files exported from very old Maya or 3ds Max releases often hit this. Converting to OBJ gets the geometry in either way.
Why are my textures missing after converting FBX to OBJ?
Either the FBX did not embed its textures and they were not uploaded with it, or the .mtl and image files were separated from the .obj after download. Upload the FBX together with its texture folder in a ZIP, and keep all output files in one folder.
Do PBR materials survive the conversion?
Only partly. The MTL format was designed for diffuse, specular and bump maps, so base color and normal maps carry over reliably while metallic and roughness maps may be dropped or ignored by the app that opens the OBJ. For full PBR, glTF is the better target.
Can I convert a Mixamo character to OBJ for 3D printing?
Yes, as long as you only need the pose. Download the character from Mixamo in the pose you want, convert it here and then run OBJ to STL, or convert straight to STL. Expect to thicken thin parts such as fingers before printing.
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- OBJ to STL ConverterConvert OBJ models from Blender, ZBrush or a scan into binary STL for 3D printing. Quads are triangulated, parts merged and the scale fixed to millimeters.
- STL to OBJ ConverterConvert STL to OBJ for Unity, texturing tools and other 3D apps that expect OBJ. Shared vertices, readable text and the same triangles, in seconds.
- glTF to GLB ConverterPack a .gltf file with its .bin buffers and texture images into a single GLB. Upload the folder as a ZIP; the model, materials and scale stay unchanged.
- ZIP to STL ConverterUpload a ZIP from Thingiverse, Printables or a CAD export and get STL files back. OBJ, 3MF and STEP inside are converted; each part stays a separate STL.