Are my files uploaded to a server?

No. This conversion runs inside your browser using your own device’s processing power, and the file is not uploaded. Once a tool has been used once (video, text recognition and background removal download their engine from this site the first time), it keeps working when your connection drops.

Will it work in Quick Look on an iPhone?

That is what the format is for. Put the .usdz on a web page or send it to the phone and tapping it opens it in AR without an app.

Does the animation survive?

Movement of whole parts does — a lid that opens, a wheel that turns. Bone and blend-shape animation does not, so a rigged character stands still. You are told so before you download.

Convert GLB to USDZ

Runs on your device · Your file never leaves your device.

USDZ is the file an iPhone or iPad opens in AR without an app — tap it in Messages, in Mail or on a web page and the model stands up in the room. Apple’s Quick Look wants USDZ specifically, and most models arrive as GLB. This converts one to the other on your own device.

Materials and textures come across, which is the point — a product shown in AR with the wrong surface is worse than not showing it; texture images are reduced to at most 1024 pixels on their longest side. Animation that moves whole parts comes across; a character animated by its skeleton will stand still. Everything happens in your browser, which for an unreleased product is the difference between showing a client and publishing to a stranger’s server.

The conversion runs on your own machine, which for a 3D file is the whole point: a model is usually a client’s product, a scanned property or something not yet announced. Nothing is sent to a server, so there is nothing to delete afterwards and nothing to take anyone’s word for.

How to convert GLB to USDZ

Drop the GLB file — and its companion files if it has any.
Check that USDZ is selected.
Press Convert.
Download the USDZ file.

Supported formats and limits

Input: GLB
Output: USDZ
Companion files: None — the GLB carries everything
Keeps animation: Movement of whole parts; not bone or blend-shape animation
Where it runs: In your browser; the model is never uploaded

Not for: Characters whose skeleton animation needs to keep moving in AR, and writing USD or USDA — only the zipped USDZ form is produced.

How the materials are translated

GLB and USDZ both describe a surface by its colour, how metallic it is and how rough it is, so most of a GLB material has a direct counterpart. Carried across: the base colour and its image, metalness and roughness with their images, the normal map, emitted light, ambient occlusion and transparency, including cut-out edges such as leaves drawn with a transparent image. A clear-coat layer and the index of refraction are kept as well, and a mesh with several materials keeps each one on its own part of the surface.

Not carried: transmission (glass that shows what is behind it), sheen, iridescence and the separate specular settings. A material marked unlit becomes an ordinary matte surface that the light in the room shades. USDZ has no double-sided surfaces, so a thin sheet such as a leaf, a card or a flag is visible from its front only.

Textures are made smaller

Each texture image is redrawn with its longest side limited to 1024 pixels, so a 4096-pixel texture arrives at a quarter of its width and height. Images that were JPEG in the GLB are saved again as JPEG, and all others as PNG. Fine detail, such as small printed text on a product, can soften at that size. The shape is not affected. Texture placement is written in the form Quick Look reads correctly.

Animation, size and placement

Animation that moves whole parts, such as a lid that opens or a wheel that turns, is written into the USDZ. Bone and blend-shape animation is not, so a rigged character stands still, and the result says so when the GLB had it.

GLB counts in metres, and the USDZ is written in metres too, with Y as the up direction, so the model keeps the size the page measures when you add the GLB. The file is marked to be placed on a horizontal surface, such as a floor or a table. There is no unit choice for a GLB, because the format fixes the unit.

Frequently asked questions

Are my files uploaded to a server?: No. This conversion runs inside your browser using your own device’s processing power, and the file is not uploaded. Once a tool has been used once (video, text recognition and background removal download their engine from this site the first time), it keeps working when your connection drops.
Will it work in Quick Look on an iPhone?: That is what the format is for. Put the .usdz on a web page or send it to the phone and tapping it opens it in AR without an app.
Does the animation survive?: Movement of whole parts does — a lid that opens, a wheel that turns. Bone and blend-shape animation does not, so a rigged character stands still. You are told so before you download.