GLB Expert
GLB Expert 2026 · SOLIDWORKS® add-in

SOLIDWORKS to web-ready 3D, in one click

Export parts and assemblies to GLB, glTF, STL, OBJ, PLY, 3MF, FBX or a self-contained HTML viewer — faithful PBR materials, true instancing, files sized for the web.

GLBglTFHTML viewerSTLOBJPLY3MFFBXUSDZ · v1.1

BETA  0.9.4.181 beta — the installer is not code-signed yet, so Windows may show a SmartScreen warning. Signing arrives in v1.0.

SOLIDWORKS 2022 and newer · No subscription · Free trial

Live — this part was exported with GLB Expert. Drag to rotate.

Formats

One license, every format

No per-format add-ons. One licence covers every format below — the ones marked with a version arrive later as a free update.

GLB.glb

The web standard. One binary file carrying geometry, materials and scene — drop it into any viewer.

Shipped
glTF.gltf + .bin

The readable variant. JSON scene plus a binary buffer — easy to inspect, edit and pipe through tooling.

Shipped
HTML viewer.html

A whole 3D page in one file. E-mail it to a client; it opens in any browser, no server, no plugin.

Shipped
STL.stl

3D printing and inspection. Binary STL, read by every slicer and mesh tool on the planet.

Shipped
OBJ.obj + .mtl

The classic mesh interchange, with a material file alongside. Read by almost every DCC tool.

Shipped
PLY.ply

Mesh with per-vertex colour. The language of scanning, metrology and point-cloud tools.

Shipped
3MF.3mf

The modern replacement for STL. Carries colour and — unlike STL — records its unit, so nothing imports at the wrong scale.

Shipped
USDZ.usdz

Apple AR Quick Look. Tap a link on iPhone or iPad and place the real part on your desk.

v1.1
FBX.fbx

For game engines. Straight import into Unity and Unreal for interactive and real-time work.

Shipped
Features

Built for the web, not just any 3D

Faithful materials

Face, body and part appearances map to correct PBR — steel looks like steel. sRGB-correct color, real metalness.

True instancing

100 copies of a bolt become 1 mesh and 100 nodes. Small files, fast viewers.

Every format included

GLB, glTF, STL, OBJ, PLY, 3MF, FBX and a single-file HTML viewer you can e-mail to anyone.

Web-viewer ready

Center-at-origin, Y-up, embedded metadata — drops straight into three.js or model-viewer.

Every configuration in one run

Configurations, display states and exploded views each export to their own file — and it multiplies with batch, so a folder of parts becomes every variant of every part.

Options that match SOLIDWORKS

Tessellation quality, output units, up-axis, origin and a single-colour override — saved as presets you can reuse.

Smaller files, when you want them

Optional meshopt compression for GLB, glTF and the HTML viewer. Off by default — you choose, because a compressed file needs a viewer that can read it.

Copy protection done right

One machine per license, move it to a new computer yourself, automatic re-activation after a reinstall.

Your language

English, Turkish, German, Japanese and Chinese. It follows your SOLIDWORKS language automatically where a translation exists, and falls back to English elsewhere.

How it compares

FeatureGLB ExpertSimLabProtoTechSW XR
No subscription
One license, every format~
Live 3D previewv1.2
Batch folder→folder$449
PricingAnnounced at launch$199/yr$140+Free

From publicly available pricing and docs, July 2026. Items on our roadmap show their version.

SOLIDWORKS XR

SOLIDWORKS already exports GLB. So why this?

It does — since 2019, with configurations, display states, exploded views, animations and even Draco compression. For one model going to an approved AR/VR provider, that path is good and it is free. Two things change the answer.

Where the file has to open

SOLIDWORKS packs every configuration and display state into one file — and its own documentation is explicit about who can read them. In three.js, model-viewer or a customer’s browser you get one state. GLB Expert writes each configuration, display state and exploded view as its own ordinary .glb: any viewer, any variant, nothing to approve.

Only Approved Provider Viewers support the advanced capabilities.

How many files, and how often

SOLIDWORKS exports the document you have open, one Save As at a time. GLB Expert takes an input folder and an output folder and converts everything underneath — every part, every assembly, every variant — in a single run. A catalogue that took an afternoon of clicking becomes one job.

So which viewers are “approved”?

SOLIDWORKS names them: META Vision, Speedernet, SimInsights — commercial AR/VR training platforms, not general-purpose viewers. The same page also names what is not approved: Microsoft PowerPoint, Sketchfab, the common web glTF viewers, and the Unity importer.

These viewers listed below will only support geometry, appearances & textures per the glTF 2.0 spec.

SOLIDWORKS itself suggests dragging the .glb into PowerPoint. PowerPoint is on the not-approved list — so the workflow it recommends shows geometry only. Your configurations are in the file, and invisible. GLB Expert writes plain glTF 2.0, one file per variant: every viewer on that not-approved list opens it correctly, because there is nothing advanced to miss.

SOLIDWORKS Help, “Exporting Using Extended Reality”, and the SOLIDWORKS blog, “What to do with your new Extended Reality (XR) File”. Checked 1 August 2026.

Roadmap

Roadmap

Exactly what each version gives you. Everything listed under 0.9 works today — verify it in the free trial.

v0.9.4.181Available now
GLB · glTF · STL · OBJ · PLY · 3MF · FBX · self-contained HTML viewer · every configuration, display state and exploded view to its own file · full export options: quality, units, up-axis, origin, presets · optional meshopt compression · faithful PBR materials · true instancing · batch folder→folder · command line (drives SOLIDWORKS) · UI in English, Turkish, German, Japanese and Chinese
v1.0Next
Signed installer (no SmartScreen warning)
v1.1Planned
USDZ for iPhone AR
v1.2Planned
Live 3D preview in the dialog
v1.3Planned
QR-to-AR: see the part on your desk · web export presets
v2.0Planned
texture baking · share links
Pricing

Simple pricing

GLB Expert
v0.9.4.181 · GLB/glTF exporter for SOLIDWORKS®
Announced at launch
  • Perpetual license, 1 machine
  • Every export format included — no add-ons
  • 1 year of updates included; optional renewal afterwards — roadmap formats are always included
  • Free trial: 5 exports, no time limit
Buy now

BETA  Checkout is not live yet — this is a preview of the store.