Convert DAE to OBJ
Free DAE to OBJ converter that runs in your browser. See real dimensions before you download.
How to convert DAE to OBJ
- Drop your DAE file (with its textures, if separate) onto the converter — it opens in your browser, nothing is uploaded.
- Check the preview and the dimensions in mm; fix units or the up axis in “Units & orientation” if the size or orientation looks wrong.
- Choose OBJ as the output and click Convert. Several files download as one ZIP.
What carries over from DAE to OBJ
| DAE | OBJ | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colour / materials | Yes | Yes | Kept |
| Textures | Yes | Yes | Kept |
| Units stored in file | Yes | No | Numbers in mm |
| Separate parts | Yes | Yes | Kept |
| Usual up axis | Y | Y | Unchanged |
About DAE files
COLLADA, short for COLLAborative Design Activity, was started by Sony Computer Entertainment and handed to the Khronos Group, which published it as an open XML standard; it became ISO/PAS 17506. Files use the .dae extension. The goal was a neutral format that let different content-creation tools exchange assets without losing information, so it is broader than a mesh format: it describes geometry, materials and effects, images, cameras, lights, skeletons, skin controllers, animations and even physics. It declares its own unit with a meter attribute and an up_axis setting, which is more than OBJ or STL offer. Because it is verbose XML, files are large, and glTF has since taken over the role of Khronos's recommended runtime format. DAE still turns up in SketchUp downloads, Google Earth content, robotics (ROS) and older game and simulation assets.
About OBJ files
OBJ comes from Wavefront Technologies' Advanced Visualizer software in the 1980s, and it has outlived the product. A file is plain text: lines starting with v define vertices, vt texture coordinates, vn normals, and f faces that reference those lists by index. Faces may be triangles, quads or larger polygons, and the g and o keywords group faces into named objects. Appearance is not in the OBJ at all; a line called mtllib points to a separate .mtl file that lists materials with diffuse colours and texture image names. The format is verbose, has no official unit and no scene hierarchy or animation, but it is trivial to read and write. That is why scanners, photogrammetry tools, sculpting programs and game pipelines still use it to move static meshes around.
3D printing notes
Slicers do not open DAE, so models are converted to STL or 3MF. SketchUp users run into this often, because SketchUp exports DAE and its models are drawn in inches. Since the file records its unit scale, a correct importer gets the size right, though SketchUp-style models are also built from many separate faces and groups, with duplicated or internal geometry that can confuse slicers. Check the reported dimensions and the watertight status after conversion. MeshShift reads DAE in the browser, applies the unit and up axis from the file, and can save the result as STL, 3MF, OBJ or GLB. It does not write DAE.
Frequently asked questions
Is this DAE to OBJ converter free and private?
Yes. The conversion runs in your browser with JavaScript and WebAssembly, so your DAE file is never uploaded to a server. There is no sign-up, no watermark and no daily limit; very large files are limited only by your device's memory.
What is a DAE file?
A DAE file is a COLLADA 3D scene saved as XML. It can hold meshes, materials, textures references, cameras, lights, rigs and animations. SketchUp, Blender and many older game tools export it, and Google Earth models also used it.
Why does my OBJ import without its colours or textures?
The colour information is in a separate .mtl file and image files. If the MTL or textures are missing, renamed or in another folder, the importer shows plain grey geometry. Keep the OBJ, MTL and images together, or convert to GLB, which packs them in one file.