Convert DAE to PLY
Free DAE to PLY converter that runs in your browser. See real dimensions before you download.
How to convert DAE to PLY
- 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 PLY as the output and click Convert. Several files download as one ZIP.
What carries over from DAE to PLY
| DAE | PLY | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colour / materials | Yes | Yes | Kept |
| Textures | Yes | No | Dropped |
| Units stored in file | Yes | No | Numbers in mm |
| Separate parts | Yes | No | Merged into one mesh |
| Usual up axis | Y | Z | Rotated (switchable) |
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 PLY files
PLY was developed in the mid-1990s by Greg Turk and colleagues at the Stanford Graphics Lab to store data from 3D scanners, and the Stanford Bunny and Happy Buddha models made it famous. A PLY file starts with a text header that declares elements, such as vertex and face, and the properties each element has. The body then follows in ASCII, binary little-endian or binary big-endian. Because properties are declared in the header, a file can carry any extra per-vertex data: normals, colour channels, intensity, confidence or custom scalars. This flexibility made PLY a standard output for scanners, depth cameras, photogrammetry and point-cloud tools. It can store a point cloud with no faces at all, or a polygon mesh. It does not define units or a scene structure.
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 PLY 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.
Does PLY store colour?
Yes, usually as red, green and blue values attached to each vertex, not as a texture image. Colours are smooth across triangles, which suits scans. Many slicers ignore vertex colour, so use 3MF or another format if you need to preserve it for printing.