Name | STL | WRL |
Full name | Stereolithography File Format | Virtual Reality Modeling Language File |
File extension | .stl | .wrl |
MIME type | ||
Developed by | 3D Systems | Web3D |
Type of format | ||
Description | STL is a file format native to the stereolithography CAD software created by 3D Systems. This file format is supported by many other software packages. It is widely used for rapid prototyping, 3D printing and computer-aided manufacturing. STL files describe only the surface geometry of a three-dimensional object without any representation of color, texture or other common CAD model attributes. The STL format specifies both ASCII and binary representations. Binary files are more common, since they are more compact. | Written using VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) file with virtual world that may be navigated in three dimensions. This file stores coordinates and colors that specify every object and shape and contains the viewpoint coordinates for the initial view of the three-dimensional scene. VRML files are commonly called 'worlds' and have the .wrl extension (for example, island.wrl). VRML files are in plain text and generally compress well using gzip, useful for transferring over the internet more quickly (some gzip compressed files use the .wrz extension). Many 3D modeling programs can save objects and scenes in VRML format. |
Technical details | An STL file describes a raw, unstructured triangulated surface by the unit normal and vertices (ordered by the right-hand rule) of the triangles using a three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system. In the original specification, all STL coordinates were required to be positive numbers, but this restriction is no longer enforced and negative coordinates are commonly encountered in STL files today. STL files contain no scale information, and the units are arbitrary. | |
File conversion | STL conversion | WRL conversion |
Associated programs | TurboCAD, GOM Inspect, STL Viewer, Geomagic Explorer, Parametric Technology Creo, Dassault Systemes CATIA, KeyCreator, MeshLab, SolidWorks, Pro/Engineer, CloudCompare, Blender, AutoCAD, 3D Studio Max, Autodesk Inventor, Mechanical Desktop | FreeWRL, IMSI TurboCAD Deluxe 18, Parallel Graphics Cortona3D Viewer |
Wiki | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STL_(file_format) | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VRML |


- All these files pass vrmllint, and they are all gzip compressed. Median size of these models is 18 kb, average size is 63 kb. If you have models or links you would like included, please add your own link. First of all, here is a really nice Aztec City (376 kb) which I converted from DXF to VRML format.
- Free VRML 3D models for download, files in wrl with low poly, animated, rigged, game, and VR options.

Wrl File Download Free Windows 10

Wrl File Viewer
In order to open WRL files on this operating system, you must use Parallel Graphics Cortona 3D Viewer, which is a free download on the Cortona3D website. If the WRL files are a text file type, you can open them using any text editing program such as Notepad or WordPad for Windows, Apple TextEdit for Mac, or gEdit and Nano Editor for Linux. How to open WRL files. If you cannot open the WRL file on your computer - there may be several reasons. The first and most important reason (the most common) is the lack of a suitable software that supports WRL among those that are installed on your device. A very simple way to solve this problem is to find and download the appropriate application.
