Mesh formats
Render a PLY file in your browser
PLY is what 3D scanners, photogrammetry and research tools write. Rendermio reads binary and ASCII PLY in the browser and renders the mesh with real materials, so a scan of a real ring can be re-shot in a studio it never saw.
How Rendermio reads PLY
Accepted as .ply. PLY is read as a single mesh. If the file carries vertex normals they are used as written; if it does not, Rendermio welds the vertices and computes smooth normals, the same treatment it gives STL. Disconnected shells are split into separate parts so a scan that captured several objects can dress them independently.
What comes through
- The scanned surface, at full resolution
- Vertex normals if present
- Separate parts, where shells do not touch
What does not
- Per-vertex colour — Rendermio renders with materials, not baked colours, so a scan's captured colour is replaced by a chosen material
- Point clouds without faces: PLY can hold points only, and points do not render as a surface
Exporting PLY from your CAD program
- Export a mesh, not a point cloud — reconstruct the surface first in your scanning software
- Decimate very dense scans before export; a scan of millions of triangles renders but slowly
- Include normals if the scanner computes them — they are usually better than recomputed ones
PLY files typically come from Artec and Einscan scanners, Polycam and photogrammetry, MeshLab, research pipelines. Working in SolidWorks, Fusion, CATIA, Inventor or Creo? Their native files are not readable in a browser — here is what to export instead.
Then what happens
Once the file is in, the steps are the same for every format: tell the studio what the object is, and it dresses it — one click finds the stones in a ring and makes the rest gold. Pick a Look, which sets lighting, backdrop, pose and camera together. Export a listing pack up to 8K or a 360° turntable video. Everything runs on your own GPU; the file never leaves the page.
Questions
Can I render a 3D scan of a real object?
Yes. Export the scan as a PLY mesh (not a point cloud), drop it in, and choose a material. A scanned ring re-rendered in gold with a ray-traced stone in its seat is a common use.
Why is my PLY's colour gone?
Rendermio renders with physically based materials rather than colours baked into vertices, so a scan's captured colour is replaced by whatever material you pick. That is the point — the render is the scan in a studio, not the scan as scanned.
Does it read binary PLY?
Yes, both binary and ASCII.
Free · runs in your browser · your file is never uploaded