Format support
Every format Solidly opens can be viewed, inspected, rendered in Photo Mode, previewed in Quick Look, and rendered from the command line. This page records where they differ.
Capability matrix
| Capability | glTF / GLB | FBX | OBJ | STL / PLY | USD | STEP / IGES | 3MF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open and view | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Info tab | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Node tab | Yes | Yes | Yes | — | Yes | Read only | Read only |
| Materials tab | Yes | Yes | Yes | — | Read only | — | Yes |
| Resources tab | Yes | Yes | Yes | — | Yes | — | — |
| Render tab | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Layers mode | — | — | — | — | Yes | — | — |
| Scene hierarchy editing | Yes | Yes | Partial | — | — | — | — |
| Add nodes, lights, cameras | Yes | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Reparent and reorder | Yes | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Add and delete scenes | Yes | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Node transform editing | Yes | Yes | Baked on save | — | — | — | — |
| Node visibility | Yes | Yes | — | — | — | Not saved | Not saved |
| Material editing | Yes | Yes | Yes | — | — | — | Not saved |
| Material variants | Yes | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Mesh geometry operations | Yes | Partial | Yes | — | — | — | — |
| Metadata editing | Yes | Yes | Yes | — | — | — | — |
| XMP metadata | Yes | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Material suggestions | — | Yes | Yes | — | — | — | — |
| Combine another model | Yes | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Measuring tool | — | — | — | — | — | Yes | — |
| Section and exploded views | — | — | — | — | — | Yes | — |
| Overall dimensions | — | — | — | — | — | Yes | Yes |
| Auto Orient | — | — | — | Yes | — | — | — |
| Rotate Model | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not saved | Not saved | Not saved |
| Save and Save As | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | — | — | — |
| Compression export | Yes | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| glTF validation | Yes | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Animation playback | Yes | Yes | — | — | Yes | — | — |
| Spatial audio | — | — | — | — | Yes | — | — |
| Quick Look preview | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Not saved marks a change that affects only the view and is never written to the file.
In the Mac App Store build, Quick Look previews the self-contained single-file formats, .glb, .usdz, .stl, .ply, .iges, .igs, and .3mf, anywhere, and the other formats only inside folders Solidly has been granted access to. The command line tool and glTF validation are not included. See The two distributions.
glTF extensions
Supported formats lists the glTF extensions Solidly understands and renders. An extension outside that list is reported in the Info tab with a warning symbol, and is preserved through a save rather than dropped.
Formats that are not supported
Collada (.dae), Alembic (.abc), and MaterialX (.mtlx) are not read in the current release. A USD stage that authors MaterialX surfaces is still shaded through them; see Visualizers.