How to convert PLY to DAE
- Add your .PLY file - drop it in the box above or click to browse.
- Convert it to .DAE in a few seconds.
- Download your new .DAE file.
What to expect
- Per-vertex colour is written into the
.daeby Blender and MeshLab, but many receiving apps (such as SketchUp) silently ignore it - test in your target tool. - Point-cloud
.plyfiles (no face data, typical of raw LiDAR) must have a surface reconstructed first before a.daecan be exported. - PLY carries no UV texture mapping, so only per-vertex colour can transfer; baking it to a texture is a separate manual step in Blender.
Frequently asked questions
Will per-vertex colour from a photogrammetry scan appear in the DAE?
Blender and MeshLab both write vertex colour into the
.dae, but whether it displays depends on the receiving app - Maya and 3ds Max typically support it; SketchUp typically does not.My PLY shows as a point cloud - can I still export a DAE?
Not directly. Reconstruct a surface first using MeshLab's Screened Poisson Surface Reconstruction or Blender's Remesh modifier, then export.
Is Blender free to use for this?
Yes - Blender is free and open-source with no file-size limits or paid tiers.
Should I use DAE or GLB for a game engine?
GLB (glTF 2.0) has broader support in Unity, Unreal, and Godot; choose
.dae only if your target app specifically requires it.Programs that convert PLY: Blender · PolyTrans|CAD+DCC · AutoCAD · Autoconverter · Metasequoia · Afanche 3D Viewer for Mac · AutoCAD for Mac · Meshlab
