# FBX to STL Converter

> 3D print characters and props from Maya, 3ds Max, Blender or an asset store: FBX to STL at the real size the FBX declares, standing on the plate.

Page: https://printpal.io/convert/fbx-to-stl
Updated: 2026-11-12
Use it: open https://printpal.io/convert/fbx-to-stl in a browser and drop a file. Free, no account, files are processed locally and never uploaded.

FBX declares how many centimetres one unit is; the converter applies that scale and writes millimetres, so a 30 cm character prints 300 mm tall unless you scale it. Y up becomes Z up for the slicer, and rigged characters come out in their bind pose.

Materials, textures, skeletons and animation are dropped. Game characters are rarely watertight and often have separate eyes, teeth and hair cards, so check the mesh and repair it before printing.

## How to convert FBX to STL

1. **Drop your FBX files.** Drop .fbx files (FBX 7.0 or newer, binary or ASCII) with any separate textures.
2. **Check the preview.** The model appears at the size and orientation it will have. Fix the file units, up axis or size under Size, units and orientation if needed.
3. **Choose STL options.** Binary STL by default (smallest, read everywhere). Tick ASCII only if an old tool asks for text STL.
4. **Convert and download.** One file downloads straight away. A batch gives a download per file and one .zip of all of them.

## What carries over

| | Result |
|---|---|
| Geometry | Every face is kept; quads and n-gons are split into triangles. |
| Color | Dropped: STL cannot store color. |
| Units | Converted from the declared unit to millimetres, so it keeps its real size. |
| Orientation | Turned from Y up to Z up, so it stands on the plate in a slicer. |
| Objects | Merged into one surface: STL has no objects. |
| Animation | Dropped: the model is written in its rest pose. |

## FBX at a glance (Autodesk Filmbox)

FBX began as Kaydara's FiLMBOX and has been owned by Autodesk since 2006. It is the standard for moving rigged, animated characters between DCC tools and game engines; the format is proprietary, so most tools read it through Autodesk's SDK or reverse-engineered readers.

- **Stores:** Meshes, materials, textures, skeletons, animation, cameras
- **Color:** Materials and textures, embedded or as separate files
- **Units:** Declared as a scale factor, centimetres by default
- **Up axis:** Usually Y
- **File size:** Binary, large when textures are embedded
- **Opens in:** Maya, 3ds Max, Blender, Unity, Unreal, Mixamo

## STL at a glance (Stereolithography (Standard Triangle Language))

Created by 3D Systems in 1987 for the first stereolithography printers, STL is still the format every slicer and print service accepts. It describes a surface as a list of independent triangles, with no shared vertices, units, colors or scene structure.

- **Stores:** Loose triangles: three corners and a normal each, binary or ASCII
- **Color:** None in the standard
- **Units:** None written; slicers assume millimetres
- **Up axis:** Z, the slicer convention
- **File size:** 50 bytes per triangle in binary, about 5 times that as ASCII
- **Opens in:** Every slicer, CAD tool and 3D app

## Tips

- **Scale for print** Set the height in mm in the converter. A 28 mm or 32 mm miniature scale is a common target.
- **Thin parts** Hair cards and clothing are single surfaces with no thickness. Remove or thicken them in Blender first.
- **Old FBX** Files older than FBX 7.0 need re-exporting from Blender or Maya.

## FAQ

### Does FBX to STL keep the pose?

It uses the bind pose stored in the file. To print another pose, pose the character in Blender and export that.

### Why is my STL the wrong size?

Some FBX exporters write a unit scale that doesn't match the model. Set the file units or a target height in the converter.

### Are textures kept?

No. STL stores only geometry. Use [FBX to OBJ](https://printpal.io/convert/fbx-to-obj) or [FBX to GLB](https://printpal.io/convert/fbx-to-glb) to keep them.

### Is the converter free? Are there limits?

Free, with no sign-up, watermark or file count limit. Batches and files of a few hundred MB work on most laptops; the only limit is your device's memory.

### Are my files uploaded?

No. Files are read and written by JavaScript and WebAssembly in your browser and never sent to PrintPal. The STEP and IGES reader is the only extra download, once, from a public CDN.

## Related

- [STL to OBJ Converter](https://printpal.io/convert/stl-to-obj)
- [STL to 3MF Converter](https://printpal.io/convert/stl-to-3mf)
- [STL to GLB Converter](https://printpal.io/convert/stl-to-glb)
- [FBX to OBJ Converter](https://printpal.io/convert/fbx-to-obj)
- [FBX to GLB Converter](https://printpal.io/convert/fbx-to-glb)
- [STL to PLY Converter](https://printpal.io/convert/stl-to-ply)
- [STL to USDZ Converter](https://printpal.io/convert/stl-to-usdz)
- [OBJ to STL Converter](https://printpal.io/convert/obj-to-stl)
- [3D model viewer](https://printpal.io/tools/3d-model-viewer)
- [3D model converter](https://printpal.io/tools/3d-model-converter)
- [Mesh Repair](https://printpal.io/tools/mesh-repair)
- PrintPal for LLMs: https://printpal.io/llms.txt