3D Print Animator
Tools
Animate your 3D print
Drop a 3D model or a sliced G-code file here and watch it get printed bead by bead with studio lighting, a moving print head, and video export. Models are sliced right here in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
Models: .stl .obj .3mf (multi-color OBJ: drop the .mtl and textures with it; painted 3MF keeps its filaments)  ·  G-code: .gcode .gco .g .nc and sliced .gcode.3mf from Bambu Studio, OrcaSlicer, PrusaSlicer, SuperSlicer and Cura
16:9
Rendering frame 0 / 0
1. Load a model or G-codeprivate, in-browser
Drop an .stl, .obj or .3mf model and it is sliced here in your browser, or drop real G-code from Bambu Studio, OrcaSlicer, PrusaSlicer or Cura (.gcode.3mf plate exports work too) to animate the exact toolpaths.
2. Filament & Finish
Load a print to pick filament colors.
Surface finish
Show featuresclick to toggle
Rebuilding beads…
3. Bead Detail—
Quality
Seam gap0.10 mm
Bead width100%
Auto picks the richest bead profile that fits a sensible GPU budget for this file, so large prints stay smooth.
4. Scene
Backdrop
Build plate
Lighting
Print head follows the nozzle path
Soft shadows
Ghost of unprinted layers
5. Camera
Hero Front Side Top Low angle Isometric
Animation starts from
Drag, zoom or pan in the viewport to frame the shot; the first frame of the video is exactly what you see. "Camera preset" always starts from the selected preset, fitted to the export frame.
Slow orbit while playing
Camera rises with the print
Lens35°
6. Animation
Build style
Pacing
Duration12 s
Easing
Hold at start0.5 s
Hold at end2.0 s
Loop playback
7. Export
Aspect
Resolution
Frame rate
Video renders frame-by-frame at the chosen size with extra anti-aliasing passes, independent of your screen, so output is always smooth. The camera is fitted to the chosen aspect; the frame guide in the viewport outlines exactly what will be exported.
Free videos carry translucent PrintPal watermarks across the frame. Upgrade to any paid plan for clean videos plus 1440p and 4K.

3D Print Animator: Turn Any STL or G-code Into a Layer-by-Layer 3D Printing Timelapse

The 3D Print Animator turns a 3D model (STL, OBJ or 3MF) or a sliced G-code file into a realistic 3D printing animation. Drop a model and it is sliced right in your browser into real walls, top and bottom skins, infill and a skirt; drop G-code and the exact toolpaths from your slicer are used. Either way every extrusion becomes a solid, rounded plastic bead with true layer heights and line widths, and the print plays back bead by bead or layer by layer with a moving print head, soft studio lighting, a build plate, and shadows. Export an MP4 3D print timelapse or a PNG still. It is the kind of G-code render that used to need Blender and a plugin, now running entirely in your browser.

Realistic extrusion beads

Each toolpath becomes a stadium-shaped bead, flat on top and bottom with rounded sides and rounded ends, sized from the width and layer height your slicer wrote into the file. Seam gaps, mitered corners, and multi-material colors are reproduced so the result looks like a photo of a real print, not a diagram.

Timelapse-style playback

Choose bead-by-bead growth, where you watch the nozzle lay down each line, or classic layer-by-layer stepping like a printer timelapse. Pace the animation evenly or by real print speed, so slow outer walls take longer than fast infill, just like on the machine.

Studio look in one click

Pick a backdrop, a build plate (textured PEI, glass, smooth black, or shadow-only), a lighting mood, and a filament finish from matte to silk. Camera presets, a slow orbit, and a camera that rises with the print give you a polished product-shot feel without any 3D software, and the video starts from whatever angle you frame in the viewport, fitted to your chosen aspect ratio.

Export video or stills

Render an MP4 (or WebM) at 720p or 1080p for free, in landscape, square, or vertical 9:16 for Reels, Shorts, and TikTok. Save transparent PNG snapshots at up to 4K for thumbnails, listings, and documentation. Rendering happens frame by frame, so it is smooth even on modest laptops.

How to make a 3D print animation

  1. Drop a model or G-code onto the animator (or click "Try a sample print"). STL, OBJ and 3MF models are sliced in your browser; G-code from Bambu Studio, OrcaSlicer, PrusaSlicer, SuperSlicer or Cura (including .gcode.3mf plate exports) is used as-is. Everything runs in a background thread, so the page stays responsive.
  2. Tune the slicing for models: model size, layer height, wall count, top and bottom layers, infill density and pattern, skirt or brim, and color changes at any height.
  3. Set filament colors and finish. Filament colors are pre-filled from the G-code, a painted 3MF, or an OBJ's materials, texture or vertex colors; toggle features such as supports, skirts, or purge lines on and off.
  4. Dress the scene. Choose a backdrop, plate, and lighting, show or hide the print head and shadows, and pick a camera preset.
  5. Tune the animation. Duration, easing, holds, build style, and pacing. Press play or scrub the timeline.
  6. Export. Pick an aspect ratio, resolution, and frame rate, then render a video or save a PNG.

STL timelapse or G-code render: which should you drop?

Drop the model when you just want a good-looking STL timelapse fast. The built-in quick slicer cuts the mesh into layers and generates real wall loops, top and bottom skins, grid, line or gyroid infill and a skirt or brim, so the animation shows a print being built rather than a shape simply rising out of the plate. You can rescale the model, change the layer height, and add filament color changes at any height, all without opening a slicer. It also copes with messy meshes: overlapping shells and small gaps are unioned per layer instead of leaving the print hollow.

Drop the G-code when the toolpaths matter. Your slicer knows exactly how the printer will build the part: wall order, infill pattern, variable layer heights, line widths, seams, supports, prime towers and AMS filament changes. Animating the G-code shows what a timelapse camera would see on the actual machine, which is what filament brands, print farms and Etsy sellers want for product videos, and it doubles as a sanity check before a long print, since odd toolpaths, missing supports and surprise purge lines are obvious once they are solid beads.

Frequently asked questions

Does this upload my model or G-code anywhere?

No. Slicing, parsing, meshing, rendering, and video encoding all run inside your browser using Web Workers, WebGL, and WebCodecs. Your file never leaves your computer.

Can I make a timelapse from an STL without slicing it first?

Yes. Drop an STL, OBJ or 3MF and the animator slices it in your browser with real walls, top and bottom layers, infill and a skirt. Adjust layer height, walls, infill density and pattern, model size and color changes in the Model slicing panel; the animation re-slices in the background as you change settings. Multi-part 3MF files keep each part as its own filament color, painted 3MF files keep their painted filaments, and Bambu Studio or OrcaSlicer project colors are picked up automatically. For a multi-color OBJ, drop the .mtl and any textures together with the .obj.

Which slicers are supported?

Bambu Studio, OrcaSlicer, PrusaSlicer, SuperSlicer, and Cura are read in detail, including feature types, line widths, layer heights, and filament colors. Other Marlin, Klipper, and RepRap G-code works too; bead width is then derived from the extrusion amount in each move.

Can it handle multi-color and AMS prints?

Yes. In G-code every tool change is tracked and each filament gets its own color, pre-filled from the slicer's palette when present; purge and prime towers can be shown or hidden. Models keep their colors too: painted 3MF files from Bambu Studio, OrcaSlicer or PrusaSlicer are sliced with the painted filaments, and an OBJ dropped together with its .mtl (and textures) is colored from its materials, texture or vertex colors, merged down to the number of filaments you choose.

How big a file can I load?

Multi-hour prints with hundreds of thousands of moves are fine. The Auto quality setting picks a bead profile that fits a sensible GPU budget, and you can override it with Low through Ultra. Rendering only happens when something changes, so an idle page costs nothing.

What video formats are exported?

MP4 (H.264) in Chrome, Edge, and Safari via WebCodecs, with WebM as an automatic fallback in browsers that do not support it. 720p and 1080p are free; 1440p and 4K are part of PrintPal Pro.

Is this a Blender G-code plugin alternative?

It covers the same core job, turning G-code into solid printed-bead geometry and animating the build, without installing Blender or learning its render settings. For fully custom scenes you can still screenshot or record here and composite elsewhere.

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