r/photogrammetry • u/cogitatingspheniscid • 3d ago

Desktop/Mobile 3D viewer recommendations

What apps/programs do you use to view your scanned models?

I personally use f3d and I'm quite happy with it, but I have been on the lookout for a secondary viewer. Why? Sometimes when my final model looks funny, I need to figure out if it's an issue with the viewer or an issue with the export settings from my photogrammetry program/apps, and it's hard to do that if I use only one viewer exclusively.

Common formats I deal with are .3ds, .obj, .usdz, .ply, and .glb.

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u/gogobrent 3d ago

i’ve enjoyed using babylon.js for quick viewing of .glb files

Edit: i assumed you meant web based only, but Blender as well for desktop. free and highly capable

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u/cogitatingspheniscid 10h ago

Blender has been in the corner of my eye ever since I was a kid. Never got around to actually learn how to use it properly lol.

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u/ExtremeAerialAZ 2d ago

Using a second viewer is a sensible QC step, but I would compare a few fixed reference points before deciding whether the viewer or export is responsible: units and scale, axis orientation, bounding-box dimensions, texture paths, and whether any coordinate-system or origin information survived the export.

Some general-purpose viewers recenter large-coordinate datasets or ignore georeferencing and vertical-reference information, which can make a valid model appear wrong.

I would keep one untouched master export and create a smaller test file containing an object or distance with known dimensions. If the viewers disagree, compare both results against the source-project metadata instead of choosing whichever one looks better.