fstl is a viewer for .stl files. It uses Qt.
It is optimized to quickly load and render very high-polygon models.
The Porsche model below is two million triangles. On a mid-range laptop, this model loads in one second and renders at a smooth 60+ frames per second.
For comparison, Meshlab takes several seconds to load and renders at about 15 frames per second. More sophisticated software has an even larger overhead — Blender took about 12 seconds and locked up while loading.
This is free and open source software.
Key Features
- Fast.
- Attractive.
- Models are rendered with per-face flat shading and anti-aliasing in a smooth color scheme reminiscent of Solarized.
- Cross-platform support – runs under Linux, macOS, and Windows.
Website: www.mattkeeter.com/projects/fstl
Support: Code Repository
Developer: Matthew Keeter
License: BSD License
fstl is written in C++. Learn C++ with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
Related Software
| 3D Model Viewers | |
|---|---|
| ParaView | Data analysis and visualization application based on VTK |
| F3D | Fast and minimalist 3D viewer desktop application |
| MeshLab | Processes and edits 3D triangular meshes |
| Online 3D Viewer | Browser-based application for inspecting 3D models |
| Mayo | 3D CAD viewer and converter |
| fstl | Viewer for .stl files. It uses Qt |
| Castle Model Viewer | Supports 3D and 2D model formats |
| fstl-e | Fork of fstl with some fancy enhancements |
| Exhibit | 3D model viewer for the GNOME desktop |
| Tatlin | 3D STL and Gcode viewer |
| voxcii | Terminal-based ASCII 3D model viewer |
| dcat | Terminal-based 3D model viewer |
| term3d | Terminal-based 3D model viewer |
Read our verdict in the software roundup.
 Explore our comprehensive directory of recommended free and open source software. Our carefully curated collection spans every major software category.This directory is part of our ongoing series of informative articles for Linux enthusiasts. It features hundreds of detailed reviews, along with open source alternatives to proprietary solutions from major corporations such as Google, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, and Autodesk. You’ll also find interesting projects to try, hardware coverage, free programming books and tutorials, and much more. Discovered a useful open source Linux program that we haven’t covered yet? Let us know by completing this form. |