{
 "id": "ply",
 "name": "PLY",
 "category": "3d",
 "identifiers": {
  "extensions": [
   "ply"
  ],
  "mime": [
   "application/octet-stream"
  ],
  "puid": [
   "fmt/831"
  ],
  "wikidata": [
   "Q3077345"
  ],
  "magic": [
   {
    "offset": 0,
    "hex": "706c79",
    "notes": "PLY"
   }
  ],
  "signatures": [
   {
    "name": "PLY",
    "sequences": [
     {
      "position": "bof",
      "offset": 0,
      "pattern": "706c79(0a|0d|0d0a)666f726d617420(6173636969|62696e6172795f6c6974746c655f656e6469616e|62696e6172795f6269675f656e6469616e)20312e30"
     }
    ]
   }
  ]
 },
 "status": "writable",
 "summary": "Also known as the Stanford Triangle Format, PLY is a format for storing graphical objects that are described as a collection of polygons. PLY can be represented in ASCII or binary.",
 "tools": [
  {
   "name": "3D Utilities",
   "url": "http://ssa.ncsa.illinois.edu/isda/software/3d-utilities/",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false
  },
  {
   "name": "3DReshaper",
   "url": "http://www.3dreshaper.com",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false
  },
  {
   "name": "ABViewer",
   "url": "https://cadsofttools.com/products/abviewer/",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false
  },
  {
   "name": "Amira",
   "url": "http://www.amira.com",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": true
  },
  {
   "name": "binvox",
   "url": "https://www.patrickmin.com/binvox/",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false
  },
  {
   "name": "Blender",
   "url": "https://www.blender.org",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": true,
   "license": "GNU General Public License, version 3.0",
   "open_source": true
  },
  {
   "name": "CloudCompare",
   "url": "http://www.cloudcompare.org/",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false,
   "license": "GNU General Public License",
   "open_source": true
  },
  {
   "name": "DicomToMesh",
   "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q131339000",
   "reads": false,
   "writes": true,
   "license": "MIT License",
   "open_source": true
  },
  {
   "name": "GigaMesh",
   "url": "https://gigamesh.eu",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false,
   "license": "GNU General Public License",
   "open_source": true
  },
  {
   "name": "Global Mapper",
   "url": "https://www.bluemarblegeo.com/global-mapper/",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false
  },
  {
   "name": "Intel Array Visualizer",
   "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16895425",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false
  },
  {
   "name": "LightWave 3D",
   "url": "http://www.newtek.com/lightwave/",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false
  },
  {
   "name": "MayaVi",
   "url": "http://docs.enthought.com/mayavi/mayavi/",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false,
   "license": "BSD licenses",
   "open_source": true
  },
  {
   "name": "MEF++",
   "url": "https://giref.ulaval.ca/chaire-du-crsng-en-calcul-scientifique-de-haute-performance",
   "reads": false,
   "writes": true,
   "license": "proprietary license"
  },
  {
   "name": "MeshLab",
   "url": "http://meshlab.sourceforge.net/",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false,
   "license": "GNU General Public License",
   "open_source": true
  },
  {
   "name": "Mitsuba",
   "url": "http://mitsuba-renderer.org",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false,
   "license": "GNU General Public License, version 3.0",
   "open_source": true
  },
  {
   "name": "PDAL",
   "url": "https://pdal.io",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": true,
   "license": "3-clause BSD License",
   "open_source": true
  },
  {
   "name": "Q251322",
   "url": "https://www.freecad.org/",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": true,
   "license": "GNU Library General Public License, version 2.0 or later",
   "open_source": true
  },
  {
   "name": "Qlone",
   "url": "https://www.qlone.pro",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": true
  },
  {
   "name": "Qlone Dental",
   "url": "https://www.qlone.pro/dental",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": true
  },
  {
   "name": "Rhinoceros 3D",
   "url": "https://www.rhino3d.com/",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": true,
   "license": "proprietary license"
  },
  {
   "name": "SALOME",
   "url": "https://www.salome-platform.org/",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false,
   "license": "GNU Lesser General Public License, version 2.1 or later",
   "open_source": true
  },
  {
   "name": "SOLIDWORKS",
   "url": "https://www.solidworks.com/",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false,
   "license": "proprietary license"
  },
  {
   "name": "SpaceClaim",
   "url": "http://www.spaceclaim.com/",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false
  },
  {
   "name": "Tekla Structures",
   "url": "https://www.tekla.com/products/tekla-structures",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false,
   "license": "proprietary license"
  },
  {
   "name": "TetGen",
   "url": "http://tetgen.org/",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false
  },
  {
   "name": "TransMagic",
   "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7833626",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": true
  },
  {
   "name": "VisualARQ",
   "url": "http://www.visualarq.com/",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": true
  },
  {
   "name": "Visualization Library",
   "url": "http://visualizationlibrary.org",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": true,
   "license": "BSD licenses",
   "open_source": true
  }
 ],
 "projects": [
  {
   "name": "File Formats Wiki",
   "url": "http://fileformats.archiveteam.org/wiki/PLY",
   "kind": "wiki"
  },
  {
   "name": "PRONOM fmt/831",
   "url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/PRONOM/fmt/831",
   "kind": "format-doc"
  },
  {
   "name": "Wikidata Q3077345",
   "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3077345",
   "kind": "wiki"
  }
 ],
 "provenance": {
  "sources": [
   "ffw",
   "pronom",
   "wikidata"
  ]
 },
 "updated": "2026-10-24",
 "aliases": [
  "Stanford Triangle Format"
 ],
 "structure": [],
 "parsers": [],
 "conversions": [],
 "samples": [],
 "claims": [],
 "verification": []
}