Format Guide
The original web 3D standard — color meshes, scene hierarchy, and texture mapping for interactive virtual worlds.
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| Extension | .wrl |
|---|---|
| Full name | Virtual Reality Modeling Language |
| Standard | ISO 14772 |
| Geometry type | Indexed face set (polygon mesh) |
| Open standard | Yes |
| Supports color | Yes — per-face and per-vertex |
| Supports textures | Yes |
| Successor | X3D |
VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) was developed in 1994 and standardized as ISO 14772. It was the first standard language for 3D scenes on the web, allowing interactive virtual worlds to be embedded via browser plug-ins. VRML stores polygon meshes with per-face or per-vertex color, texture coordinates, lights, cameras, and basic animation. Its XML-based successor X3D is the current ISO standard. While legacy for modern web use, VRML remains in engineering and scientific visualization — particularly in industrial CAD workflows where color-coded geometry (stress maps, heat maps) needs to be shared with colleagues using free VRML viewers.
Engineers export VRML to share color-coded CAD models (e.g., FEA stress maps, heat maps) with colleagues who lack CAD software but have free VRML viewers.
Many PDM and PLM systems support VRML as a lightweight review format. Reviewers can rotate and inspect assemblies without needing a CAD license.
VRML is used in finite element analysis, medical imaging, and geographic information systems to export 3D data with color attributes.
SolidWorks, CATIA, FreeCAD, Rhino, MeshLab, ParaView, Cortona3D viewer, and InstantReality.
Commonly converted from STEP or IGES for colored visualization, to STL for 3D printing (losing color), or to X3D for the modern XML-based successor format.