MDL Converter
FileFlip converts MDL files into 14 other formats entirely inside your browser, using Assimp compiled to WebAssembly. The MDL file is never uploaded to a server: it is read off your disk, converted on your own machine, and saved back by the browser. There is no file-size limit and no account to create.
How do I convert an MDL file?#
- Drop your MDL file onto the converter at the top of this page, or click it to pick one from your computer.
- Choose the format you want out of it. FileFlip downloads the engine that conversion needs, once, and your browser caches it.
- Conversion starts the moment you pick the format, and the result is yours to download. The work happens in this tab, so nothing is uploaded and nothing is queued.
Is it safe to convert MDL files online?#
Yes, because nothing is uploaded. FileFlip converts MDL files inside the browser tab you already have open, using WebAssembly builds of the same engines a desktop converter would install. Your file is read from your own disk into the page's memory, and no request carrying it is ever made.
You do not have to take that on trust. Open your browser's network panel, run a conversion, and you will see the engine come down and your file go nowhere. There is no upload, no server-side copy, no retention window, and no account tied to what you converted.
How FileFlip works lists every engine, its version and its download size, and shows how to check for yourself that nothing leaves your machine.
What happens to a MDL file#
FileFlip converts MDL into 14 formats with Assimp, all of it inside the browser tab. Each conversion below names the engine it uses, what it downloads, and exactly what that conversion keeps or drops.
| Category | 3D Models |
|---|---|
| File extension | .mdl |
| FileFlip support | Read only, so it is a source rather than a target |
| Conversions available | 14 |
| Engines | Assimp |
| Downloaded to your browser | 11.2 MB on the first conversion, then cached |
What is an MDL file?#
An MDL file is most often id Software's original Quake model, a small vertex-animated mesh with a single texture, or an unrelated 3D GameStudio model that happens to share the same extension, so the extension alone never says which format a given file actually is.
Use MDL only when working directly inside the specific pipeline that produced it, whether that's Quake modding or 3D GameStudio, since the two formats aren't interchangeable despite the shared extension.
Convert an MDL file to a modern interchange format once its origin (Quake, 3D GameStudio, or something else entirely) is confirmed, since converting the wrong format's loader against it will simply fail.
The MDL file format reference covers the specification, the programs that open one, and what each conversion keeps or drops.
MDL questions people ask#
What is an MDL file?
Most commonly, an MDL file is id Software's original Quake model format from 1996, a small vertex-animated mesh with one texture, identified internally by the magic bytes IDPO. The same extension is also used by 3D GameStudio's unrelated model format and by other software entirely, so the name alone doesn't guarantee which one you have.
Is every MDL file a Quake model?
No. 3D GameStudio's model format uses the same .mdl extension across several incompatible versions, and Valve's studiomdl compiler also writes its compiled GoldSrc and Source engine models as .mdl. None of these read as a Quake model, so the file has to be checked before assuming which format it is.
What software still opens Quake's MDL format?
Modern Quake source ports like Quakespasm load the original MDL models directly, and tools such as Noesis, MilkShape 3D and QuArK read them for inspection or conversion outside the game.