DirectX X to STL Converter
FileFlip converts DirectX X to STL entirely inside your browser, using Assimp compiled to WebAssembly. The file is never uploaded to a server: it is read off your disk, converted on your own machine, and saved back by the browser. That means no file-size limit, no queue and no account.
How do I convert an DirectX X file to STL?#
- Drop your DirectX X file onto the converter at the top of this page, or click it to pick one from your computer. You can add as many as you like.
- Leave the target set to STL and the conversion starts on its own. FileFlip downloads 11.2 MB of WebAssembly the first time and nothing after that, then runs Assimp on your own machine.
- Save the STL file. Your browser writes it straight to your downloads folder, because there was never a server holding it.
Does converting DirectX X to STL lose quality?#
Not in the sense of pixels or samples. Converting DirectX X to STL rebuilds the file in STL's own model rather than re-encoding it, so everything STL can represent comes through exactly and anything it cannot has to be dropped. Expect the geometry to be exact, and anything the target has no place for, such as a rig, to be left behind.
Is it safe to convert DirectX X files online?#
Yes, because nothing is uploaded. FileFlip converts DirectX X 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 DirectX X to STL actually does to the file#
Converting DirectX X to STL runs on Assimp, downloads 11.2 MB of WebAssembly the first time and nothing after that, rebuilds the file in the target's own model, and drops materials, textures and skeleton and animation.
| Engine | Assimp |
|---|---|
| Conversion path | One step: DirectX X → STL |
| Downloaded to your browser | 11.2 MB, once, then cached by your browser |
| Quality | Rebuilt in the target's model |
| You get back | One file |
| Where it runs | In a background worker, so the page stays responsive |
What survives the conversion
| What is in the file | This conversion | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Materials | Dropped | The target format has nowhere to put it. |
| Textures | Dropped | The target format has nowhere to put it. |
| Skeleton and animation | Dropped | The target format has nowhere to put it. |
Worth knowing before you start:
- the target stores triangles and nothing else, so materials, colours, and texture coordinates have nowhere to go
- if the source carries a skeleton or animation, this target has no place to store it
What is an DirectX X file?#
An X file is Microsoft's DirectX mesh format, storing geometry, materials, textures, skinning and animation as a set of typed data templates, in either a human-readable text encoding or a tokenised binary one.
Use X only to keep compatibility with older DirectX SDK samples or a legacy pipeline built around the format.
Convert X to FBX or glTF for any current game or graphics pipeline, since DirectX itself has moved on from the format.
What is an STL file?#
An STL file is a triangle mesh created by 3D Systems in 1987 for its stereolithography 3D printers, storing nothing but a flat list of triangle facets and their normals, with no colour, material or unit of measurement attached.
Use STL when the only destination is a 3D printer's slicer, which is all the format was designed to feed.
Convert STL to 3MF when colour, material or unit information needs to travel with the geometry, since STL has nowhere to put any of it.
DirectX X to STL questions people ask#
What is a DirectX X file used for?
An X file stores a 3D mesh for Microsoft's DirectX, including materials, textures, skinning and animation, laid out as a set of typed templates. It was the standard model format across the DirectX SDK samples through the 1990s and 2000s.
Is the X file format still used?
Rarely for new work. It's tied to Direct3D's Retained Mode API, which Microsoft stopped updating after DirectX 3.0 and later dropped outright, so current DirectX pipelines use FBX or glTF instead.
Why do some .x files look like source code instead of a 3D model?
The .x extension is shared with Lex lexical-analyzer source files on Unix systems, an unrelated format entirely. A text-encoded DirectX X file is also readable as plain text, but it starts with the header "xof" rather than Lex syntax.
What is an STL file used for?
An STL file is the standard input for 3D printer slicing software, storing a model's surface as a list of triangles with nothing else attached. Slicers use it to work out where to lay down material layer by layer.