What happens to your 3D models if you change vendor

What you keep, and what goes with the vendor

The test is simple: what do you have on your own computer, as a file? That is yours to take. Everything else was the vendor's, even if it showed your product.

Important to note: a model that only appears on your site through the vendor's code is not on your computer. It is on theirs.

1. ·You keep: the model files (GLB, USDZ), if they were delivered to you.
2. ·You keep: the surface images and the working file, if the contract said source included.
3. ·You lose: the viewer and the configurator, when they ran on the vendor's servers.
4. ·You lose: the hosting links and the embed code on your product pages. They stop working when the account stops.

What you were never handed as a file, you never had.

What 'source included' means

The finished model file is like a printed page. You can show it, you cannot edit it well. The source is the layered original behind it.

With the source, a new artist changes a colour or fixes a detail in hours. Without it, the new artist starts from zero, and you pay for the model a second time.

1. 01Surface images (textures) as separate files, not only packed inside the GLB.
2. 02The working file (in our case Blender), on request.
3. 03The list of materials and where the measurements came from.

If the contract does not say you get the source files, you do not get them.

What to ask a vendor before you sign

One sentence in the contract settles it: the client owns the model files, source included, and receives them on delivery. A vendor who will not write that sentence has told you the answer.

We put this in the offer: you own the files, source included. We build the models and the viewer once, you keep the files, and they run on your own infrastructure. No licence fee, nothing to cancel later.

1. 01Which files do I receive on delivery, by name? The answer should include the surface images.
2. 02Where does the model run? On my site, or on your servers through an embed?
3. 03What happens on the day I stop paying? Does the product page keep working?
4. 04Can I upload the GLB to Shopify myself, today? If yes, the file is really yours.
5. 05How big is the GLB you would hand me, in MB? One number that tells you if it was built for the web.

Ask for the files by name, in the contract, before the first invoice.

A platform that switched off: 8th Wall

A 3D model is a product asset, like your product photos. If it lives only inside a vendor's platform, your product page depends on that vendor staying in business and keeping its prices.

This is not a theory. 8th Wall, a web AR platform, closed to its users on 28 February 2026. Hosted projects stay online until 28 February 2027, then the data is deleted. A brand that kept its own files can move. A brand that did not has to rebuild.

1. ·28 February 2026: logins and edits ended.
2. ·28 February 2027: hosted projects switch off and the remaining data is deleted.

A model that lives only inside a vendor's platform is rented, not owned.

What the files are, in plain words

GLB and USDZ are open, standard formats. They open in Shopify, in Google's free viewer (model-viewer), in the 3D platforms, in Blender, and on an iPhone or Android phone for AR. That is why a file you hold works without any vendor.

Proof that the file works outside our site: Shopify takes it directly, with published limits.

1. ·GLB: the finished model for the web. One file with the shape and the surface images inside. This is what a product page loads.
2. ·USDZ: the same model in Apple's format, so an iPhone can place it in the room (AR) without an app.
3. ·Surface images (textures): the pictures the material is built from, as separate files. This is what a 3D artist opens to change a colour. The Blender working file comes on request.
4. ·Shopify: upload GLB or USDZ as product media, up to 500 MB per file. Over 15 MB, Shopify optimises the file itself, and it makes the other format for you.
5. ·Shopify's own advice for a finished model: about 4 MB in total, surface images no larger than 2048 by 2048 pixels for mobile web, built at real size.

Our delivery is written down: one clean GLB file, real size in metres, named parts and materials, plus the list of materials and where the measurements came from.

How to check the files when they arrive

Five checks, and none of them needs a 3D artist. If I had to pick one, it is the size in AR.

1. 01Open the GLB in a free viewer on your laptop. It should open with the colours in place.
2. 02Place the USDZ in AR on an iPhone, next to the real product. They should be the same size; 5 percent off is already visible.
3. 03Look for the surface images as separate files, not only inside the GLB.
4. 04Open the GLB in Blender, or have anyone with Blender do it. Parts should have names, not 'Mesh.001'.
5. 05Ask for the materials list and for where the measurements came from.

A model that is the right size in AR and opens in Blender is yours to keep and to change.