Frequently asked questions

Create an account, upload a GLB file. Every upload generates a shareable turntable preview video automatically. New accounts also get 100 free credits on signup to try custom settings — no credit card required.

GLB is the native format — the standard used by most 3D modeling tools (Blender, Maya, 3ds Max, SketchUp, etc.) and e-commerce platforms (Shopify, Amazon, Google). A raw .gltf file should be packed into .glb first; most tools export GLB directly. The Pinwing studio app also accepts FBX, OBJ, STL, SVG, and USDZ — converted to GLB in your browser before upload. You can also upload a ZIP file containing an OBJ model with its MTL and texture files (JPG/PNG) — ideal for 3D scanner exports from tools like Artec Studio, RealityCapture, and Metashape. The server converts to GLB automatically with optimized material settings.

Yes. Export your scan as OBJ with textures, zip the folder, and upload the ZIP file. Pinwing converts it to GLB automatically and sets material roughness to 1.0 for a realistic matte finish. The converted GLB is available for download from the model detail view — so even before rendering, you get a clean GLB with embedded textures and correct PBR settings. This works with exports from Artec Studio, RealityCapture, Agisoft Metashape, and similar photogrammetry or structured-light scanning tools.

Files up to 1 GB are supported, and large files are uploaded in chunks automatically for reliability on slower connections. Zipped scan bundles can unpack to at most 500 MB of content.

No. Pinwing is entirely web-based. Upload, render, download, and share — all from your browser. There is also a RESTful API and an MCP server if you prefer programmatic access.

Standard renders are 540p at 60 fps with H.264 encoding. HD renders are 1080p at 60 fps. 4K renders are 3840×2160 at 60 fps. ProRes 4444 renders are 4K with an alpha channel for compositing. All tiers use GPU-accelerated 2× supersampling for anti-aliased edges.

Every render produces four assets: the full video (MP4 or .mov for ProRes 4444), a web-optimized MP4, a thumbnail video, and a full-resolution poster image. All assets can be downloaded individually or as a single zip bundle.

Most renders complete in minutes. The exact time depends on model complexity, chosen video length, and whether shadows or reflections are enabled. During busy periods, jobs may queue briefly before processing begins. A poster image is delivered first while the full video finishes encoding.

Yes. You can render the same model as many times as you like with different aspect ratios, backgrounds, durations, and effects. Credit cost depends on the quality tier and video length — Standard (540p) costs 1 credit per second, HD (1080p) costs 4, 4K costs 16, and ProRes 4444 costs 64.

16:9 (landscape — for websites and product pages), 1:1 (square — for marketplaces and social media), and 9:16 (vertical — for Instagram Reels and TikTok).

The studio groups them the way its panels do. Backdrop: solid color, multi-stop gradient, or image. Environment: HDRI with rotation and exposure. Lighting: fill, spotlight, ambient and gloss levels, plus light colors. Ground: reflection, flat shadow, contact shadow, or soft accumulated shadow. Motion: spin shots with easing, pan, tilt and zoom, or keyframe camera paths (up to 64 keyframes); any shot can run up to 120 seconds (60 for ProRes 4444), and decimal lengths are fine for loop alignment. Effects: depth, glow, lens blur, vignette, cloth sway. Filters: nine color looks. Overlay: a logo or frame baked on top. Transform: rotate, scale, move, mirror. Animation clips add direction and cycle controls. Tilt is especially useful for showcasing shoes, bottles, and packaging from an angled perspective.

Yes. Open the Background panel (press B), pick Backdrop, and switch to Images. Choose a curated gradient, design your own, or upload a branded image (PNG, JPEG, or WebP, up to 25 MB). The image scales to cover the output, and you pick Left, Center, or Right to decide which part survives the crop on narrower aspect ratios. Left is the default, so corner logos stay put.

Yes. The Overlay panel takes a transparent PNG or WebP (up to 25 MB) — upload it or paste with Ctrl+V — and bakes it over the finished render. Position it Left, Center, or Right and dial the opacity; the canvas preview shows exactly what the render will look like.

Yes, two ways. The Lighting panel (press L) has sliders for fill, spotlight, ambient and gloss intensity, plus light colors. For image-based lighting, upload your own HDRI environment (.hdr or .exr, up to 8K) in the Background panel: it can light the scene invisibly, stand behind the model as a dome, or wrap all the way around, with rotation, exposure, blur, and tint controls.

Yes. The Effects panel has depth (ambient occlusion), glow, lens blur, vignette, and a cloth sway for garments. The Filter panel adds nine color looks, from Sepia to Noir to Toon. Everything is applied identically in the preview and the final render.

Yes. The Transform panel rotates on all three axes with 45° snapping, scales per axis (a negative scale mirrors, which fixes flipped shoes and logos), and moves the model up, down, or sideways. One click recenters everything.

Yes. Switch the shot mode from Spin to Path, fly the camera where you want it (orbit or free flight; touch joysticks appear on iPad), and press Space to capture up to 64 keyframes. Each segment gets its own timing and easing, paths can close into a loop, and the whole move can run up to two minutes.

Batch rendering queues several models with multiple quality, aspect, and duration variants in one go, through the assistant or the API. Variants that differ only in background color are processed from a single GPU pass.

Yes. Pinwing provides a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that lets AI agents in Windsurf, Claude Desktop, Cursor, and other MCP-compatible tools import or upload models, quote costs, create and batch renders, cancel with refund, mint texture and HDRI-environment assets, manage backgrounds, and download results via natural-language prompts. Describe what you want in plain English — the agent handles the API calls. See the MCP docs for setup and prompt examples.

No. Pinwing outputs standard H.264 MP4 videos that play natively in any browser, email client, or chat app. Recipients don’t need a GPU, 3D viewer, or any special software — just press play. This makes it easy to share 3D assets with product managers, executives, clients, and anyone else who doesn’t have a 3D workstation.

1 credit = 1 second of Standard (540p) video. A 6-second turntable = 6 credits. HD is 4 credits/second, 4K is 16, and ProRes 4444 is 64. Each render includes a full video, web variant, thumbnail, and poster.

No. Credits stay on your account until you use them.

Yes. Every new account gets 100 free credits on signup — enough for about 16 full-quality 540p turntable videos with no restrictions. No credit card required. Once you've used them, buy more credits anytime to keep rendering.

Payments are processed securely via Stripe. We accept all major credit and debit cards. EU businesses can enter a VAT ID at checkout to apply reverse charge.

Credits are refunded when something goes wrong on our end — a failed or defective render, platform downtime, or a duplicate charge. Because a render consumes GPU compute the moment it is submitted, we do not refund change of mind. See our refund policy for full details.

Yes. If you need more than 1,000 credits, dedicated rendering capacity, API priority, or custom integrations, contact our sales team for a tailored quote.

Your model library supports grid, list, and export views with search, sort, and tag filtering. You can add titles, SKUs, and tags to any model for easy lookup.

Yes. Every rendered video gets a unique public URL that anyone can view — no account required. The share page streams an adaptive-quality video (HLS, with MP4 fallback) and adapts to the video’s aspect ratio. Your own downloads live in the Renders panel: the master file, a compressed web version, and the poster.

Paste one line of HTML: <video src="https://pinwing.ai/api/stream-video/<id>.mp4?quality=web" autoplay loop muted playsinline style="width:100%"></video> — the id is the tail of the URL you get from Copy share link in the Renders panel. Works on Shopify, WordPress, Squarespace, or any website. Every render includes a web-optimized MP4 built for fast loading.

Designers and 3D artists upload models and render videos. Everyone else — product managers, marketing, sales, external partners — reviews using standard video links. No installs, no GPU, no training. For closer collaboration, create a team workspace: invite members by email with a role (owner, manager, editor, or viewer) and the whole library is shared in one place.

Yes. The RESTful API gives you full access to the rendering pipeline: upload models (file, URL, or presigned PUT for large files), create single or batch renders with safe retries, poll status or delta-poll whole batches, cancel with refund, mint background/texture/environment assets, and download everything — streamed or via presigned direct-from-storage URLs. Authentication uses Bearer tokens with scoped API keys, personal or bound to a team workspace. The whole surface is machine-readable: an OpenAPI 3.1 spec at /openapi.json and an RFC 9727 catalog at /.well-known/api-catalog. See the API reference.

Yes. Pinwing runs a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, so AI agents in Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, and other MCP-compatible tools can import or upload models, quote credit costs, create and batch renders, cancel with refund, mint texture and HDRI-environment assets, manage backgrounds, and download results — all from natural-language prompts. It shares the same API and Bearer-token keys; the hosted endpoint is https://mcp.pinwing.ai/. See the MCP docs for setup and example prompts.

Yes. The built-in assistant drives the same controls the panels use — describe what you want (“face the camera, warm light, brand background, render in HD”) and it sets up the scene. It can read the scene too, so it answers questions about meshes, materials, and animations. Anything that costs credits shows a confirmation with the price first.

Model files and rendered assets are stored on redundant cloud object storage. Your account data is stored in a managed PostgreSQL database. All data is encrypted in transit (TLS). Content is scoped to your workspace: private to you in your personal workspace, and visible to invited members according to their role in a team workspace.

You can sign in with email and password, or use Google single sign-on (SSO). OAuth accounts are created instantly — no email verification step needed.

Yes. Enable TOTP two-factor authentication in the Account panel: scan the QR code with Google Authenticator, Authy, 1Password, or any authenticator app. You get recovery codes for lost devices, and the second factor is required at every sign-in, including Google SSO.

Use the “Forgot password?” link on the sign-in dialog. You get an email with a reset link; setting a new password signs out every other session of your account.

You, and nobody else — unless you invite them. In a team workspace, members see shared content according to their role (owner, manager, editor, or viewer). Shared video links are public by design, but managing, deleting, and re-rendering stays inside your workspace.

Models and renders can be deleted from the studio at any time. For full account erasure, reach us through the contact form and we remove your content and personal data as described in the privacy policy.