Hello,
I am trying to export the 3D object of the PCB as a STEP file.
But I noticed that all components with WRL 3D reference are missing in the STEP file.
Does KiCad convert the WRL format to STEP while exporting?
Nope. The step export is not able to combine in WRL files.
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1 – First of all be all sure to copy your original project into a safe place – very important as KiCads file handling/file system seems a bit old fashioned & weird 
2 – Copy that backuped project to another place and open the pcb file in a text editor, search and replace all instances of “.wrl” with “.step”.
3 – Open the project and check so the PCB still works.
4 – If so, export the PCB as STEP and check if it works now.
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You cannot simply convert WRL to STEP. Most built in KiCad 3D models exist in both formats
Yea, and that’s why I suggest the text editor modification, to change the pcb file references from .wrl to .step (=of course the .step files must be available in the system).
The above comments are true but what will likely solve your problem is checking the “substitute similarly named models” box in the STEP export dialog.
KiCad’s footprint models are usually provided in both WRL and STEP format, but the footprints contain the path to the WRL. This box checks if there is a STEP file with the same name as the specified WRL, and if so uses the STEP model for the export.
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Thanks, I used your trick and it worked 
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Thanks a million, yes I wasn’t aware of this option, it helps a lot
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This substitute option was introduced with V6. The V5.1 series behaved like this automatically, so the default behaviour has changed
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