CesiumGS3D Tiles Tools
Overview
The 3D Tiles Tools are a collection of tools and utilities for converting, optimizing, processing, and analyzing 3D Tiles data.
Installation
To install the 3D Tiles Tools locally into a directory, run
npm install 3d-tiles-toolsIf you want to work directly with a clone of the Git repository, see Developer Setup.
Command Line Usage
Note: All input- and output paths for the 3D Tiles Tools are case sensitive. Even though some operating systems (like Windows) usually do not differentiate between uppercase and lowercase, the file- and directory names that are given at the command line must exactly match the actual names.
Common command line options for each function:
| Flag | Description | Required |
|---|---|---|
-i, --input |
Input file or directory | Yes |
-o, --output |
Output file or directory | Yes |
-f, --force |
Overwrite output if it exists | No, default false |
--logLevel |
The log level. Valid values are trace, debug, info, warn, error, fatal, and silent |
No, default info |
--logJson |
Print log messages as JSON instead of pretty-printed | No, default false |
Command line tools for tilesets
gzip
Gzips the input tileset.
npx 3d-tiles-tools gzip -i ./specs/data/TilesetOfTilesets/ -o ./output/TilesetOfTilesets-gzipped/Additional command line options:
| Flag | Description | Required |
|---|---|---|
-t, --tilesOnly |
Only gzip tiles. | No, default false |
(Note: The exact set of files that are covered with tilesOnly is not specified yet)
ungzip
Ungzips the input tileset.
npx 3d-tiles-tools ungzip -i ./specs/data/TilesetOfTilesets-gzipped/ -o ./output/TilesetOfTilesets-ungzipped/combine
Combines all external tilesets into a single tileset.
Note about the difference between
mergeandcombine: Thecombinecommand takes a tileset that already refers to external tilesets. And it creates a new tileset where the former external tilesets are "inlined". So the result will be a single tileset, without external references.
Example:
npx 3d-tiles-tools combine -i ./specs/data/combineTilesets/input -o ./specs/data/combineTilesets/outputmerge
Merge multiple tilesets into a single one that refers to the input tilesets as external tilesets.
Note about the difference between
mergeandcombine: Themergecommand creates a new tileset that refers to the given ones as external tilsets. This means that the resulting tileset is not complete without the ones that are used as the inputs for themergecommand.
Example:
npx 3d-tiles-tools merge -i ./specs/data/mergeTilesets/TilesetA -i ./specs/data/mergeTilesets/sub/TilesetA -o ./specs/data/mergeTilesets/outputmergeJson
Merge multiple tilesets into a single tileset JSON file that refers to the input tilesets as external tilesets.
This differs from the merge command insofar that it does not copy the input tilesets to the output directory, but only creates the JSON file for the merged tileset, which uses relative paths to refer to the input tilesets. A common use case for this is to create a tileset JSON file in a certain directory, with the input tilesets being located in subdirectories.
Example:
npx 3d-tiles-tools mergeJson -i ./example/TilesetA/tileset.json -i ./example/TilesetB/tileset.json -o ./example/mergedTileset.jsonupgrade
Upgrade a tileset to the latest 3D Tiles version.
npx 3d-tiles-tools upgrade -i ./specs/data/TilesetOfTilesets/tileset.json -o ./output/upgradedAdditional command line options:
| Flag | Description | Required |
|---|---|---|
--targetVersion |
The target version to upgrade to. May be 1.0 or 1.1. |
No. Default: 1.0 |
--options |
All arguments past this flag are consumed by gltf-pipeline. | No |
By default, this will upgrade legacy tilesets to comply to the 3D Tiles 1.0 specification.
These upgrades include:
- The asset version will be set to
'1.0'. - Tile content that uses a
urlwill be upgraded to useuri. - The
refinevalue will be converted to be in all-uppercase. - glTF 1.0 models in B3DM or I3DM will be upgraded to glTF 2.0.
Implementation note:
Internally, the conversion of glTF 1.0 assets into glTF 2.0 assets is performed by processing the GLB data with
gltf-pipeline. This will include the attempt to convert materials that are given with theKHR_technique_webglextension into PBR materials. Options that are given after the--optionsparameter are passed togltf-pipeline. These options may include the names of uniform variables that should indicate whether a certain texture is used as the "base color" texture of a PRB material. For example, when a tileset contains B3DM or I3DM data that contains GLB with theKHR_technique_webglextension where the uniform namesu_diff_texandu_diffuseindicate that a texture should be a base color texture, then the command linenpx 3d-tiles-tools upgrade -i ./input/tileset.json -o ./output/tileset.json --options --baseColorTextureNames u_diff_tex --baseColorTextureNames u_diffusecan be used.
When --targetVersion 1.1 is given, then this will upgrade legacy tilesets to comply to the 3D Tiles 1.1 specification, including an attempt to convert PNTS, B3DM, and I3DM tile content into glTF assets. The upgrades then include:
- The asset version will be set to
'1.1'. - Tile content that uses a
urlwill be upgraded to useuri. - The
refinevalue will be converted to be in all-uppercase. - glTF 1.0 models in B3DM or I3DM will be upgraded to glTF 2.0.
- The
3DTILES_content_gltfextension declaration will be removed. - PNTS, B3DM, I3DM, and CMPT content will be converted to glTF.
Implementation note:
The conversion of the legacy tile formats to glTF should be considered as a preview feature. There are corner cases where the conversion is not possible generically - for example, when I3DM tile content contains glTF data that contains animations, or when a CMPT (indirectly) contains multiple glTF assets that already use the
EXT_structural_metadataextension. The conditions under which the conversion is possible may be specified more explicitly in the future.
convert
(This replaces the databaseToTileset and tilesetToDatabase commands)
Convert between tilesets and tileset package formats.
npx 3d-tiles-tools convert -i ./specs/data/TilesetOfTilesets/tileset.json -o ./output/TilesetOfTilesets.3tzAdditional command line options:
| Flag | Description | Required |
|---|---|---|
--inputTilesetJsonFileName |
The name of the input file that should be considered to be the top-level tileset JSON file | No |
The input- and output arguments for this command may be
- The name of a directory that contains a
tileset.jsonfile (or the full path to a tileset JSON file) - The name of a
.3tzfile - The name of a
.3dtilesfile
The input may also be a .zip file that contains a tileset.json file.
When the input is a .zip file or a directory that contains multiple tileset JSON files, and none of them is called tileset.json, then the --inputTilesetJsonFileName argument can be used to define the JSON file that should be considered to be the top-level tileset JSON. For example, when there is an ambiguous.zip tile that does contain two JSON files called tilesetA.json and tilesetB.json, the following command can be used to designate tilesetA.json as the top-level tileset JSON file:
npx 3d-tiles-tools convert -i ./specs/data/convert/ambiguous.zip -o ./output/ambiguous.3tz --inputTilesetJsonFileName tilesetA.jsondatabaseToTileset
Deprecated. This functionality is now offered via the convert command.
tilesetToDatabase
Deprecated. This functionality is now offered via the convert command.
Command line tools for tile content
glbToB3dm
Creates a b3dm from a glb with an empty batch table.
npx 3d-tiles-tools glbToB3dm -i ./specs/data/CesiumTexturedBox/CesiumTexturedBox.glb -o ./output/CesiumTexturedBox.b3dmglbToI3dm
Creates a i3dm from a glb with a single instance at position [0, 0, 0] and an empty batch table.
npx 3d-tiles-tools glbToI3dm -i ./specs/data/CesiumTexturedBox/CesiumTexturedBox.glb -o ./output/CesiumTexturedBox.i3dmb3dmToGlb
Extracts the glb from a b3dm.
npx 3d-tiles-tools b3dmToGlb -i ./specs/data/batchedWithBatchTableBinary.b3dm -o ./output/extracted.glbi3dmToGlb
Extracts the glb from a i3dm.
npx 3d-tiles-tools i3dmToGlb -i ./specs/data/instancedWithBatchTableBinary.i3dm -o ./output/extracted.glbcmptToGlb
Extracts the glb models from a cmpt tile. If multiple models are found a number will be appended to the output file name.
npx 3d-tiles-tools cmptToGlb -i ./specs/data/composite.cmpt -o ./output/extracted.glbsplitCmpt
Split a cmpt tile into its inner tiles. The output file name for each inner tile will be determined by appending a number to the given output file name, and an extension that depends on the type of the inner tile data.
npx 3d-tiles-tools splitCmpt -i ./specs/data/compositeOfComposite.cmpt -o ./output/inner --recursiveFor an input file compositeOfComposite.cmpt that contains a composite tile that contains one B3DM and one I3DM content, this will generate the files inner_0.b3dm and inner_1.i3dm in the output directory.
Additional command line options:
| Flag | Description | Required |
|---|---|---|
--recursive |
Whether the split operation should be applied to inner tiles that are composite | No, default: false |
convertB3dmToGlb
Convert a b3dm file into a glTF asset that uses glTF extensions to represent the batch- and feature table information.
npx 3d-tiles-tools convertB3dmToGlb -i ./data/example.b3dm -o ./data/example.glbconvertPntsToGlb
Convert a pnts file into a glTF asset that uses glTF extensions to represent the point properties and batch- and feature table information.
npx 3d-tiles-tools convertPntsToGlb -i ./data/example.pnts -o ./data/example.glbconvertI3dmToGlb
Convert an i3dm file into a glTF asset that uses glTF extensions to represent the batch- and feature table information. This conversion may be lossy if the GLB of the input i3dm contains animations.
npx 3d-tiles-tools convertI3dmToGlb -i ./data/example.i3dm -o ./data/example.glboptimizeB3dm
Optimize a b3dm using gltf-pipeline.
npx 3d-tiles-tools optimizeB3dm -i ./specs/data/batchedWithBatchTableBinary.b3dm -o ./output/optimized.b3dmAdditional command line options:
| Flag | Description | Required |
|---|---|---|
--options |
All arguments past this flag are consumed by gltf-pipeline. | No |
Examples:
To use Draco compression, pass the draco flags
npx 3d-tiles-tools optimizeB3dm -i ./specs/data/Textured/batchedTextured.b3dm -o ./output/optimized.b3dm --options --draco.compressMeshes --draco.compressionLevel=9This example optimizes the b3dm and compresses the meshes using Draco, with a high compression level.
optimizeI3dm
Optimize an i3dm using gltf-pipeline.
npx 3d-tiles-tools optimizeI3dm -i ./specs/data/instancedWithBatchTableBinary.i3dm -o ./output/optimized.i3dmSee optimizeB3dm for further examples.
updateAlignment
Update a B3DM, I3DM, PNTS or CMPT file to ensure that the alignment requirements for the batch- and feature tables and the tile data as a whole are met. For CMPT tile data, the data of inner tiles will be updated recursively.
npx 3d-tiles-tools updateAlignment -i ./specs/data/updateAlignment/testComposite.cmpt -o ./output/testCompositeFixed.cmptanalyze
Analyze the input file, and write the results to the output directory.
npx 3d-tiles-tools analyze -i ./specs/data/batchedWithBatchTableBinary.b3dm -o ./output/analyzed/This will accept B3DM, I3DM, PNTS, CMPT, and GLB files (both for glTF 1.0 and for glTF 2.0), and write files into the output directory that contain the feature table, batch table, layout information, the GLB, and the JSON of the GLB. This is primarily intended for debugging and analyzing tile data. Therefore, the exact naming and content of the generated output files are not specified.
createTilesetJson
Create a tileset JSON file from a given set of tile content files.
Additional command line options:
| Flag | Description | Required |
|---|---|---|
--cartographicPositionDegrees |
An array of either two or three values, which are the (longitude, latitude) or (longitude, latitude, height) of the target position. The longitude and latitude are given in degrees, and the height is given in meters. | No |
If the input is a single file, then this will result in a single (root) tile with the input file as its tile content. If the input is a directory, then all content files in this directory will be used as tile content, recursively. The exact set of file types that are considered to be 'tile content' is not specified, but it will include GLB, B3DM, PNTS, I3DM, and CMPT files.
Examples:
npx 3d-tiles-tools createTilesetJson -i ./input/ -o ./output/tileset.json --cartographicPositionDegrees -75.152 39.94 10This creates the specified tileset JSON file, which will refer to all tile content files in the given input directory as its tile contents. The root node of the tileset will have a transform that will place it at the given cartographic position.
Pipeline
Execute a sequence of operations that are described in a JSON file.
Note: The pipeline execution feature is preliminary. Many aspects of the pipeline definition, including the JSON representation and the exact set of operations that are supported as parts of pipelines may change in future releases.
The basic structure of a pipeline JSON file is summarized here:
- A pipeline has an
inputandoutput, which are the names of a tileset directory or package - A pipeline has an array of 'tileset stages'
- A tileset stage has a
nameand adescription - A tileset stage can carry information about the content types that it is applied to
- A tileset stage has an array of 'content stages'
- A content stage has a
nameand adescription
A simple example pipline may therefore look like this:
{
"input": "./specs/data/TilesetOfTilesetsWithUris",
"output": "./output/TilesetOfTilesetsWithUris.3tz",
"tilesetStages": [
{
"name": "_b3dmToGlb",
"description": "Convert B3DM to GLB",
"contentStages": [
{
"name": "b3dmToGlb",
"description": "Convert each B3DM content into GLB"
}
]
}
]
}The name of a tileset- or content stage can refer to a predefined set of operations that can be executed. If a name is not one of the known operations, it should start with an _ underscore.
The description of a tileset- or content stage is intended as a human-readable summary, to be shown as log output.
The predefined operations largely correspond to the command-line functionality.
The known tileset stages are:
- Modification:
upgrade: Upgrade the input tileset to the latest version. Details about what that means are omitted here.combine: Combine all external tilesets of the input tileset, to create a single tileset
- Compression:
gzip: Apply GZIP compression to all files (with optional filters)ungzip: Uncompress all files that are compressed with GZIP
The known content stages are:
- Conversion:
glbToB3dm: Convert all GLB tile contents into B3DMglbToI3dm: Convert all GLB tile contents into I3DM (with the GLB being the only instance)b3dmToGlb: Convert all B3DM tile contents into GLB (assuming that the B3DM is only a wrapper around GLB)i3dmToGlb: Convert all I3DM tile contents into GLB (assuming that the I3DM is only a wrapper around GLB)separateGltf: Convert all GLB tile contents into.gltffiles with external resources
Optimization:
These operations receive an
optionsobject, which is an untyped object carrying the options that are passed togltf-pipelinefor the optimization.optimizeGlb: Optimize GLB tile content, usinggltf-pipelineoptimizeB3dm: Optimize the GLB payload of a B3DM tile content, usinggltf-pipelineoptimizeI3dm: Optimize the GLB payload of a I3DM tile content, usinggltf-pipeline
An example of a pipeline that combines a sequence of multiple operations is shown in examplePipeline.json.
Developer Setup
When the tools are not installed as a package from NPM, but supposed to be used directly in a cloned repository, then the command line usage is as follows:
- Clone the repository into the current directory:
git clone https://github.com/CesiumGS/3d-tiles-tools - Change into the directory of the cloned repository:
cd 3d-tiles-tools - Install the tools and all dependencies:
npm install
After this, the tools can be executed using the same command line options as described above - for example:
npx ts-node .\src\cli\main.ts gzip -i ./specs/data/TilesetOfTilesets/ -o ./output/TilesetOfTilesets-gzipped/See the implementation notes for details about the project structure.