Tiling Photogrammetry Models
Cesium ion allows you to tile large photogrammetry or LiDAR-derived meshes into 3D Tiles — so you can share them on the web without simplifying them. This guide explains how.
If you have other 3D models like BIM/CAD, see the 3D models upload guide.
Photogrammetry of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, PA, visualized in CesiumJS.
You need a Cesium ion account to take this tutorial.
Cesium ion is an open platform for tiling and hosting. It will serve your photogrammetry as 3D Tiles to any compatible client, like CesiumJS.
| Format | File extensions |
|---|---|
| Wavefront OBJ | .obj |
| Filmbox | .fbx |
| Digital Asset Exchange | .dae |
| glTF | .gltf |
| Binary glTF | .glb |
- Files may be zipped.
- Your model must use local coordinates (the geometry must be centered around the origin).
- Units are assumed to be in meters.
Cesium ion tiles your model into 3D Tiles when you upload it. Here’s a sample photogrammetry model you can download to try this out.
- On the My Assets tab of Cesium ion, press Add Data to upload your model.
- Select 3D Capture.
Add multiple models at the same time to merge them into a single 3D Tileset.
You’ll find a code example for adding this asset to your CesiumJS app at the bottom of the asset preview window.
Learn how to set up a CesiumJS app with the quickstart guide.
If your model is not georeferenced, there are a couple ways you can place it at the right location on the globe.
- To geolocate by hand, click on the Adjust Tileset Location link above the asset preview in My Assets. See the location editor guide for more details.
- Automatically place your model at a precise location using the REST API.
- If the software from which you’re exporting your model has a Cesium ion integration, it will automatically place it at the correct location. See the list of Cesium ion integrations.
- If your model geometry is in a geographic coordinate system, you’ll need to reproject it to a local reference frame before uploading.
- 3D Tiles allows you to stream massive models to any device by only loading in higher levels of detail when you zoom in.
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