Cesium 3D Tiles

Cesium 3D Tiles is a format developed by Cesium for use in Cesium Ion and other 3D file viewers. Global Mapper supports the export of 3d vector data to Cesium 3D Tiles.

Cesium 3D file format only supports projected coordinate systems. Use the Coordinate Reference System tab in the Configuration dialog to change this setting prior to export.

Export

To export a mesh layer, select File > Export > Export 3D Format... then choose Cesium 3D Tiles.
The layer may also be exported directly by right clicking on the layer in the Control Center and choosing Export in the Layer sub-menu.

To export a point cloud layer select File > Export >Export Vector/Lidar Format... then choose Cesium Tiles.

Select Export Directory: Select a folder to save the tileset in.

The export will contain at least two files:

• Model (.glb)
• Tileset (.json)
• Optional: Projection (.prj)
• Optional: Texture (.png)

Export Settings:

Export Z-up Model

Specify the axis orientation to use in the export. Global Mapper labels the vertical axis as Z, but in some 3D formats the vertical axis is designed as the Y-axis. Check the Export model as Z-up option to use the Z-up axis orientation. If this option is unchecked, Y-up orientation will be used.

Orientation Default

Use model type conventions - set the default orientation based on the model type.

Default to Z-up - use Z up as the default orientation.

Default to Y-up - use Z up as the default orientation.

Model Name

This name will be applied to the tileset, model, and projection files. See Embed Texture below for information on texture files.

Tiling Parameters

These options are used for splitting point clouds into tiles:

Max Vertices per Tile - This setting limits the maximum number of points to be included in each tile.

Max Depth - This setting applies a limit on the number of zoom levels included in each tile. This parameter supports a range of input values from 1 to 19.

Overwrite existing files in the same output directory

Embed Texture

Texture files aren't assigned the same "Model Name" (file name) as the other exported files. This allows multiple exports from the same data to share texture files. In cases where that file name has meaning, use the Embed Texture option to embed the texture file into the .glb instead of outputting it separately.

Generate PRJ (projection) File

Cesium 3D tiles do not natively include projection metadata. Enable this option to include the data’s projection information for use when loading the exported file in the future.

Generate HTML

Not used for most outputs.

Export Bounds

3D Mesh features do not support cropping within mesh objects during export. With a specified export bounds, mesh features inside the export bounds will be exported, uncropped. Mesh features with no part inside the export bound will not be included in the export.

To crop mesh features to a square bounding box use the Crop Vector Features tool.

For more information on the bounds specification options see Export Bounds.