How to load glTF in the PlayCanvas Editor

Hi all,

just would like to know if there are any news regarding using glb files in editor ?

And more, just would like to understand complete Draco compressed workflow for now in Playcanvas. We are using large meshes for our projects and for sure the json format cannot be the way to work due to the file weight… but the question now is : how can we work with artists in editor and use at the end draco compressed files ? Our artists are editing scenes based on fbx models so how can we apply transformations and so on if we don’t work directly with glb files ?

Hi @Pouli,

At the moment we have FBX -> JSON workflow for models in the Editor. JSON files are large and slow, and so we’ve implemented FBX->GLB workflow in Editor - so the FBX file gets converted to GLB file, which allows faster loading, but otherwise it looks exactly the same - you do not see the hierarchy of your FBX file inside Editor. This is in the final stages of testing and should be released within couple of weeks.

What we’re addressing now is the lack of hierarchy from these files in the Editor. And so we’re going to expand FBX->GLB pipeline to FBX->GLB+template pipeline. This would give you meshes / textures in GLB format for good performance, but it would also create a template file which represents the hierarchy from FBX file. You can then drag & drop it to the scene and have the hierarchy, which you can add additional components on, attach weapons to hands and similar. The work on this has just started, so it will take few months most likely till this is released.

In the future after this is done, we’d also like to enable you to add GLB file into the Editor directly, but details of this are still being discussed and few decisions still need to be investigated and made.

Regarding Draco compression - we have runtime support to load draco compressed GLB files, but have not implemented draco compression to take place as part of FBX->GLB conversion. That’s something we’d like to address in the future.

So current solutions for you specifically:

  • soon you will be able to use FBX->GLB pipeline in Editor
  • if you need Draco compression, you can create these files in external tools, but then you’re limited to using them in engine only
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Hi, just wanna know if this feature has been finished yet ?

It appears to be. New projects will default to GLB conversion upon FBX import. Older projects will require that you go to Settings/Asset Tasks and enable “Convert to GLB”.

These two features are still in progress.

If you just want to load a GLB binary and don’t mind not seeing it in the editor, that is doable now.

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In the future after this is done, we’d also like to enable you to add GLB file into the Editor directly, but details of this are still being discussed and few decisions still need to be investigated and made

Is there any progress on this feature? I’m having tons of glb assets and would like to use them in the editor.

I’m afraid the work hasn’t been started yet. The workaround is to process the GLBs at runtime. Example: https://developer.playcanvas.com/en/tutorials/loading-gltf-glbs/

Hi, any news on importing GLB files in the editor?

The work has still not started, and is not likely to be done by the end of this year.

Hi,

Ah, too bad but thanks for the update!

Björn

Sorry, any progress on seeing GLBs in editor? Thanks!

I’m sorry, no unfortunately.

Please follow this ticket for updates Are there any plans to support glb files in the PlayCanvas editor? · Issue #485 · playcanvas/editor · GitHub

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