Stream massive 3D models, now with texture support

Since the initial announcement of our support for massive models we have made great progress, so it’s time for an update!

By offering dynamic mesh streaming, we can deliver massive models to your browser on demand. This lets you explore models composed of gigabytes of 3D data—right inside your browser, on desktop or mobile. The project is a joint initiative with Iconem and CNRS, a department of the French government.

Today’s update adds ‘Level of Detail’ (LOD) support for textures. Similar to how this already worked for geometry, the improvement loads additional texture detail when the viewer moves closer to the model. Combined with upgraded support for 16K textures, this update provides the highest possible visual quality without the penalty of long loading.

Our new Quality slider controls the level of detail of the model’s texture and geometry – the default value is optimised for fast delivery of content, but you can change that as needed. Click the gear icon in the bottom-right of the viewer to access it:

We’re also in the process of switching our viewer base code to Web Assembly (WASM), a new technology that brings huge improvements to browser-based applications. Web Assembly guarantees high performance on both desktop and mobile.

You can now explore new demos of massive scenes that use our updated viewer. If you’re interested in learning more about Sketchfab support for massive models and want to help us develop this feature further, please contact our Enterprise team using the form on the demo page.

The gorgeous 3D scans that we used to demonstrate our support for massive models were provided by /terradrone /CapturingReality /skymove and /zamaniproject. Thank you!