Rhinoceros to cesium

[AndreasK]

Hello world,

I am only a beginner, so please forgive me if this question is trivial.
I have a question about adding a cad model as an asset to Cesium Ion.

If I have a georeferenced 3D-model in Rhinoceros3D, in a known coordinate system (EPSG:25832, UTM 32).

I want to import that 3D model into cesium as an asset, and to get the geolocation right.

How can I get the placement of the 3D model correct in cesium?
Does anyone know which format is best to use when exporting from Rhino?

Looking forward to learn from someone that knows better than me.

Best regards,
Andreas K

[sam.vargas]

Hi,

Cesium Ion is geo-referencing aware and should support this automatically. If the detection fails or your source is not georeferenced you can manually adjust the location of the asset in Cesium ion.

[KensukeNakata]

Hi @AndreasK

I know this is an older thread, but I’ve been exploring this workflow from the Rhino side and thought I’d share one approach that may still be useful for others finding this discussion.

I’ve been using Heron in Grasshopper to establish the geographic reference in Rhino, and then exporting the georeferenced model as KMZ for upload to Cesium ion.My current workflow is roughly:

Rhino → Heron / GIS → WGS84 (EPSG:4326) → KMZ → Cesium ion

This allows the model to be positioned geographically before it is brought into Cesium, rather than positioning it manually afterwards. One thing to note is that the height may still need to be adjusted manually in Cesium ion, depending on the elevation reference and the source data. In my workflow, I use the geographic reference primarily to establish the horizontal position, and then check and adjust the vertical placement in Cesium ion as necessary.The image below shows an example of the same model in Rhino and after being placed in its real-world 3D context in Cesium ion.

I’ve shared more about this Rhino → Cesium workflow here:
Rhino Models in Cesium

Rhino Models in Cesium

Hi everyone, I’ve been exploring how 3D models created in Rhino can be connected with GIS and brought into a broader geospatial context through Cesium. [rhino-gh-heron-cesium] In this workflow, I use Heron, a Grasshopper plugin for working with GIS data in Rhino, to establish the geographic reference in WGS84 (EPSG:4326). The georeferenced Rhino model is then exported as a KMZ file and uploaded to Cesium ion, where it can be visualised and shared within its real-world geographic context. Wh…

Cesium ion is also currently testing direct Rhino (.3dm) support through Early Access, so it will be useful to see how georeferencing and placement are handled in that workflow compared with the KMZ approach.