three.js and CAD Assistant

In today's world, 3D modeling is becoming increasingly essential in the design and manufacturing industries. 3D models help designers visualize their products and designs before production, reducing the cost and time required for physical prototyping. Computer-aided design (CAD) software is the primary tool used for 3D modeling, and the ability to convert CAD models to the web-friendly GLB format can be incredibly valuable. In this blog post, we will explore how to use CAD Assistant to convert CAD files to GLB files and then display them using three.js.

CAD Assistant is a free tool that allows users to convert CAD files to a variety of formats, including GLB. GLB is a binary format that is ideal for displaying 3D models on the web since it contains all the necessary information for rendering a 3D model in a single file. To get started, we need to convert our CAD file to a GLB file using CAD Assistant.

First, we can download and install CAD Assistant from the developer's website. Once installed, we can open the application and select "Import" from the file menu to import our CAD file. CAD Assistant supports a wide range of file formats, including STEP, IGES, and STL.

After importing the CAD file, we can select "Export" from the file menu and choose "GLTF/GLB" as the export format. We can then choose the desired export settings, such as the scale and rotation of the model. Finally, we can click "Export" to generate a GLB file.

Now that we have our GLB file, we can use three.js to display the 3D model in a web browser. three.js is a powerful JavaScript library that enables developers to create 3D visualizations and animations on the web. To display our GLB file using three.js, we can use the useGLTF to load the file into our scene:

import { useGLTF } from '@react-three/drei';

function MyModel() {
  const { nodes, materials } = useGLTF('/path/to/model.glb');

  return (
    <group>
      <mesh geometry={nodes.mesh_0.geometry} material={materials.material_0} />
    </group>
  );
}

function App() {
  return (
    <Canvas>
      <Suspense fallback={<div>Loading...</div>}>
        <MyModel />
      </Suspense>
    </Canvas>
  );
}

This code defines a React component called "MyModel" that loads a GLB file using the UseGLTF Loader from React Three Fiber. The "useGLTF" hook takes the path to the GLB file as a parameter and returns an object that contains the loaded nodes and materials.

In this example, we're only using one node and one material, so we can access them directly using the "nodes" and "materials" properties of the returned object. We then use these properties to create a "mesh" component that renders the geometry with the material.

Note that the UseGLTF Loader automatically handles the asynchronous loading of the GLB file, so there's no need to worry about loading the file manually. Also, make sure to wrap your component in a Suspense component to handle any loading errors or delays.

In conclusion, CAD Assistant is a powerful tool for converting CAD files to the GLB format, which is ideal for displaying 3D models on the web. With ThreeJS, we can easily load and manipulate GLB files to create interactive 3D visualizations and animations. The ability to convert CAD files to GLB format opens up new possibilities for displaying 3D models on the web, making it easier than ever to visualize and share designs and products.