Uploading Data to Cesium ion
For a quick start on getting your data into Cesium ion, start with one of these guides:
- Photogrammetry or LiDAR-derived mesh
- BIM, CAD, or other 3D model
- Point Clouds
- 3D Buildings
- Terrain
- Satellite or Drone Imagery
If you’re looking for more in-depth information about the types of assets Cesium ion serves, supported file formats, and how to upload your data, read on below.
Data pipeline
- When you upload data to Cesium ion, it is tiled into 3D Tiles for 3D content, or WMTS/TMS for imagery.
- Vector files (KML, GeoJSON, or CZML) and small glTF files can be served as-is.
- The upload options you choose determine which asset type is created. Cesium ion optimizes each asset type for typical usage in 3D geospatial applications.
- Data can be uploaded through the REST API to automate your pipeline.
- Similarly, the tiled data can be viewed in clients like CesiumJS that have built-in support for Cesium ion, or accessed directly through the REST API.
Cesium ion asset types
Cesium ion accepts a variety data formats and serves them as one of five types of assets:
| 3D Tiles | An open specification for streaming massive heterogeneous 3D geospatial datasets. Check out Introducing 3D Tiles to learn more. |
| Imagery | TMS and WMTS layers created from raster imagery. |
| Terrain | A quantized-mesh tileset created from raster terrain. |
| glTF | A binary glTF model. |
| Native | The data is not processed by the tiling pipeline and is hosted in the same format it was uploaded as. |
Supported data formats
The following table lists accepted data formats and their corresponding asset types:
| Format | 3D Tiles | Terrain | Imagery | glTF | Native |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zip Archive (.zip) | |||||
| glTF (.gltf, .glb) | |||||
| Filmbox (.fbx) | |||||
| CityGML (.citygml, .xml, .gml) | |||||
| CZML (.czml) | |||||
| GeoJSON (.json, .geojson, .topojson) | |||||
| KML (.kml, .kmz) | |||||
| LASer (.las, .laz) | |||||
| COLLADA (.dae) | |||||
| Wavefront OBJ (.obj) | |||||
| Floating Point Raster (.flt) | |||||
| Arc/Info ASCII Grid (.asc) | |||||
| Source Map (.src) | |||||
| GeoTIFF (.tiff, .tif) | |||||
| Erdas Imagine (.img) | |||||
| USGS ASCII DEM and CDED (.dem) | |||||
| JPEG (.jpg, .jpeg) | |||||
| PNG (.png) | |||||
| Cesium Terrain Database (.terraindb) |
While not listed in the above table, raster sidecar files (.aux.xml, .tab, .tfw, .wld, .prj, .ovr, .rrd, etc.) and model textures, (.jpg, .png, .bmp, .tga, .dds, etc.) are also supported. When in doubt, upload any additional files that came with your data.
We’re always adding support for more types of data. If you have a format you’d like us to support, let us know on the forum!
Upload instructions
- In Cesium ion on the My Assets tab, choose Add data.
- Select one or more files and push Open.
- You can continue to add more files, and they will all be uploaded using the same pipeline options.
- If you add multiple models at the same time, they will be merged into a single asset.
- Set the upload options using the information in the table below.
- After upload, if required, you can edit your data’s position, orientation, and scale using the location editor.
| Source data | "Kind of data" option to select | Resulting asset type | Upload options |
|---|---|---|---|
| Photogrammetry or LiDAR-derived mesh | 3D Capture | 3D Tiles |
Can be used with the location editor. |
| Point clouds | Point Cloud | 3D Tiles |
Can be used with the location editor. |
| 3D buildings (KML/COLLADA) | KML/COLLADA (tile as 3D Tiles) | 3D Tiles |
|
| 3D buildings (CityGML) | CityGML | 3D Tile |
|
| BIM, CAD, or generic 3D models | 3D Model (tile as 3D Tiles) | 3D Tiles |
Can be used with the location editor. |
Simple 3D models
|
3D Model (convert to glTF) | glTF |
|
| Imagery (maps) | Raster Imagery | Imagery (TMS and WMTS) | |
| Terrain (heightmaps) | Raster Terrain | Terrain (quantized-mesh) |
|
| Any data already in 3D Tiles | 3D Tiles | 3D Tiles | |
| KML, CZML, or GeoJSON | KML, CZML, or GeoJSON (host without tiling) | Native |
Have a question?
The Cesium community forum is the fastest way to get an answer from the Cesium team.