Convert legacy three.js (JSON) files to glTF 2.0

README.md

legacythree2gltf.js

Converts legacy JSON models (created by the three.js Blender exporter, for THREE.JSONLoader) to glTF 2.0. When original .blend files are available, prefer direct export from Blender 2.80+.

NOTE: JSON files created with .toJSON() use a newer JSON format, which isn't deprecated, and these are still supported by THREE.ObjectLoader. This converter does not support that newer type of JSON file.

Installation:

npm install canvas vblob three

Usage:

./legacythree2gltf.js model.json --optimize

Known issues:

• Creates .gltf files with embedded Data URIs. Optimize to .glb using glTF-Pipeline to reduce file size.
• Limited support for morph targets (mrdoob/three.js#15011)

legacythree2gltf.js

#!/usr/bin/env node

const fs = require( 'fs' );
const path = require( 'path' );
const Canvas = require( 'canvas' );
const { Blob, FileReader } = require( 'vblob' );
THREE = global.THREE = require( 'three' );
require( 'three/examples/js/loaders/deprecated/LegacyJSONLoader.js' );
require( 'three/examples/js/exporters/GLTFExporter.js' );
require( 'three/examples/js/utils/BufferGeometryUtils.js' );

if ( process.argv.length <= 2 ) {

	console.log( `Usage: ${path.basename( __filename )} model.json [ --optimize ]` );
	process.exit( - 1 );

}

var file = process.argv[ 2 ];
var optimize = process.argv.indexOf( '--optimize' ) > 0;
var resourceDirectory = THREE.LoaderUtils.extractUrlBase( file );

//

// Patch global scope to imitate browser environment.
global.window = global;
global.Blob = Blob;
global.FileReader = FileReader;
global.THREE = THREE;
global.document = {
	createElement: ( nodeName ) => {

		if ( nodeName !== 'canvas' ) throw new Error( `Cannot create node ${nodeName}` );

		const canvas = new Canvas( 256, 256 );
		// This isn't working — currently need to avoid toBlob(), so export to embedded .gltf not .glb.
		// canvas.toBlob = function () {
		//   return new Blob([this.toBuffer()]);
		// };
		return canvas;

	}
};

//

// Load legacy JSON file and construct a mesh.

var jsonContent = fs.readFileSync( file, 'utf8' );
var loader = new THREE.LegacyJSONLoader();
var { geometry, materials } = loader.parse( JSON.parse( jsonContent ), resourceDirectory );

var mesh;
var boneDefs = geometry.bones || [];
var animations = geometry.animations || [];
var hasVertexColors = geometry.colors.length > 0;

geometry = new THREE.BufferGeometry().fromGeometry( geometry );

// Remove unnecessary vertex colors and groups added during BufferGeometry conversion.
if ( ! hasVertexColors ) geometry.removeAttribute( 'color' );
if ( geometry.groups.length === 1 ) geometry.clearGroups();

if ( ! materials ) {

	materials = new THREE.MeshStandardMaterial( { color: 0x888888, roughness: 1, metalness: 0 } );

}

if ( optimize ) {

	geometry = THREE.BufferGeometryUtils.mergeVertices( geometry );

}

if ( boneDefs.length ) {

	var { roots, bones } = initBones( boneDefs );
	mesh = new THREE.SkinnedMesh( geometry, materials );
	roots.forEach( ( bone ) => mesh.add( bone ) );
	mesh.updateMatrixWorld( true );
	mesh.bind( new THREE.Skeleton( bones ), mesh.matrixWorld );
	mesh.normalizeSkinWeights();

} else {

	mesh = new THREE.Mesh( geometry, materials );

}

//

// Export to glTF.
var exporter = new THREE.GLTFExporter();
exporter.parse( mesh, ( json ) => {

	var content = JSON.stringify( json );
	fs.writeFileSync( path.basename( file, '.json' ) + '.gltf', content, 'utf8' );

}, { binary: false, animations } );

//

/** Previously SkinnedMesh.initBones(). */
function initBones( boneDefs ) {

	var bones = [], bone, gbone;
	var i, il;

	// first, create array of 'Bone' objects from geometry data

	for ( i = 0, il = boneDefs.length; i < il; i ++ ) {

		gbone = boneDefs[ i ];

		// create new 'Bone' object

		bone = new THREE.Bone();
		bones.push( bone );

		// apply values

		bone.name = gbone.name;
		bone.position.fromArray( gbone.pos );
		bone.quaternion.fromArray( gbone.rotq );
		if ( gbone.scl !== undefined ) bone.scale.fromArray( gbone.scl );

	}

	// second, create bone hierarchy
	var roots = [];

	for ( i = 0, il = boneDefs.length; i < il; i ++ ) {

		gbone = boneDefs[ i ];

		if ( ( gbone.parent !== - 1 ) && ( gbone.parent !== null ) && ( bones[ gbone.parent ] !== undefined ) ) {

			// subsequent bones in the hierarchy

			bones[ gbone.parent ].add( bones[ i ] );

		} else {

			// topmost bone, immediate child of the skinned mesh

			roots.push( bones[ i ] );

		}

	}

	return { roots, bones };

}

The last Three.js for which this script works is r110. three/examples/js/loaders/deprecated/LegacyJSONLoader.js has been removed from the subsequent releases.

npm install three@0.110.0

Hi Don,

Thanks for this useful script, which gives me the opportunity to try to convert the previous Geometry based JSON model file into a GLTF file. But when I run this script I meet some issues, could you help me?

I used your script to try to convert a Geometry format JSON model to GLTF, but I failed to convert it whenever I use the mac or Windows system. Below is my operations:

1. create a test folder
2. npm install canvas vblob three@0.110.0
3. copy the legacythree2gltf.js into test folder
4. copy my test.json file into test folder
5. In the terminal run: node legacythree2gltf.js test.json --optimize
   Is this a correct workflow?
   I also test npm install canvas vblob three@0.110.0 -g, it also doesn’t work.
   Then I also use the JSON file that I export from blender to test whether it be converted successfully or not.
   However, it always failed. When I run the script there is no response, e.g. no warning, no error, no new file created in the folder.

Could you give me an example or some advice on this problem?

Thank you

Hi @donmccurdy

I'm trying to export gltf from node server. This sample helped me with Three js version 110 but will newest version, I get error as:
code:
'ERR_PACKAGE_PATH_NOT_EXPORTED'
message:
'Package subpath './examples/js/exporters/GLTFExporter.js' is not defined by "exports" in d:\three-js-legachy\node_modules\three\package.json'
stack:
'Error [ERR_PACKAGE_PATH_NOT_EXPORTED]: Package subpath './examples/js/exporters/GLTFExporter.js' is not defined by "exports" in d:\three-js-legachy\node

Can you please advice. Thank you.