Short description of the glTF format
glTF (GL Transmission Format) is a royalty-free specification for the efficient transmission and loading of 3D scenes and models by applications. The format has been developed by the Khronos Group and due to lightweight in nature, it is highly suitable for web application. The aim of the standard group is to make it a stable standard for 3D.
glTF minimizes both the size of 3D assets, and the runtime processing needed to unpack and use those assets. glTF defines an extensible, common publishing format for 3D content tools and services that streamlines authoring workflows and enables interoperable use of content across the industry.
The Role of glTF in SDDI
glTF plays an important role in the SSD project. 3DCityDB provides a Java front-end application named '3DCityDB Importer/Exporter', which allows for high performance importing and exporting the CityGML datasets with arbitrary file sizes. It also allows exporting the contents in the form of different visualization formats such as KML and glTF, allowing the 3D objects to be viewed and interactively explored in the web applications. The 3D buildings from the districts London QEOP, Paris Docks de St. Ouen, Berlin, Moabit West can be visualized according to the glTF format in the web applications.
More details about the implementations can be found here.
Format Specification
Specification documents: https://www.khronos.org/gltf
Apps & Engines Supporting glTF
glTF is supported by these and other 3D engines:
Industry Support for glTF
