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Import of 3D Tiles

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vvoovv edited this page Nov 3, 2025 · 19 revisions
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This section describes how to import 3D Tiles from providers other than Google.
The import process for Google 3D Cities in the 3D Tiles format is described here.

Introduction

Blosm supports importing 3D city models in the open 3D Tiles format, which is widely used for streaming large-scale 3D environments. Some municipalities and regional authorities publish their own open 3D Tiles datasets. A curated list of publicly available 3D Tiles datasets can be found in the table here. You’ll need a URL from the last column (Root URL) to perform an import.

Warning

Please be cautious when importing large areas or using a small value for the Geometric error parameter (see below). Doing so may result in:

  • Extremely long download and import times for your selected area.
  • An excessively large number of triangles in the resulting mesh.

For best results, start with a small area (for example, 1×1 km) and the default value (30) of the parameter Geometric error.

Basic Usage

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  • The addon panel is located under the Blosm tab in the right-side panel of Blender’s 3D View. You can toggle it using the N key.
  • Set the value of the drop-down list to 3D Tiles.
  • Set the Source property to Custom.
  • Press the select button to choose the map extent for your area of interest. A browser window will open with a special map page. Follow the on-screen instructions. Ensure that the selected area lies within the boundaries of the data set specified later via the root URL. At the end of this step, a string of coordinates will be copied to your clipboard. Return to Blender.
  • Press the paste button to paste your selected area coordinates.
  • Paste the root URL into the field . The root URL is listed in the last column (Root URL) of the dataset table.
  • Adjust the desired level of detail using the Geometric error parameter . Read the warning above first. The smaller the geometric error, the more detailed the imported scene will be. Start with the default value (30), then try halving it for higher detail. Note that different 3D Tiles datasets use different geometric error scales, so some experimentation may be needed.
  • Set Viewport Shading to Material Preview or Rendered to view textured scenes. This option is located at the top of Blender’s 3D View, as shown in the screenshot.
  • Press the import button to start downloading and importing the 3D Tiles.
  • Enjoy your imported photorealistic scene!

Import Settings

Join 3D Tiles objects
If enabled, all imported 3D Tiles are merged into a single Blender object, and duplicate vertices are removed. If disabled, each 3D Tile remains a separate Blender object.

Relative to initial import
If enabled, the current import is positioned relative to the first import performed with Blosm (rather than Blender’s world origin). If disabled, previous imports are ignored, and the new import is positioned relative to Blender’s zero point.

Export and Custom Materials

Important. It is strongly recommended to use the latest version of Blender. Older versions (before 4.3.2) contained a bug affecting texture unpacking.

Materials applied to imported 3D Tiles cannot be exported directly. You can automatically replace these materials with export-ready ones:

  • Select the Blender objects containing 3D Tiles. The Tools section will appear at the bottom of the 3D Tiles panel.
  • Click the Replace Materials button to generate export-ready materials for the selected objects.

Before exporting, perform two additional steps:

  • Save your Blender file containing the imported 3D Tiles.

  • Unpack all texture images via:
    Main menu → File → External Data → Unpack Resources.
    In the popup window, choose Use files in current directory (create when necessary):

The textures will be saved to a textures folder next to your Blender file.
Finally, export your scene to a file located next to your Blender file.

It is also possible to replace materials with your own custom ones:

  • In the Tools panel, select the custom option.

  • Choose your custom material in the Material property.

  • Press Replace Materials.

Your custom material must include an Image Texture node labeled BASE COLOR (case-sensitive).
The texture from the original material will automatically be linked to this node.

Baking into a Single Texture (only in the Pro version)

A typical 3D Tiles import creates many separate textures. Blosm provides a convenient one-click feature to bake all these textures into a single image. This functionality is available only in the Pro version.

Because baking can take some time, it’s recommended to perform it in a separate instance of Blender.

Select one or more Blender objects created during the 3D Tiles import. The baking options will appear in the Tools section at the bottom of the 3D Tiles panel.

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Set the desired texture size.

Keep the option “Replace active” disabled if you don’t want to replace the currently active Blender object with the baked result.

Click the Bake button. Depending on your scene complexity and the chosen texture size, the process may take a while. A confirmation message will appear once baking is complete.

The baked texture is stored directly in your Blender file.

No additional steps are needed when exporting to glTF.

However, for exports to FBX or OBJ formats, the baked texture image must be saved to disk:

  • Save your Blender file that contains the imported 3D Tiles.
  • Open the Image Editor in Blender.
  • In the top bar, find the baked texture in the image list. Its name starts with the active object’s name and ends with either Bake Emit or Bake Diffuse. For example, if the active object is named 3D Tiles, the baked image will be named 3D Tiles Bake Emit or 3D Tiles Bake Diffuse.
  • Press Shift + Alt + S to open the save dialog. Make sure Relative Path is checked, then save the image next to your Blender file.

After that, your Blender object with the baked texture can be safely exported. It’s recommended to export it next to your Blender file and the baked texture file.

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