render-glb

Render GLB (glTF 2.0 Binary) 3D models to PNG images using headless WebGL.

Features

• Headless rendering - no display required
• Auto-fit camera to model bounds
• Configurable output dimensions
• Cross-platform: macOS, Linux, Windows
• JSON output for scripting

Installation

npm install -g render-glb

Or use directly with bunx/npx (no install needed):

bunx render-glb model.glb output.png
npx render-glb model.glb output.png

Usage

render-glb <input.glb> <output.png> [options]

Options:
  --width N    Output image width (default: 1024)
  --height N   Output image height (default: 1024)
  --help, -h   Show help message

Auto-scaling: The camera automatically adjusts to fit any model size, from millimeter-scale parts to large assemblies.

Examples

# Basic usage
render-glb model.glb output.png

# Custom dimensions
render-glb model.glb output.png --width 1024 --height 1024

# Linux headless (no display)
xvfb-run render-glb model.glb output.png

Output

Returns JSON to stdout:

{
  "success": true,
  "input": "/path/to/model.glb",
  "output": "/path/to/output.png",
  "width": 512,
  "height": 512,
  "size_bytes": 12345,
  "render_time_ms": 150
}

Platform Notes

macOS

Works directly, no additional setup needed.

Linux (headless)

Requires xvfb for virtual framebuffer:

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt-get install xvfb libgl1-mesa-dev

# Run with xvfb-run
xvfb-run render-glb model.glb output.png

Windows

Should work directly with Node.js 18+.

Dependencies

• three.js - 3D rendering engine
• gl - Headless WebGL
• node-three-gltf - GLB loader for Node.js
• pngjs - PNG encoding
• jsdom - DOM shim for Three.js

License

MIT