Three.js PLY file format loader to use with Node.js

Description

Node.js wrapper for three.js PLYLoader (currently three.js v0.137.0).

Original PLYLoader source code can be found here.

Beside some minor edits, I added an additional helper function for converting Node Buffer to ArrayBuffer (convenience-wise) and I put in place tests.

This library was developed as a JavaScript Module. The recommended use with CommonJS files is through dynamic imports.

Usage

const fs = require("fs");
const { join } = require("path");
const THREE = require("three");

(async () => {
  // Import PLYLoader Factory
  const { PLYLoaderFactory } = await import("threejs-ply-loader");

  // Initialize PLYLoader Class
  const PLYLoader = PLYLoaderFactory(THREE);

  // Instantiate PLYLoader object
  const plyLoader = new PLYLoader();

  // Read 3D Model as PLY file format
  const sourceFilepath = join(__dirname, "assets/cube.ply");
  const fileBuffer = fs.readFileSync(sourceFilepath);

  // Convert node file Buffer to ArrayBuffer
  const fileArrayBuffer = plyLoader.bufferToArrayBuffer(fileBuffer);

  // Parse 3D model into THREE geometry
  const geometry = plyLoader.parse(fileArrayBuffer);
})();

Example

An example is present in the examples folder. It will load a PLY file model and output its rendering to a PNG file. It can be run from a shell:

npm install
npm run example:cube-to-png

The output image is going to located in examples/temp/vertex-colored-cube.png

Tests

They can be run from a shell:

npm install
npm test

Development notes

Developed with Node v16.13.2