three-gpx-loader

Load .gpx files as Three.js geometry.

three-gpx-loader can:

• Parse .gpx files & convert to vertices with x, y, and z coordinates...
  • ...as though the map is a plane.
  • ...as though the map is a sphere.
• Normalize or center the coordinates around the origin.

Install

$ npm install --save three-gpx-loader

Usage

let Three = require( "three" );
// You can name it "THREE" instead of "Three" if you want, but it's just another
// module and therefore it has no business having an all-capital name.

let GPXLoader = require( "three-gpx-loader" )( Three );

let scene = new Three.Scene();
let loader = new Three.GPXLoader();
let path = "../input/gpx/col-du-galibier.gpx";
let onError = function( err ) {
	console.log( err );
}
let onLoad = function( result ) {
	let material = new Three.LineBasicMaterial({ color: 0xffff00 });
	let line = new Three.Line( result, material );
	scene.add( line );
}

loader.load( path, onError, onLoad );

FAQ

Q: Why?

A: To use within my GPX -> OBJ converter (CLI & GUI).

Q: How does the loader "flatten" the GPX coordinates?

A: Z-axis (changable in the future) is used for elevation so the elevation coordinates in meters are directly copied to the z value of each vertex. For x and y, the first point is considered to be at 0,0. Each point after that is computed to be a certain distance and a certain bearing from the last point. This distance in that direction is added to the last point to find the coordinates of the next point. In code this looks like:

let vertices = [ new Three.Vector3( 0, 0, points[ 0 ].ele ) ];
let d, b; // d = distance, b = bearing

for ( let i = 0; i < points.length; i++ ) {

	// If there is a next point...
	if ( points[ i + 1 ] ) {

		// Compute distance and bearing between the current and next point:
		d = getDistance( points[ i ], points[ i + 1 ] );
		b = getBearing( points[ i ], points[ i + 1 ] );

		// Using the results, push a new vertex to the vertices array:
		vertices.push( new Three.Vector3(
			vertices[ i ].x - d * ( Math.cos( b )),
			vertices[ i ].y + d * ( Math.sin( b )),
			points[ i + 1 ].ele
		));
	}

In the future, it should be possible as well to place coordinates in a sphere of a given radius, for the purpose of displaying them on a 3D globe, although this was exactly the opposite of my intention when originally creating it (creating maps for racing games).

License

MIT

© 2018, Ian Paschal.