Use when placing a BIM model, CAD model, IFC export, or city model into a CesiumJS globe at its real geographic location, and the model renders at the center of the Earth, sits at the wrong place, floats above or sinks below terrain, or faces the wrong direction. Prevents the identity-modelMatrix mistake (a model with no transform draws in raw ECEF coordinates), the double-transform mistake (re-placing an already-georeferenced ion tileset), the radians-versus-degrees HeadingPitchRoll mistake, and the conversion-pipeline-is-an-API mistake. Separates the official CesiumJS georeferencing API (Transforms, Matrix4, HeadingPitchRoll, modelMatrix) from the external CityGML and IFC conversion workflow. Keywords: CesiumJS AEC, georeference, georeferencing, BIM in Cesium, IFC in Cesium, CityGML, modelMatrix, Transforms.eastNorthUpToFixedFrame, headingPitchRollToFixedFrame, HeadingPitchRoll, Matrix4, ECEF, local frame, east north up, digital twin, geo-BIM, EdgeDisplayMode, CAD edges, model wrong location, model at cente
Use when placing a BIM model, CAD model, IFC export, or city model into a CesiumJS globe at its real geographic location, and the model renders at the center of the Earth, sits at the wrong place, floats above or sinks below terrain, or faces the wrong direction. Prevents the identity-modelMatrix mistake (a model with no transform draws in raw ECEF coordinates), the double-transform mistake (re-placing an already-georeferenced ion tileset), the radians-versus-degrees HeadingPitchRoll mistake, and the conversion-pipeline-is-an-API mistake. Separates the official CesiumJS georeferencing API (Transforms, Matrix4, HeadingPitchRoll, modelMatrix) from the external CityGML and IFC conversion workflow. Keywords: CesiumJS AEC, georeference, georeferencing, BIM in Cesium, IFC in Cesium, CityGML, modelMatrix, Transforms.eastNorthUpToFixedFrame, headingPitchRollToFixedFrame, HeadingPitchRoll, Matrix4, ECEF, local frame, east north up, digital twin, geo-BIM, EdgeDisplayMode, CAD edges, model wrong location, model at center of earth, BIM not georeferenced, model floating, model underground, IFC to glTF, how do I place a building on the globe, how do I georeference a model.
license
MIT
compatibility
Designed for Claude Code. Requires CesiumJS 1.124+.
metadata
{"author":"OpenAEC-Foundation","version":"1.0"}
CesiumJS AEC Georeferencing
Overview
BIM, CAD, and city models use a LOCAL engineering coordinate system: meters
from a project origin. CesiumJS renders in ECEF (Earth-Centered Earth-Fixed)
WGS84 meters. A model loaded with no transform draws near the CENTER of the
Earth, invisible from any normal camera. Georeferencing is building the
Matrix4 that maps the model's local frame to its real position on the globe
and assigning it to modelMatrix.
Core principle: the placement math (Transforms, Matrix4, HeadingPitchRoll,
modelMatrix) is official CesiumJS API. Getting CityGML or IFC INTO a loadable
format is an EXTERNAL workflow with no CesiumJS API. This skill keeps the two
strictly separate.
This skill is technology-specific: CesiumJS 1.124+, WebGL2 only.
When to Use This Skill
Placing a BIM, CAD, or city model at a real-world location.
A loaded model is invisible, or appears at the center of the Earth.
A model sits at the wrong place, or faces the wrong direction.
A model floats above or sinks below terrain.
Getting an IFC or CityGML model into CesiumJS.
Rendering CAD-style edges on a model or tileset.
Official API vs External Workflow
This separation is CRITICAL. NEVER present a file-conversion pipeline as a
CesiumJS API call.
modelMatrix is a Matrix4 on both Model and Cesium3DTileset, default
Matrix4.IDENTITY. With the identity matrix the asset is drawn in raw ECEF
WGS84 coordinates, so a CAD model built around local (0, 0, 0) lands at the
Earth's core.
ALWAYS assign a modelMatrix that maps the model's local origin to a real
Cartesian3 position on the globe.
Placing a Model at a Location
Transforms.eastNorthUpToFixedFrame(origin) returns the Matrix4 that maps a
local east-north-up frame (local +X east, +Y north, +Z up) at origin into
ECEF. Assign it to modelMatrix.
When the model must be rotated (a building not aligned to north, a tilted
element), use Transforms.headingPitchRollToFixedFrame(origin, hpr). The
HeadingPitchRoll constructor takes RADIANS; ALWAYS use
HeadingPitchRoll.fromDegrees when working in degrees.
heading rotates about the local up axis from north, pitch about the east
axis, roll about the north axis.
Placing a Tileset
Cesium3DTileset.modelMatrix works the same way and is mutable after the
tileset loads.
ALWAYS check whether the tileset is ALREADY georeferenced before assigning a
modelMatrix. A tileset produced by the ion tiler from georeferenced source
data carries its real-world transform in its root tile; its modelMatrix must
stay Matrix4.IDENTITY. Assign a modelMatrix ONLY to a tileset whose content
sits in a local CAD frame.
A glTF or BIM export whose axes do not match east-north-up needs either a
local correction matrix composed onto the ENU frame, or a custom frame
function from Transforms.localFrameToFixedFrameGenerator(firstAxis, secondAxis), where each axis is one of east, north, up, west, south,
down.
// A model authored north-west-up instead of east-north-up.const nwuToFixed = Cesium.Transforms.localFrameToFixedFrameGenerator("north", "west");
const modelMatrix = nwuToFixed(origin);
Compose a correction with Matrix4.multiply(enuFrame, localCorrection, result).
External Workflow: CityGML and IFC
These steps run OUTSIDE CesiumJS. They produce a file CesiumJS can load; they
are NOT CesiumJS API.
CityGML: convert to 3D Tiles with the Cesium ion tiler or external tooling,
then stream the result with Cesium3DTileset.fromUrl or fromIonAssetId.
IFC: export to glTF with ThatOpen Components or IfcOpenShell, then load the
glTF with Model.fromGltfAsync and georeference it with a modelMatrix.
The georeference step (the modelMatrix) is the only CesiumJS-side work; the
conversion is external workflow.
CAD-style Edges
EdgeDisplayMode (CesiumJS 1.142+) renders the crisp edges architects expect.
The edgeDisplayMode property on Model and Cesium3DTileset takes
EdgeDisplayMode.SURFACES_ONLY (default), SURFACES_AND_EDGES, or
EDGES_ONLY (CAD wireframe).
// Requires CesiumJS 1.142 or newer.
model.edgeDisplayMode = Cesium.EdgeDisplayMode.SURFACES_AND_EDGES;
Edges are read from the EXT_mesh_primitive_edge_visibility glTF extension, so
the glTF MUST carry edge data; an exporter that omits the extension shows no
edges. The extension loads since 1.135; the EdgeDisplayMode control is 1.142+.
Cross-Tech Companion Notes
Georeferencing usually sits inside a larger AEC toolchain. Each tool below has
its own skill package; this skill covers only the CesiumJS step.
QGIS: prepares and inspects the geospatial source data (survey points,
imagery, terrain) that defines where a model belongs.
ThatOpen Components and IfcOpenShell: the IFC-to-glTF bridge feeding
Model.fromGltfAsync.
Speckle: federates multi-discipline BIM data; export to glTF or 3D Tiles for
streaming into CesiumJS.
Common Mistakes
Mistake
Fix
Model invisible, at the Earth's core
Assign Transforms.eastNorthUpToFixedFrame(origin) to modelMatrix
modelMatrix set on an ion-tiled tileset
Leave it Matrix4.IDENTITY; ion assets are pre-placed
new HeadingPitchRoll(135, 0, 0) for degrees
Use HeadingPitchRoll.fromDegrees(135, 0, 0)
Model sunk into terrain
Set the real height in the originCartesian3
Loading a .ifc or CityGML file directly
Convert first; CesiumJS has no native loader
EdgeDisplayMode on CesiumJS below 1.142
Upgrade; the enum does not exist earlier
Full root-cause analysis is in references/anti-patterns.md.
Reference Files
references/methods.md : verified signatures for Transforms, Matrix4,
HeadingPitchRoll, TranslationRotationScale, modelMatrix, and
EdgeDisplayMode.
references/examples.md : runnable placement, orientation, tileset, and
custom-frame snippets.
references/anti-patterns.md : georeferencing failure modes, each with
symptom, root cause, prevention, and recovery.
Related Skills
cesium-core-coordinates : Cartesian3, Cartographic, the ellipsoid, ENU frames.
cesium-syntax-gltf-model : Model.fromGltfAsync and model loading.
cesium-syntax-3d-tiles : Cesium3DTileset loading and tile formats.
cesium-impl-cesium-ion : the ion tiler that converts source data to 3D Tiles.
cesium-errors-coordinates : NaN positions and off-globe geometry.
