load-assets

Load assets

glTF is fully supported

Load .glb files as container assets and call asset.resource.instantiateRenderEntity(), not instantiateModelEntity. The importer already handles KHR_lights_punctual, KHR_materials_* (clearcoat, sheen, transmission, volume, iridescence, variants, and more), KHR_texture_transform, and EXT_mesh_gpu_instancing; do not rebuild these by hand. Preload asset sets with AssetListLoader.

Compress for size

• Geometry: Draco (KHR_draco_mesh_compression). Meshopt is not supported, so decode such files before shipping.
• Textures: KTX2 with Basis (KHR_texture_basisu) transcodes to a GPU format, cutting both download size and VRAM. ETC1S is smallest and lossy. UASTC is larger and keeps detail, which matters most for normal maps. Weigh size against visible detail.

Set up decoders

The npm package ships no Draco or Basis wasm. Copy draco/ and basis/ from the Engine's examples/assets/wasm at the installed tag (find-examples), and configure them before loading:

import { WasmModule, basisInitialize } from 'playcanvas';

WasmModule.setConfig('DracoDecoderModule', {
    glueUrl: '/wasm/draco/draco.wasm.js',
    wasmUrl: '/wasm/draco/draco.wasm.wasm',
    fallbackUrl: '/wasm/draco/draco.js'
});
await new Promise((resolve) => WasmModule.getInstance('DracoDecoderModule', resolve));
basisInitialize({
    glueUrl: '/wasm/basis/basis.wasm.js',
    wasmUrl: '/wasm/basis/basis.wasm.wasm',
    fallbackUrl: '/wasm/basis/basis.js'
});

In Web Components, a <pc-wasm name="DracoDecoderModule"> element under <pc-app> sets the Draco config with glue, wasm, and fallback attributes.

Other assets

• Raise texture.anisotropy, which defaults to 1, for surfaces viewed at grazing angles.
• Gaussian splats load as gsplat assets onto a gsplat component; start from a gaussian-splatting example.