Joomla guide v1.2.0

Publish 3D models and scenes inside Joomla: glTF, FBX and OBJ loading, Mixamo animation, PBR materials, three site modules and a JSON:API REST interface.

Overview

Publish 3D models and scenes inside Joomla: glTF, FBX and OBJ loading, Mixamo animation, PBR materials, three site modules and a JSON:API REST interface.

Requirements

  • Joomla 4.4, 5 or 6 depending on the package version.
  • PHP 8.1 or later is recommended.
  • A recent backup before installation or update.

Installation

  1. Download the ZIP package and do not extract it.
  2. In Joomla, open System → Install → Extensions.
  3. Drop the ZIP into the installation area and wait for the confirmation message.
  4. Open the component from Components. If the package includes a plugin, check its status under System → Manage → Plugins.
  5. Review component permissions before opening it to the team.

Initial configuration

  1. Open the extension dashboard.
  2. Open Options and review global settings.
  3. Grant Create, Edit, Delete and Configure permissions to the appropriate groups.
  4. Create a first test item and check the frontend when a public view is provided.
  5. Enable bundled plugins or scheduled tasks only when they are needed.

Features

glTF, FBX and OBJ models

The renderer handles three format families: glTF and its binary GLB variant, FBX, and OBJ with MTL materials. Every model carries its own position, rotation and scale, with optional auto-centring and auto-scaling.

Multi-model scenes

A scene assembles several models, each with its own instance name, transform, visibility, shadow behaviour — cast, receive or both — and display order, so the same model can appear twice with different settings.

Lighting and environment

Four light families — ambient, directional, point and spot — with optional shadows and fog. The background takes a flat colour, a skybox, an HDRI map or full transparency, so the render sits straight on your own design.

Animation and Mixamo retargeting

The Mixamo loader ships a bone map covering 23 humanoid skeleton bones plus 40 finger bones, so an FBX clip replays on a rig whose bones never carried the mixamorig: prefix. Play once, loop or ping-pong, with fades and adjustable speed.

Three camera schemes

Orbit for a product you turn in your hands, first-person for walking an interior, fly for surveying a model from above. Perspective or orthographic, with configurable field of view and clipping planes.

Clickable objects

A dedicated event manager casts a ray from the pointer and emits click, hover, double-click, drag and selection events on objects and on surfaces alike. Wheel, pinch-to-zoom and keyboard input are handled out of the box.

Reusable PBR materials

A shared library covers six shading types — standard, physical, Phong, Lambert, toon and custom — with metalness, roughness, clearcoat and nine texture channels, from diffuse through to the environment map.

Publishing the Joomla way

Models and scenes are proper Joomla content: native categories, publish state, view access level, language, start and finish publishing dates, check-in and check-out, and custom fields.

First steps

  1. Start with a simple use case and non-sensitive data.
  2. Validate the result with the team that will use the extension.
  3. Record site-specific choices such as roles, automations, templates and integrations.
  4. Roll out gradually, then monitor logs and user feedback.

Screenshots

The interface of 3D Viewer
Extension administration interface.
Installing 3D Viewer
The standard Joomla extension installation screen.

Troubleshooting

The extension does not appear after installation
Check the installer message and the component/plugin status, then clear Joomla or WordPress caches.
An action is denied
Review the user group permissions, session token and any security restrictions.
The output does not match the site
Test with caching disabled, inspect template overrides and look for CSS or JavaScript conflicts.
An external integration fails
Check the URL, credentials, quotas and logs without copying secrets into a support request.

Updating and uninstalling

Before updating, back up files and the database, read the release notes, and test on a copy of the site. Export useful data before uninstalling. Removing a package may remove several related components, modules or plugins.