CSG.js Alternative - Beginner Needs Help with Basic Setup

[davidh71]

Hey folks,
I'm a beginner/hobby programmer, I'm currently using CSG.js. I'd like to switch to manifold but as a beginner, I'm having difficulty getting going. Concepts like TypeScript, WebAssembly, and build systems are all new to me.

I've cobbled together the beginnings of a 3d builder using claygl and csg.js - having a blast doing it. I hit a performance wall with csg.js and would love to switch but am struggling to find an example where i can include a javascript file or two and use the power of manifold for some boolean operations. I have found https://manifoldcad.org and am trying to make sense of the worker & loader & typescript files, but it's over my head.

Is there any examples I might be missing?
Appreciate your patience and any help!

Pic of my work-in-progress web project

[elalish]

I've actually been considering publishing our worker as its own npm package, which would free you from the TS. Basically all you need it call is await evaluateCADToModel(code: string). Does that sound useful? I think it shouldn't be too hard.

[davidh71]

Thanks for the response. Maybe useful? I'm embarrassed to say i'm not versed in npm, but if that was my only barrier I could figure that out. Does the worker come with a beginner example - something like https://evanw.github.io/csg.js/more.html - that was enough for me to figure out how to create a custom mesh, and perform a boolean on it.
Appreciate your help!

[elalish]

The function I mentioned takes verbatim the text in manifoldCAD and turns it into a GLB and 3MF model. So for using the API, just play with manifoldCAD.org.

[hjhjdev]

+1 for exporting to package. I'm also having hard time trying to use manifold to CSG boolean from threejs mesh, and then export to 3mf

[aritzcmz]

It would be a phenomenal feature for threejs users. Great news! It would be even better if we could use it without the WASM wrapper in a node/deno server environment, but even this would be a huge advance.

[elalish]

It is WASM (since Manifold is C++), but it works just fine in Node - that's how we run our JS tests. Anyone interested in helping out with the packaging? I'm a bit short on time at the moment, but I'd be happy to provide guidance.