Why isn't my unique 3D asset rendering when scanning an NFT using AR.JS?

NFT
1

I’ve confirmed through debugging that the NFT marker is correctly detected, yet my custom 3D asset fails to appear even though it seems to follow the NFT’s movements. I’ve verified the asset paths, ensured all scripts are in place, and experimented with different scales and rotations without any success.

<a-assets>
  <a-asset-item id="customAsset" src="BASE_MODEL_URL/models/NewModel.glb"></a-asset-item>
</a-assets>

<a-nft
  type="nft"
  url="BASE_MODEL_URL/assets/nfts/unique-pattern"
  smooth="true"
  smoothCount="10"
  smoothTolerance="0.01"
  smoothThreshold="5"
>
  <a-entity scale="100 100 100">
    <a-entity
      position="0 0 0"
      gltf-model="#customAsset"
      scale="15 15 15"
      rotation="-30 80 0"
      id="custom-entity"
    ></a-entity>
    <a-box position="0 0.2 0" material="opacity: 0.5;" scale="0.7 0.7 0.7"></a-box>
  </a-entity>
</a-nft>
<a-entity camera id="user-camera"></a-entity>
2

hey everyone, thanks for laying out your setup so nicely. i’m really curious if the model is actually loading but maybe just getting misplaced. sometimes in my experiments with ar.js, the model might be there but gets occluded by some unexpected scaling or positioning quirks. have you tried testing with a simple primitive just to see if the marker correctly shows something? i wonder if there might be some issues with the hierachy of the entities that causes the scale and rotation to compound in ways that hide the model. also, any warning messages in the browser console? it might also be worth checking what happns on differnt browsers or devices. maybe someone has an idea if its a known bug with nested entities under a nft tag. what do you all think? any further insights or tests you might have tried?

3

hey, try removing nested scaling. i fixed a similar issue by applying the scale directly to the asset entity instead of on the parent. sometimes ar.js messes up compounded transforms. also clear your cache and re-test, might help

4

From my experience, a common issue is related to how the model’s coordinate origin is handled. Sometimes the asset may appear off-screen if its pivot point isn’t aligned properly with the marker’s origin. I recommend looking into your GLB file’s export settings to ensure it’s centered as expected and not defaulting to an unusual offset. Additionally, try disabling any smoothing temporarily to see if that affects the model’s visibility. Reviewing any asset warnings in the console might also help pinpoint subtle transform or loading issues.

5

hey, i’ve been looking into similar issues recently and found that sometimes it’s not so much about the asset itself, but more about the environment it’s being loaded in. i’ve seen cases where the model does load perfectly fine if you test it in a very simple aframe scene without the nft marker. one thing you might want to try is to load the gltf model on a basic scene to verify there isn’t some incompatibility with the version of aframe or ar.js you’re using. also, lighting conditions in the scene can sometimes obscure the asset if there isn’t enough illumination or if the material settings aren’t quite right, so adding a simple ambient light might help clarify if the model is there at all. are you noticing any warnings in your browser console aside from the expected marker logs? i’m curious if someone else has seen similar behavior when mixing loaded assets with nft markers. perhaps experimenting with different lighting setups or even a different model can give us more clues on what might be going on.