I am using GeoServer 2.4.0 to view a UK map in my web map application by using the OpenLayers and a WMS service.
Now I am looking into view the terrain data in 3D with a WebGL-enabled browser and got some examples in GeoServer W3DS for the same. But there is no extension / plugin found to enable this service in my GeoServer. H ow can I activate W3DS, step by step.
You can generate BIL format usable by Cesium with the DDS/BIL output format community module, which can be found in the community sections of nightly builds (as an unsupported module, it's not part of official releases).
The W3DS module is also part of the community modules.
Here are links to the community modules for some GeoServer versions: http://ares.boundlessgeo.com/geoserver/2.7.x/community-latest/ http://ares.boundlessgeo.com/geoserver/2.8.x/community-latest/
As far as I know, W3DS (Web 3D Service) and WVS (Web View Service) are both deprecated, since the not-yet-out OGC standard, 3DPS (3D Portrayal Service) merges them together. See the standard's draft here: https://portal.opengeospatial.org/files/65620
I'm very courious which gis server will be the first to implement 3DPS when it is finally out.
For a custom terrain provider, apart from what @juls suggested, I also recommend the cesium-terrain-builder available at https://github.com/geo-data/cesium-terrain-builder I tested it and it works pretty well.
You can use the default terrain provided by Cesium.
Or, you can use GeoServer to host your own terrain with this plugin.
