# Vulcan

**Vulcan** is a 3D rendering application that displays computer-aided design (CAD) models, engineering drawings, and point clouds in the Palantir platform.

With Vulcan, you can:

* View CAD models stored in the [Ontology](../../ontology/overview/index.md) as CAD objects. See [Schema reference](../schema-reference/index.md) for the object types and properties that Vulcan requires.
* Annotate, measure, section, and recolor parts of a model. See [Tools](../tool-overview/index.md).
* Embed the 3D viewport in a Workshop module. See [Embed Vulcan in a Workshop module](../widget/index.md).

Annotations, measurements, and section planes saved from Vulcan are Ontology objects, so they can drive other Palantir platform workflows such as alerts and dashboards.

![The Vulcan interface displays a 3D model in the main viewport, and the scene tree is visible on the left.](../../../assets/941ceef88740db0bc032eebafd4d199425342b7471ff7b27343737f5bbdcb63d.webp)

*This screenshot uses notional data.*

## Getting started

Vulcan renders 3D models that are stored in the [Ontology](../../ontology/overview/index.md) as CAD objects. A [CAD object](../schema-reference/index.md#cad-object) is an Ontology object with a property carrying the `cad_media_reference` type class, which holds a media reference to a model file.

In the standalone application, select **Add to scene**, then choose a CAD object. Repeat this process to add more models to the scene.

In the Vulcan widget, the widget configuration determines which models load. See [Choose a CAD object](../widget/index.md#choose-a-cad-object).

### Supported model formats

Vulcan renders three kinds of geometry: mesh models, which approximate the surface of each part with triangles; 2D engineering drawings; and point clouds. You can point a CAD object's media reference property (the property carrying the `cad_media_reference` type class) at a file in any of the following formats without conversion:

* Mesh formats: `GLB`, `GLTF`, `STL`, `OBJ`, `PLY`, `3MF`
* Engineering drawings: `DXF`
* Point clouds: `LAS`, `LAZ`