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Learn Three.js

By : Jos Dirksen

3 (4)

Buy this Book

Learn Three.js

3 (4)

By: Jos Dirksen

Buy this Book

Overview of this book

WebGL makes it possible to create 3D graphics in the browser without having to use plugins such as Flash and Java. Programming WebGL, however, is difficult and complex. With Three.js, it is possible to create stunning 3D graphics in an intuitive manner using JavaScript, without having to learn WebGL. With this book, you’ll learn how to create and animate beautiful looking 3D scenes directly in your browser-utilizing the full potential of WebGL and modern browsers. It starts with the basic concepts and building blocks used in Three.js. From there on, it will expand on these subjects using extensive examples and code samples. You will learn to create, or load, from externally created models, realistic looking 3D objects using materials and textures. You’ll find out how to easily control the camera using the Three.js built-in in camera controls, which will enable you to fly or walk around the 3D scene you created. You will then use the HTML5 video and canvas elements as a material for your 3D objects and to animate your models. Finally, you will learn to use morph and skeleton-based animation, and even how to add physics, such as gravity and collision detection, to your scene. After reading this book, you’ll know everything that is required to create 3D animated graphics using Three.js.

Preface

Who this book is for

What this book covers

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Free Chapter

Creating Your First 3D Scene with Three.js

Requirements for using Three.js

Getting the source code

Creating the HTML skeleton

Rendering and viewing a 3D object

Adding materials, lights, and shadows

Expanding your first scene with animations

Using dat.GUI to make experimenting easier

Automatically resize the output when the browser size changes

Summary

The Basic Components that Make Up a Three.js Application

Creating a scene

Geometries and meshes

Different cameras for different uses

Summary

Working with Light Sources in Three.js

The different kinds of lighting provided by Three.js

Basic lights

Special lights

Summary

Working with Three.js Materials

Understanding common material properties

Starting with a simple mesh

Advanced materials

Materials you can use for a line geometry

Summary

Learning to Work with Geometries

The basic geometries provided by Three.js

Summary

Advanced Geometries and Binary Operations

THREE.ConvexGeometry

THREE.LatheGeometry

Creating a geometry by extruding

THREE.ParametricGeometry

Creating 3D text

Using binary operations to combine meshes

Summary

Points and Sprites

Understanding points

THREE.Points and THREE.PointsMaterial

Working with sprite maps

Creating THREE.Points from an advanced geometry

Summary

Creating and Loading Advanced Meshes and Geometries

Geometry grouping and merging

Loading geometries from external resources

Importing from 3D file formats

Summary

Animations and Moving the Camera

Basic animations

Working with the camera

Morphing and skeletal animation

Creating animations using external models

Summary

Loading and Working with Textures

Using textures in materials

Advanced usage of textures

Rendering to a canvas and using it as a texture

Using the output from a video as a texture

Summary

Render Postprocessing

Setting up Three.js for postprocessing

Postprocessing passes

Using THREE.ShaderPass for custom effects

Creating custom postprocessing shaders

Summary

Adding Physics and Sounds to Your Scene

Creating a basic Three.js scene with physics

Physi.js material properties

Physi.js supported shapes

Using constraints to limit the movement of objects

Add sound sources to your scene

Summary

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Setting up Three.js for postprocessing

To set up Three.js for postprocessing, we have to make a couple of changes to our current setup, as follows:

Create THREE.EffectComposer, which can be used to add postprocessing passes.
Configure THREE.EffectComposer so that it renders our scene and applies any additional postprocessing steps.
In the render loop, use THREE.EffectComposer to render the scene, apply for the passes, and show the output.

As always, we will illustrate an example that you can use to experiment with and can adapt for your own purposes. The first example in this chapter can be accessed from 01-basic-effect-composer.html. You can use the menu in the top-right corner to modify the properties of the postprocessing step used in this example. In this example, we render a simple globe and add an old television-like effect to it, as follows...