Book Image

Learn Three.js - Fourth Edition

By : Jos Dirksen
5 (1)
Book Image

Learn Three.js - Fourth Edition

5 (1)
By: Jos Dirksen

Overview of this book

Three.js has become the industry standard for creating stunning 3D WebGL content. In this edition, you’ll learn about all the features of Three.js and understand how to integrate it with the newest physics engines. You'll also develop a strong grip on creating and animating immersive 3D scenes directly in your browser, reaping the full potential of WebGL and modern browsers. The book starts with the basic concepts and building blocks used in Three.js and helps you explore these essential topics in detail through extensive examples and code samples. You'll learn how to create realistic-looking 3D objects using textures and materials and how to load existing models from an external source. Next, you'll understand how to control the camera using the Three.js built-in camera controls, which will enable you to fly or walk around the 3D scene you've created. Later chapters will cover the use of HTML5 video and canvas elements as materials for your 3D objects to animate your models. You’ll learn how to use morph targets and skeleton-based animation, before understanding how to add physics, such as gravity and collision detection, to your scene. Finally, you’ll master combining Blender with Three.js and creating VR and AR scenes. By the end of this book, you'll be well-equipped to create 3D-animated graphics using Three.js.
Table of Contents (21 chapters)
1
Part 1: Getting Up and Running
5
Part 2: Working with the Three.js Core Components
7
Chapter 5: Learning to Work with Geometries
10
Part 3: Particle Clouds, Loading and Animating Models
14
Part 4: Post-Processing, Physics, and Sounds

Simulating dominos in Rapier

The following example is built upon the same core concepts we looked at in the Setting up the world and creating the descriptions section. The example can be viewed by opening up the dominos.html example:

Figure 12.2 – Dominos standing still when no gravity is present

Figure 12.2 – Dominos standing still when no gravity is present

Here, you can see that we’ve created a simple floor on which many dominos are positioned. If you look closely, you can see that the first instance of these dominos is tilted a little bit. If we enable gravity on the y-axis using the menu on the right, you’ll see that the first dominos falls, hits the next one, and so on until all the dominos have been knocked down:

Figure 12.3 – Dominos falling down after the first one is toppled

Figure 12.3 – Dominos falling down after the first one is toppled

Creating this with Rapier is really straightforward. We just need to create the Three.js objects that represent the dominos, create the relevant Rapier RigidBody and Collider elements...