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

Summary

We saw a lot in this chapter. We introduced a couple of advanced geometries and showed you how you can create and render text elements with Three.js. We showed you how you can create really beautiful shapes using advanced geometries such as THREE.ConvexGeometry, THREE.TubeGeometry, and THREE.LatheGeometry and how can you experiment with these geometries to get the results you’re looking for. A very nice feature is that we can also convert existing SVG paths to Three.js using THREE.ExtrudeGeometry.

We’ve also quickly looked at a couple of geometries that are very useful for debugging purposes. THREE.EdgesGeometry shows just the edges of another geometry, and THREE.WireframeGeometry can be used to show the wireframe of some other geometry.

Finally, if you want to create 3D text, Three.js provides TextGeometry, where you can pass in a font that you want to use. Three.js comes with a couple of fonts, but you can also create your own fonts. However, remember...