Develop Reference

Three.JS Black screen on attaching camera to a GLTF object

So I am writing a bit of stuff if Three.JS and I seem to have hit a stump with the camera. I'm attempting to attach the camera to an imported model object and it would seem that it IS attaching, however it would seem as if shadows are negated, the distance is far off from the actual field I've created. As well as some other annoying issues like Orbit controls would be inverted and non-functional. Here is my code (with certain things blocked out because I'm hotlinking script files hosted on my server...):
// This is basically everything to setup for a basic THREE.JS field to do our work in
var scene = new THREE.Scene(); // Empty Space
var camera = new THREE.PerspectiveCamera(60, window.innerWidth / window.innerHeight, 0.1, 1000); // Perspective Camera (Args, FOV, Aspect = W/H, Min View Dist, Max View Dist)
//var controls = new THREE.OrbitControls(camera); // We will use this to look around
camera.position.set(0, 2, 5); // Note that depth into positon is mainly the opposite of where you normally want it to be.
camera.rotation.x = -0.3 // This is an attempt to rotate the angle of the camera off of an axis
var renderer = new THREE.WebGLRenderer({antialias: true}); // Our Renderer + Antialiasing
renderer.shadowMap.enabled = true; // This allows shadows to work in our 3D animation
renderer.shadowMap.type = THREE.PCFSoftShadowMap; // This one isn't as blocky as THREE.PCFShadowMap
renderer.setClearColor("#00CCCC"); // Note: same as 0x000000
renderer.setSize(window.innerWidth, window.innerHeight); // Renderer Dimensions
document.getElementById("container").appendChild(renderer.domElement); // Add our renderer creation to our div named "container"
// Lighting (It's not necessary but it looks cool!)
var light = new THREE.PointLight("#FFFFFF", 5, 1000); // Color, intensity, range(lighting will not exceed render distance)
light.castShadow = true;
light.position.set(5, 5, 0); // This will treat the light coming from an angle!
scene.add(light);
light.shadow.mapSize.width = 512;
light.shadow.mapSize.height = 512;
light.shadow.camera.near = 0.5;
light.shadow.camera.far = 500;
// We will make a cube here
var cubeGeo = new THREE.BoxGeometry(1, 1, 1); // This is the shape, width, height and length of our cube. Note BoxGeometry IS the current shape!
var cubeMat = new THREE.MeshStandardMaterial({color: "#FF0000"}); // Create a basic mesh with undefined color, you can also use a singular color using Basic rather than Normal, There is also Lambert and Phong. Lambert is more of a Matte material while Phong is more of a gloss or shine effect.
var cube = new THREE.Mesh(cubeGeo, cubeMat); // Create the object with defined dimensions and colors!
cube.castShadow = true; // This will allow our cube to cast a shadow outward.
cube.recieveShadow = false // This will make our cube not recieve shadows from other objects (Although it isn't needed because it's default, you show make a habit of writing it anyways as some things default to true!)
scene.add(cube); // scene.add(object) is what we will use for almost every object we create in THREE.JS
//cube.add(camera); // This is an attempt to attach the camera to the cube...
// Loader
var ship;
var loader = new THREE.GLTFLoader();
loader.load("http://ipaddress:port/files/models/raven/scene.gltf", function(gltf) {
scene.add(gltf.scene);
ship = gltf.scene;
ship.scale.multiplyScalar(0.005);
ship.rotation.y = Math.PI;
}, undefined, function(error) {
console.error(error);
});
// Lest make a floor to show the shadow!
var floorGeo = new THREE.BoxGeometry(1000, 0.1, 1000);
var floorMat = new THREE.MeshStandardMaterial({color: "#0000FF"});
var floor = new THREE.Mesh(floorGeo, floorMat);
floor.recieveShadow = true; // This will allow the shadow from the cube to portray itself unto it.
floor.position.set(0, -3, 0);
scene.add(floor);
// Now let's create an object on the floor so that we can distance ourself from our starting point.
var buildingGeo = new THREE.BoxGeometry(10, 100, 10);
var buildingMat = new THREE.MeshNormalMaterial();
var building = new THREE.Mesh(buildingGeo, buildingMat);
building.position.z = -100;
scene.add(building);
var rotation = 0;
// Controls
var keyState = {};
window.addEventListener('keydown',function(e){
keyState[e.keyCode || e.which] = true;
},true);
window.addEventListener('keyup',function(e){
keyState[e.keyCode || e.which] = false;
},true);
document.addEventListener("keydown", function(event) {
console.log(event.which);
});
var camAdded = false;
var render = function() {
requestAnimationFrame(render); // This grabs the browsers frame animation function.
if (rotation == 1) {
ship.rotation.x += 0.01; // rotation is treated similarly to how two dimensional objects' location is treated
ship.rotation.y += 0.01; // however it will be based on an axis point plus the width/height and subtract but keep it's indice location!
ship.rotation.z += 0.01;
}
if (keyState[87]) { // Up
ship.rotateX(0.01);
}
if (keyState[83]) { // Down
ship.rotateX(-0.01);
}
if (keyState[65]) { // Left
ship.rotateY(0.03);
}
if (keyState[68]) { // Right
ship.rotateY(-0.03);
}
if (keyState[81]) {
ship.rotateZ(0.1);
}
if (keyState[69]) {
ship.rotateZ(-0.1);
}
if (keyState[82]) { // Reset
for (var i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
if (!ship.rotation.x == 0) {
if (ship.rotation.x > 0) {
ship.rotation.x -= 0.005;
} else if (ship.rotation.x < 0){
ship.rotation.x += 0.005;
}
}
if (!ship.rotation.z == 0) {
if (ship.rotation.z > 0) {
ship.rotation.z -= 0.01;
} else if (ship.rotation.z < 0){
ship.rotation.z += 0.01;
}
}
}
}
ship.translateZ(0.2); // This will translate our ship forward in the direction it's currently facing so that it will look as if it is flyimg.
renderer.render(scene, camera); // This will render the scene after the effects have changed (rotation!)
window.addEventListener('resize', onWindowResize, false);
}
render(); // Finally, we need to loop the animation otherwise our object will not move on it's own!
function onWindowResize() {
var sceneWidth = window.innerWidth - 20;
var sceneHeight = window.innerHeight - 20;
renderer.setSize(sceneWidth, sceneHeight);
camera.aspect = sceneWidth / sceneHeight;
camera.updateProjectionMatrix();
}
<!DOCTYPE htm>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<title>Basic Three.JS</title>
</head>
<body style="background-color: #2B2B29; color: #FFFFFF; text-align: center;">
<div id="container"></div>
<script>
window.onload = function() {
document.getElementById("container").width = window.innerWidth - 20;
document.getElementById("container").height = window.innerHeight - 20;
}
</script>
<script src="http://ipaddress:port/files/scripts/three.min.js"></script>
<script src="http://ipaddress:port/files/scripts/GLTFLoader.js"></script>
<script src="http://ipaddress:port/files/scripts/OrbitControls.js"></script>
<script src="http://ipaddress:port/files/scripts/basicthree.js"></script> <!-- This is the code below -->
</body>
</html>

Nevermind, I have found a solution - shoddy as it may be...
if (typeof ship != "undefined") {
// Previous code inside of the main three.js loop...
ship.translateZ(0.2); // Move ship
camera.position.set(ship.position.x, ship.position.y, ship.position.z); // Set the camera's position to the ships position
camera.translateZ(10); // Push the camera back a bit so it's not inside the ship
camera.rotation.set(ship.rotation.x, ship.rotation.y, ship.rotation.z); // Set the rotation of the ship to be the exact same as the ship
camera.rotateX(0.3); // Tilt the camera downwards so that it's viewing over the ship
camera.rotateY(Math.PI); // Flip the camera so it's not facing the head of the ship model.
// Note: many bits of code I have are inverted due to the ship's model being backwards (or so it seems)...
}

Three.js THREE.ImageUtils.loadTexture Image resize

I'm using Three.js and have a question. Within particle function, I'm adding image, which flying around. Code:
function makeParticles() {
var particle, material;
// we're gonna move from z position -1000 (far away)
// to 1000 (where the camera is) and add a random particle at every pos.
for ( var zpos= -1000; zpos < 1000; zpos+=20 ) {
// we make a particle material and pass through the
// colour and custom particle render function we defined.
var particleTexture = THREE.ImageUtils.loadTexture('img/fly.png');
material = new THREE.ParticleBasicMaterial( { map: particleTexture, transparent: true, program: particleRender } );
// make the particle
particle = new THREE.Particle(material);
// give it a random x and y position between -500 and 500
particle.position.x = Math.random() * 1000 - 500;
particle.position.y = Math.random() * 1000 - 500;
// set its z position
particle.position.z = zpos;
// scale it up a bit
particle.scale.x = particle.scale.y = 0.3;
// add it to the scene
scene.add( particle );
// and to the array of particles.
particles.push(particle);
}
}
Problem is, when I'm resizing page, all those images gets their width crushed and does not keep proportions. How to keep size of images, while resizing page?
Full code:
<script>
// the main three.js components
var camera, scene, renderer,
// to keep track of the mouse position
mouseX = 0, mouseY = 0,
// an array to store our particles in
particles = [];
// let's get going!
init();
function init() {
// Camera params :
// field of view, aspect ratio for render output, near and far clipping plane.
camera = new THREE.PerspectiveCamera(-50, window.innerWidth / window.innerHeight, -20, -10000 );
// move the camera backwards so we can see stuff!
// default position is 0,0,0.
camera.position.z = 80;
// the scene contains all the 3D object data
scene = new THREE.Scene();
// camera needs to go in the scene
scene.add(camera);
// and the CanvasRenderer figures out what the
// stuff in the scene looks like and draws it!
renderer = new THREE.CanvasRenderer();
renderer.setSize( window.innerWidth, window.innerHeight );
// the renderer's canvas domElement is added to the body
document.body.appendChild( renderer.domElement );
makeParticles();
// add the mouse move listener
document.addEventListener( 'mousemove', onMouseMove, false );
// render 30 times a second (should also look
// at requestAnimationFrame)
setInterval(update,1000/30);
}
// the main update function, called 30 times a second
function update() {
updateParticles();
// and render the scene from the perspective of the camera
renderer.render( scene, camera );
}
// creates a random field of Particle objects
function makeParticles() {
var particle, material;
// we're gonna move from z position -1000 (far away)
// to 1000 (where the camera is) and add a random particle at every pos.
for ( var zpos= -1000; zpos < 1000; zpos+=20 ) {
// we make a particle material and pass through the
// colour and custom particle render function we defined.
var particleTexture = THREE.ImageUtils.loadTexture('img/fly.png');
material = new THREE.ParticleBasicMaterial( { map: particleTexture, transparent: true, program: particleRender } );
// make the particle
particle = new THREE.Particle(material);
// give it a random x and y position between -500 and 500
particle.position.x = Math.random() * 1000 - 500;
particle.position.y = Math.random() * 1000 - 500;
// set its z position
particle.position.z = zpos;
// scale it up a bit
particle.scale.x = particle.scale.y = 0.3;
// add it to the scene
scene.add( particle );
// and to the array of particles.
particles.push(particle);
}
}
// there isn't a built in circle particle renderer
// so we have to define our own.
function particleRender( context ) {
// we get passed a reference to the canvas context
context.beginPath();
// and we just have to draw our shape at 0,0 - in this
// case an arc from 0 to 2Pi radians or 360ยบ - a full circle!
context.arc( 0, 0, 1, 0, Math.PI * 2, true );
context.fill();
};
// moves all the particles dependent on mouse position
function updateParticles() {
// iterate through every particle
for(var i=0; i<particles.length; i++) {
particle = particles[i];
// and move it forward dependent on the mouseY position.
particle.position.z += mouseY * 0.02;
// if the particle is too close move it to the back
if(particle.position.z>1500) particle.position.z-=2300;
}
}
// called when the mouse moves
function onMouseMove( event ) {
// store the mouseX and mouseY position
mouseX = event.clientX;
mouseY = event.clientY;
}
</script>

I guess, you need to resize the renderer and update the camera aspect ratio. The following code can be found in almost every three.js example, but I don't see it in your code.
window.addEventListener( 'resize', onWindowResize, false );
function onWindowResize() {
var canvasWidth = window.innerWidth;
var canvasHeight = window.innerHeight;
renderer.setSize( canvasWidth, canvasHeight );
camera.aspect = canvasWidth / canvasHeight;
camera.updateProjectionMatrix();
}

Incrementally display three.js TubeGeometry

I am able to display a THREE.TubeGeometry figure as follows
Code below, link to jsbin
<html>
<body>
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/three.js/r75/three.js"></script>
<script>
// global variables
var renderer;
var scene;
var camera;
var geometry;
var control;
var count = 0;
var animationTracker;
init();
drawSpline();
function init()
{
// create a scene, that will hold all our elements such as objects, cameras and lights.
scene = new THREE.Scene();
// create a camera, which defines where we're looking at.
camera = new THREE.PerspectiveCamera(45, window.innerWidth / window.innerHeight, 0.1, 1000);
// create a render, sets the background color and the size
renderer = new THREE.WebGLRenderer();
renderer.setClearColor('lightgray', 1.0);
renderer.setSize(window.innerWidth, window.innerHeight);
// position and point the camera to the center of the scene
camera.position.x = 0;
camera.position.y = 40;
camera.position.z = 40;
camera.lookAt(scene.position);
// add the output of the renderer to the html element
document.body.appendChild(renderer.domElement);
}
function drawSpline(numPoints)
{
var numPoints = 100;
// var start = new THREE.Vector3(-5, 0, 20);
var start = new THREE.Vector3(-5, 0, 20);
var middle = new THREE.Vector3(0, 35, 0);
var end = new THREE.Vector3(5, 0, -20);
var curveQuad = new THREE.QuadraticBezierCurve3(start, middle, end);
var tube = new THREE.TubeGeometry(curveQuad, numPoints, 0.5, 20, false);
var mesh = new THREE.Mesh(tube, new THREE.MeshNormalMaterial({
opacity: 0.9,
transparent: true
}));
scene.add(mesh);
renderer.render(scene, camera);
}
</script>
</body>
</html>
However, I would like to display incrementally, as in, like an arc that is loading, such that it starts as the start point, draws incrementally and finally looks the below arc upon completion.
I have been putting in some effort, and was able to do this by storing all the points/coordinates covered by the arc, and drawing lines between the consecutive coordinates, such that I get the 'arc loading incrementally' feel. However, is there a better way to achieve this? This is the link to jsbin
Adding the code here as well
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Incremental Spline Curve</title>
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/three.js/r75/three.js"></script>
<style>
body {
margin: 0;
overflow: hidden;
}
</style>
</head>
<script>
// global variables
var renderer;
var scene;
var camera;
var splineGeometry;
var control;
var count = 0;
var animationTracker;
// var sphereCamera;
var sphere;
var light;
function init() {
// create a scene, that will hold all our elements such as objects, cameras and lights.
scene = new THREE.Scene();
// create a camera, which defines where we're looking at.
camera = new THREE.PerspectiveCamera(45, window.innerWidth / window.innerHeight, 0.1, 1000);
// create a render, sets the background color and the size
renderer = new THREE.WebGLRenderer();
// renderer.setClearColor(0x000000, 1.0);
renderer.setClearColor( 0xffffff, 1 );
renderer.setSize(window.innerWidth, window.innerHeight);
// position and point the camera to the center of the scene
camera.position.x = 0;
camera.position.y = 40;
camera.position.z = 40;
camera.lookAt(scene.position);
// add the output of the renderer to the html element
document.body.appendChild(renderer.domElement);
// //init for sphere
// sphereCamera = new THREE.PerspectiveCamera(45, window.innerWidth / window.innerHeight, 1, 1000);
// sphereCamera.position.y = -400;
// sphereCamera.position.z = 400;
// sphereCamera.rotation.x = .70;
sphere = new THREE.Mesh(new THREE.SphereGeometry(0.8,31,31), new THREE.MeshLambertMaterial({
color: 'yellow',
}));
light = new THREE.DirectionalLight('white', 1);
// light.position.set(0,-400,400).normalize();
light.position.set(0,10,10).normalize();
//get points covered by Spline
getSplineData();
}
//save points in geometry.vertices
function getSplineData() {
var curve = new THREE.CubicBezierCurve3(
new THREE.Vector3( -5, 0, 10 ),
new THREE.Vector3(0, 20, 0 ),
new THREE.Vector3(0, 20, 0 ),
new THREE.Vector3( 2, 0, -25 )
);
splineGeometry = new THREE.Geometry();
splineGeometry.vertices = curve.getPoints( 50 );
animate();
}
//scheduler loop
function animate() {
if(count == 50)
{
cancelAnimationFrame(animationTracker);
return;
}
//add line to the scene
drawLine();
renderer.render(scene, camera);
// renderer.render(scene, sphereCamera);
count += 1;
// camera.position.z -= 0.25;
// camera.position.y -= 0.25;
animationTracker = requestAnimationFrame(animate);
}
function drawLine() {
var lineGeometry = new THREE.Geometry();
var lineMaterial = new THREE.LineBasicMaterial({
color: 0x0000ff
});
console.log(splineGeometry.vertices[count]);
console.log(splineGeometry.vertices[count+1]);
lineGeometry.vertices.push(
splineGeometry.vertices[count],
splineGeometry.vertices[count+1]
);
var line = new THREE.Line( lineGeometry, lineMaterial );
scene.add( line );
}
// calls the init function when the window is done loading.
window.onload = init;
</script>
<body>
</body>
</html>
Drawback : The drawback of doing it the above way is that, end of the day, I'm drawing a line between consecutive points, and so I lose out on a lot of the effects possible in TubeGeometry such as, thickness, transparency etc.
Please suggest me an alternative way to get a smooth incremental load for the TubeGeometry.

THREE.TubeGeometry returns a THREE.BufferGeometry.
With THREE.BufferGeometry, you have access to a property drawRange that you can set to animate the drawing of the mesh:
let nEnd = 0, nMax, nStep = 90; // 30 faces * 3 vertices/face
...
const geometry = new THREE.TubeGeometry( path, pathSegments, tubeRadius, radiusSegments, closed );
nMax = geometry.attributes.position.count;
...
function animate() {
requestAnimationFrame( animate );
nEnd = ( nEnd + nStep ) % nMax;
mesh.geometry.setDrawRange( 0, nEnd );
renderer.render( scene, camera );
}
EDIT: For another approach, see this SO answer.
three.js r.144

Normally you would be able to use the method .getPointAt() to "get a vector for point at relative position in curve according to arc length" to get a point at a certain percentage of the length of the curve.
So normally if you want to draw 70% of the curve and a full curve is drawn in 100 segments. Then you could do:
var percentage = 70;
var curvePath = new THREE.CurvePath();
var end, start = curveQuad.getPointAt( 0 );
for(var i = 1; i < percentage; i++){
end = curveQuad.getPointAt( percentage / 100 );
lineCurve = new THREE.LineCurve( start, end );
curvePath.add( lineCurve );
start = end;
}
But I think this is not working for your curveQuad since the getPointAt method is not implemented for this type. A work around is to get a 100 points for your curve in an array like this:
points = curve.getPoints(100);
And then you can do almost the same:
var percentage = 70;
var curvePath = new THREE.CurvePath();
var end, start = points[ 0 ];
for(var i = 1; i < percentage; i++){
end = points[ percentage ]
lineCurve = new THREE.LineCurve( start, end );
curvePath.add( lineCurve );
start = end;
}
now your curvePath holds the line segments you want to use for drawing the tube:
// draw the geometry
var radius = 5, radiusSegments = 8, closed = false;
var geometry = new THREE.TubeGeometry(curvePath, percentage, radius, radiusSegments, closed);
Here a fiddle with a demonstration on how to use this dynamically

I'm not really that familiar with three.js. But I think I can be of assistance. I have two solutions for you. Both based on the same principle: build a new TubeGeometry or rebuild the current one, around a new curve.
Solution 1 (Simple):
var CurveSection = THREE.Curve.create(function(base, from, to) {
this.base = base;
this.from = from;
this.to = to;
}, function(t) {
return this.base.getPoint((1 - t) * this.from + t * this.to);
});
You define a new type of curve which just selects a segment out of a given curve. Usage:
var curve = new CurveSection(yourCurve, 0, .76); // Where .76 is your percentage
Now you can build a new tube.
Solution 2 (Mathematics!):
You are using for your arc a quadratic bezier curve, that's awesome! This curve is a parabola. You want just a segment of that parabola and that is again a parabola, just with other bounds.
What we need is a section of the bezier curve. Let's say the curve is defined by A (start), B (direction), C (end). If we want to change the start to a point D and the end to a point F we need the point E that is the direction of the curve in D and F. So the tangents to our parabola in D and F have to intersect in E. So the following code will give us the desired result:
// Calculates the instersection point of Line3 l1 and Line3 l2.
function intersection(l1, l2) {
var A = l1.start;
var P = l2.closestPointToPoint(A);
var Q = l1.closestPointToPoint(P);
var l = P.distanceToSquared(A) / Q.distanceTo(A);
var d = (new THREE.Vector3()).subVectors(Q, A);
return d.multiplyScalar(l / d.length()).add(A);
}
// Calculate the tangentVector of the bezier-curve
function tangentQuadraticBezier(bezier, t) {
var s = bezier.v0,
m = bezier.v1,
e = bezier.v2;
return new THREE.Vector3(
THREE.CurveUtils.tangentQuadraticBezier(t, s.x, m.x, e.x),
THREE.CurveUtils.tangentQuadraticBezier(t, s.y, m.y, e.y),
THREE.CurveUtils.tangentQuadraticBezier(t, s.z, m.z, e.z)
);
}
// Returns a new QuadraticBezierCurve3 with the new bounds.
function sectionInQuadraticBezier(bezier, from, to) {
var s = bezier.v0,
m = bezier.v1,
e = bezier.v2;
var ns = bezier.getPoint(from),
ne = bezier.getPoint(to);
var nm = intersection(
new THREE.Line3(ns, tangentQuadraticBezier(bezier, from).add(ns)),
new THREE.Line3(ne, tangentQuadraticBezier(bezier, to).add(ne))
);
return new THREE.QuadraticBezierCurve3(ns, nm, ne);
}
This is a very mathematical way, but if you should need the special properties of a Bezier curve, this is the way to go.
Note: The first solution is the simplest. I am not familiar with Three.js so I wouldn't know what the most efficient way to implement the animation is. Three.js doesn't seem to use the special properties of a bezier curve so maybe solution 2 isn't that useful.
I hope you have gotten something useful out of this.

Threejs :: determine if an object is screened by others

I have been developing an 3d model viewer with three.js but I have encountered this problem and I cannot seem to find any solution to it.
I want to have 2d overlay tracking a sphere while it's rotating.
I managed to code the overlay tracking the sphere referring to http://zachberry.com/blog/tracking-3d-objects-in-2d-with-three-js.
But I want to hide the tracking overlay while the sphere is screened by the cude.
So I tried to caculate intesects between camera and the sphere to determine is visible from camera.
But rayCaster.intersectObjects always return 0.
Here is my code.
How can i determain the sphere is visible or not?
$(function() {
// Some defaults/hardcoded values:
var DEFAULT_VIEW_ANGLE = 45;
var DEFAULT_CAMERA_X = 0;
var DEFAULT_CAMERA_Y = 0;
var DEFAULT_CAMERA_Z = 200;
var PERSPECTIVE_NEAR = 0.1;
var PERSPECTIVE_FAR = 10000;
var WIDTH = $('#viewport').width();
var HEIGHT = $('#viewport').height();
// state
var rotate = true;
// three.js objects:
var renderer;
var scene;
var camera;
var projector;
var container;
var cube;
var sphere;
var pointLight;
var rayCaster;
// elements
var $trackingOverlay = $('#tracking-overlay');
// create three.js elements
projector = new THREE.Projector();
renderer = new THREE.WebGLRenderer();
rayCaster = new THREE.Raycaster();
scene = new THREE.Scene();
camera = new THREE.PerspectiveCamera(DEFAULT_VIEW_ANGLE, WIDTH / HEIGHT, PERSPECTIVE_NEAR, PERSPECTIVE_FAR);
camera.position.set(DEFAULT_CAMERA_X, DEFAULT_CAMERA_Y, DEFAULT_CAMERA_Z);
pointLight = new THREE.PointLight(0xFFFFFF);
pointLight.position.set(10, 50, 150);
container = new THREE.Object3D();
cube = new THREE.Mesh(
new THREE.BoxGeometry(50, 50, 50),
new THREE.MeshLambertMaterial({wireframe: false, color: 0x00CC00})
);
cube.position.set(0, 0, 0);
sphere = new THREE.Mesh(
new THREE.SphereGeometry(4, 32, 32),
new THREE.MeshLambertMaterial({wireframe:false, color: 0xCCCC00})
);
sphere.position.set(0, 64, 0);
container.add(cube);
container.add(sphere);
scene.add(container);
scene.add(pointLight);
scene.add(camera);
// setup viewport
viewport = document.getElementById('viewport');
renderer.setSize(WIDTH, HEIGHT);
viewport.appendChild(renderer.domElement);
// start the animation loop
requestAnimationFrame(update);
function update()
{
if(rotate)
{
// hardcoded rotation for this demo:
container.rotation.z += 0.01;
container.rotation.x += 0.001;
container.rotation.y += 0.025;
}
renderer.render(scene, camera);
positionTrackingOverlay();
requestAnimationFrame(update);
}
function positionTrackingOverlay()
{
var visibleWidth, visibleHeight, p, v, percX, percY, left, top;
// this will give us position relative to the world
//p = sphere.matrixWorld.getPosition().clone();
p =new THREE.Vector3().setFromMatrixPosition(sphere.matrixWorld);
// projectVector will translate position to 2d
v = p.project(camera);
// translate our vector so that percX=0 represents
// the left edge, percX=1 is the right edge,
// percY=0 is the top edge, and percY=1 is the bottom edge.
percX = (v.x + 1) / 2;
percY = (-v.y + 1) / 2;
// scale these values to our viewport size
left = percX * WIDTH;
top = percY * HEIGHT;
// position the overlay so that it's center is on top of
// the sphere we're tracking
$trackingOverlay
.css('left', (left - $trackingOverlay.width() / 2) + 'px')
.css('top', (top - $trackingOverlay.height() / 2) + 'px');
if(isSphereVisible()){
$trackingOverlay.show();
}else{
$trackingOverlay.hide();
}
}
function isSphereVisible(){
rayCaster.setFromCamera(sphere,camera);
var intersects = rayCaster.intersectObjects(cube.children);
console.log(intersects.length);
return intersects.length>0?false:true;
}
});

How to create closure (protect globals) in an animation loop?

I'm writing and animation loop using three.js and all the examples (mrdoob, stemkoski) I see online use unprotected globals at the beginning of the script. I tried to enclose these in the init() function and then pass them as arguments through the animation loop. However, the renderer is coming up undefined.
I'm not sure what I'm missing below. My primary question is how to understand best practice for setting up an animation loop with good closure (protecting variables that would otherwise be global). Thanks!
// THE MAIN ANIMATION LOOP:
// UPDATE the scene
function update(keyboard, controls, stats, clock) {
// delta = change in time since last call (in seconds)
var delta = clock.getDelta();
// functionality provided by THREEx.KeyboardState.js
if ( keyboard.pressed("z") )
{
// do something
}
controls.update();
stats.update();
};
// RENDER the scene
function render(renderer, scene, camera) {
renderer.render(scene, camera);
};
// ANIMATE the scene
function animate(scene, camera, renderer, controls, stats, keyboard, clock) {
requestAnimationFrame(animate);
render(renderer, scene, camera);
update(keyboard, controls, stats, clock);
};
// *********************
// INITIALIZES THE SCENE
function init(images) { // `images` is passed by a callback from loadImages
// standard global variables, held privately
var container, scene, camera, renderer, controls, stats;
var keyboard = new THREEx.KeyboardState();
var clock = new THREE.Clock();
///////////
// SCENE //
///////////
scene = new THREE.Scene();
////////////
// CAMERA //
////////////
// set the view size in pixels (custom or according to window size)
var SCREEN_WIDTH = 1920, SCREEN_HEIGHT = 1080;
// var SCREEN_WIDTH = window.innerWidth, SCREEN_HEIGHT = window.innerHeight;
// camera attributes
var VIEW_ANGLE = 20, ASPECT = SCREEN_WIDTH / SCREEN_HEIGHT, NEAR = 0.1, FAR = 20000;
// set up camera
camera = new THREE.PerspectiveCamera(VIEW_ANGLE, ASPECT, NEAR, FAR);
// add the camera to the scene
scene.add(camera);
// the camera defaults to position (0,0,0)
// so pull it back (z = 400) and up (y = 100) and set the angle towards the scene origin
// (x,y,z)
camera.position.set(0,150,1000);
camera.lookAt(scene.position);
//////////////
// RENDERER //
//////////////
// create and start the renderer; choose antialias setting.
if (Detector.webgl)
renderer = new THREE.WebGLRenderer( {antialias:true} );
else
renderer = new THREE.CanvasRenderer();
renderer.setSize(SCREEN_WIDTH, SCREEN_HEIGHT);
// attach div element to variable to contain the renderer
container = document.getElementById( 'ThreeJS' );
// attach renderer to the container div
container.appendChild( renderer.domElement );
///////////
// STATS //
///////////
// displays current and past frames per second attained by scene
stats = new Stats();
stats.domElement.style.position = 'absolute';
stats.domElement.style.bottom = '0px';
stats.domElement.style.zIndex = 100;
container.appendChild( stats.domElement );
///////////
// LIGHT //
///////////
// create a light
var light = new THREE.PointLight(0xffffff);
light.position.set(100,250,0);
scene.add(light);
////////////
// IMAGES //
////////////
var element1 = THREE.ImageUtils.loadTexture(images.dresser10);
var element2 = THREE.ImageUtils.loadTexture(images.dresser14);
var element1Material = new THREE.SpriteMaterial( { map: element1, useScreenCoordinates: true, alignment: THREE.SpriteAlignment.topLeft } );
var sprite = new THREE.Sprite(element1Material);
sprite.position.set( 50, 50, 0 );
sprite.scale.set( 64, 64, 1.0 ); // imageWidth, imageHeight
scene.add(sprite);
animate(container, scene, camera, renderer, controls, stats, keyboard, clock);
};
// ********************************************************
// CHECKS TO SEE IF THE WINDOW HAS LOADED BEFORE PROCEEDING
// Once the window is loaded, calls the init function
window.addEventListener ("load", eventWindowLoaded, false);
function eventWindowLoaded() {
loadImages(init); // calls to initialize the scene once the images are loaded
}

I followed #Bergi 's advice above and rewrote the animation loop in a Crockford style module that returns an object full of privileged methods that can access the now protected variables. Here it is for anyone looking for a similar pattern:
// ************************
// THE MAIN ANIMATION LOOP:
var animLoop = (function () {
// standard global variables, held privately in this module
var container, scene, camera, renderer, controls, stats;
var keyboard = new THREEx.KeyboardState();
var clock = new THREE.Clock();
// SCENE
scene = new THREE.Scene();
// CAMERA
var SCREEN_WIDTH = window.innerWidth, SCREEN_HEIGHT = window.innerHeight;
var VIEW_ANGLE = 20, ASPECT = SCREEN_WIDTH / SCREEN_HEIGHT, NEAR = 0.1, FAR = 20000;
camera = new THREE.PerspectiveCamera(VIEW_ANGLE, ASPECT, NEAR, FAR);
scene.add(camera);
camera.position.set(0,150,1000);
camera.lookAt(scene.position);
// RENDERER
if (Detector.webgl) {
renderer = new THREE.WebGLRenderer( {antialias:true} );
} else {
renderer = new THREE.CanvasRenderer();
}
renderer.setSize(SCREEN_WIDTH, SCREEN_HEIGHT);
container = document.getElementById( 'ThreeJS' );
container.appendChild( renderer.domElement );
// LIGHT
var light = new THREE.PointLight(0xffffff);
light.position.set(100,250,0);
scene.add(light);
// IMAGES
var images;
var element1, element2, element1Material, sprite;
// RETURN:
// *** returns an object full of functions with priviledged access to the private variables listed above ***
return {
setImages: function (images_) { // sets the value of the images (array) above
images = images_;
},
createSprites: function () {
var element1 = THREE.ImageUtils.loadTexture(images.dresser10.src);
var element1Material = new THREE.SpriteMaterial( { map: element1, useScreenCoordinates: true, alignment: THREE.SpriteAlignment.topLeft } );
var sprite = new THREE.Sprite(element1Material);
sprite.position.set( 50, 50, 0 );
sprite.scale.set( 64, 64, 1.0 );
scene.add(sprite);
},
update: function () {
var delta = clock.getDelta();
// functionality provided by THREEx.KeyboardState.js
if ( keyboard.pressed("z") )
{
// do something
}
},
render: function () {
renderer.render(scene, camera);
}
};
}());
// ANIMATE the scene
function animate() {
requestAnimationFrame( animate );
animLoop.render();
animLoop.update();
};
// INITIALIZES THE SCENE
function init(images) { // `images` is passed by a callback not included here
animLoop.setImages(images); // places the initial array of images as a private variable in the animLoop object
animLoop.createSprites();
animate();
};
window.addEventListener ("load", eventWindowLoaded, false);
function eventWindowLoaded() {
loadImages(init); // calls to initialize the scene once the images are loaded
};