Learning Three.js : programming 3D animations and visualizations for the web with HTML5 and WebGL (pdf)

Key Features

• Enhance your 3D graphics with light sources, shadows, advanced materials, and textures
• Load models from external sources, and visualize and animate them directly from JavaScript
• Create your own custom WebGL shader and explore Three.js’s postprocessing feature

Book Description

WebGL makes it possible to create 3D graphics in the browser without having to use plugins such as Flash and Java. However, programming WebGL can be complex and challenging. With Three.js, it is possible to create stunning 3D graphics in an intuitive way using JavaScript without having to learn WebGL. In this book, you’ll learn how to create and animate immersive 3D scenes directly in your browser using 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 will also learn to create, or load from externally created models, realistic looking 3D objects using materials and textures. Next, you’ll understand how to easily 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 then show you how to use the HTML5 video and canvas elements as materials for your 3D objects and animate your models. Finally, you will learn how to use morph and skeleton-based animation, before understanding how to add physics, such as gravity and collision detection to your scene.

By the end of this book, you’ll have gained the skills you need to create 3D-animated graphics using Three.js.

What you will learn

• Work with the different types of materials in Three.js and understand how they interact with your 3D objects and the rest of the environment
• Implement the different camera controls provided by Three.js to effortlessly navigate around your 3D scene
• Work with vertices directly to create snow, rain, and galaxy-like effects
• Import and animate models from external formats, such as OBJ, STL, and COLLADA
• Create and run animations using morph target and bone-based animation
• Get to grips with advanced textures on materials to create realistic looking3D objects using bump maps, normal maps, specular maps, and light maps
• Interact directly with WebGL by creating custom vertex and fragment shaders

Who this book is for

This book is for JavaScript developers who are looking to learn how to use the Three.js library confidently.

Table of Contents

1. Creating Your First 3D Scene with Three.js
2. Basic Components That Make Up a Three.js Scene
3. Working with the Different Light Sources Available in Three.js
4. Working with Three.js Materials
5. Learning to Work with Geometries
6. Advanced Geometries and Binary Operations
7. Particles, Sprites, and the Point Cloud
8. Creating and Loading Advanced Meshes and Geometries
9. Animation and moving the camera
10. Loading and Working with Textures
11. Custom Shaders, Render Postprocessing and Raycaster
12. Physics, Sounds for Your Scene