THREE.js can not rotate object

Question

I am attempting to rotate an object I uploaded along its y axis. The object uploads and the material is applied. I have used the same code to rotate a sphere but it does not seem to work with a custom object. If I un-comment the line at the bottom that is supposed to handle the actual rotation, the image no longer shows up as if there is an error. Web GL Test body { font-family: Monospace; background-color: #f0f0f0; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; }

    <script src="js/three.min.js"></script>
            <script src="js/OBJLoader.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript">

        var container, stats;

        var camera, scene, renderer;

        var targetRotation = 0;
        var targetRotationOnMouseDown = 0;

        var mouseX = 0;
        var mouseXOnMouseDown = 0;

        var windowHalfX = window.innerWidth / 2;
        var windowHalfY = window.innerHeight / 2;

        init();
        animate();

        function init() {

            container = document.createElement( 'div' );
            document.body.appendChild( container );

            camera = new THREE.PerspectiveCamera( 70, window.innerWidth / window.innerHeight, 1, 1000 );
            camera.position.y = 200;
            camera.position.z = 150;

            scene = new THREE.Scene();

                            var loader = new THREE.OBJLoader();
                            loader.addEventListener( 'load', function ( event ) {

                            var object = event.content;
                            var geom = new THREE.SphereGeometry( 100, 50, 50 );
                            object.traverse( function ( child ) {

                                if ( child instanceof THREE.Mesh ) {

                                    child.material.map = texture;

                                }

                                } );

                                object.position.y = 150;
                                scene.add( object );
                                });
                                loader.load( 'Head.obj' );


                            var texture = THREE.ImageUtils.loadTexture('face.gif');
                            texture.needsUpdate = true;

            renderer = new THREE.CanvasRenderer();
            renderer.setSize( window.innerWidth, window.innerHeight );

                            container.appendChild( renderer.domElement );

            document.addEventListener( 'mousedown', onDocumentMouseDown, false );
            document.addEventListener( 'touchstart', onDocumentTouchStart, false );
            document.addEventListener( 'touchmove', onDocumentTouchMove, false );

            //

            window.addEventListener( 'resize', onWindowResize, false );

        }

        function onWindowResize() {

            windowHalfX = window.innerWidth / 2;
            windowHalfY = window.innerHeight / 2;

            camera.aspect = window.innerWidth / window.innerHeight;
            camera.updateProjectionMatrix();

            renderer.setSize( window.innerWidth, window.innerHeight );

        }

        //

        function onDocumentMouseDown( event ) {

            event.preventDefault();

            document.addEventListener( 'mousemove', onDocumentMouseMove, false );
            document.addEventListener( 'mouseup', onDocumentMouseUp, false );
            document.addEventListener( 'mouseout', onDocumentMouseOut, false );

            mouseXOnMouseDown = event.clientX - windowHalfX;
            targetRotationOnMouseDown = targetRotation;

        }

        function onDocumentMouseMove( event ) {

            mouseX = event.clientX - windowHalfX;

            targetRotation = targetRotationOnMouseDown + ( mouseX - mouseXOnMouseDown ) * 0.02;

        }

        function onDocumentMouseUp( event ) {

            document.removeEventListener( 'mousemove', onDocumentMouseMove, false );
            document.removeEventListener( 'mouseup', onDocumentMouseUp, false );
            document.removeEventListener( 'mouseout', onDocumentMouseOut, false );

        }

        function onDocumentMouseOut( event ) {

            document.removeEventListener( 'mousemove', onDocumentMouseMove, false );
            document.removeEventListener( 'mouseup', onDocumentMouseUp, false );
            document.removeEventListener( 'mouseout', onDocumentMouseOut, false );

        }

        function onDocumentTouchStart( event ) {

            if ( event.touches.length === 1 ) {

                event.preventDefault();

                mouseXOnMouseDown = event.touches[ 0 ].pageX - windowHalfX;
                targetRotationOnMouseDown = targetRotation;

            }

        }

        function onDocumentTouchMove( event ) {

            if ( event.touches.length === 1 ) {

                event.preventDefault();

                mouseX = event.touches[ 0 ].pageX - windowHalfX;
                targetRotation = targetRotationOnMouseDown + ( mouseX - mouseXOnMouseDown ) * 0.05;

            }

        }

        //

        function animate() {

            requestAnimationFrame( animate );

            render();

        }

        function render() {

            //object.rotation.y += ( targetRotation - object.rotation.y ) * 0.05;
            renderer.render( scene, camera );

        }

    </script>

</body>

Answer 1

The problem is that you use the variable "object" in the animate function before it is initialized. Also the variable "object" has a scope limited to the callback function of the loader.

You might want to read something about javascript variable scope. http://www.mredkj.com/tutorials/reference_js_intro_ex.html

To solve your problem you might to change a few things.

1) Make the variable "object" global

// Make object a global variable
var camera, scene, renderer, object;

2) Do not call the animate function before the object is initialized

init();
//animate();

3) Do not use "var" inside callback function of the loader

var loader = new THREE.OBJLoader();
loader.addEventListener( 'load', function ( event ) {      
  //var object = event.content;
  object = event.content;
  var geom = new THREE.SphereGeometry( 100, 50, 50 );

4) Call "animate" after "object" is initialized

object.position.y = 150;
scene.add( object );
// Call animate after object is loaded and added to the scene
animate();

5) Good luck ;)