CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javascriptthree.js
Lavonen
Lavonen

Reputation: 670

Three.js - give particles round form

I am currently experimenting with three.js. I would like to change the code in the example below so the dots are round, not square.

Codepen example

I found another example called canvas particle random, which has round particles, and basically, the only difference in the script is the following:

var PI2 = Math.PI * 2;
var program = function ( context ) {

    context.beginPath();
    context.arc( 0, 0, 0.5, 0, PI2, true );
    context.fill();

};

I thought that if I add this to the other script, then the particles would become round. However, when I added the above script to the first script, it doesn't work (I just get a blue screen).

Anyone know what I am doing wrong?

Upvotes: 5

Views: 6818

Answers (3)

Sebastiaan Marynissen
Sebastiaan Marynissen

Reputation: 154

Even though this question has been asked more than 2 years ago, I thought it would be useful to add that you could always write your own fragment shader using a three.js ShaderMaterial:

let geom = new three.Geometry();
geom.vertices.push(new three.Vector3(0,0,0));
let material = new three.ShaderMaterial({
    transparent: true,
    uniforms: {
        size: {value: 10},
        scale: {value: 1},
        color: {value: new three.Color('maroon')}
    },
    vertexShader: three.ShaderLib.points.vertexShader,
    fragmentShader: `
    uniform vec3 color;
    void main() {
        vec2 xy = gl_PointCoord.xy - vec2(0.5);
        float ll = length(xy);
        gl_FragColor = vec4(color, step(ll, 0.5));
    }
    `
});
let points = new three.Points(geom, material);

Upvotes: 11

2pha
2pha

Reputation: 10155

As others have said, you can use a texture as the map in your PointsMaterial.
But if you just want circles, an easier method may be to create the map dynamically with a canvas (which is what the code you posted seems to be trying to do).

HERE is a fiddle with your code updated to use a canvas as your texture map.
NOTE: I have changed the colors in your paramters object to make it more obvious that different colors are being used.

The function that creates a circle on a canvas for use as a map.

function createCanvasMaterial(color, size) {
  var matCanvas = document.createElement('canvas');
  matCanvas.width = matCanvas.height = size;
  var matContext = matCanvas.getContext('2d');
  // create exture object from canvas.
  var texture = new THREE.Texture(matCanvas);
  // Draw a circle
  var center = size / 2;
  matContext.beginPath();
  matContext.arc(center, center, size/2, 0, 2 * Math.PI, false);
  matContext.closePath();
  matContext.fillStyle = color;
  matContext.fill();
  // need to set needsUpdate
  texture.needsUpdate = true;
  // return a texture made from the canvas
  return texture;
}

map canvas creation in the loop using the parameters object. 

  for (i = 0; i < parameters.length; i++) {

    color = parameters[i][0];
    size = parameters[i][1];

    var hexColor = new THREE.Color(color[0], color[1], color[2]).getHexString();

    materials[i] = new THREE.PointsMaterial({
        size: 20,
        map: createCanvasMaterial('#'+hexColor, 256),
        transparent: true,
        depthWrite: false
    });

    particles = new THREE.Points(geometry, materials[i]);

    particles.rotation.x = Math.random() * 6;
    particles.rotation.y = Math.random() * 6;
    particles.rotation.z = Math.random() * 6;

    scene.add(particles);

  }

Have to set depthWrite to false on the marterial. see THIS issue.

I have now created a blog post on Three.js canvas particles

Upvotes: 7

prisoner849
prisoner849

Reputation: 17586

You can use a texture to your sprites:

  var tex = new THREE.TextureLoader().load("https://threejs.org/examples/textures/sprites/disc.png");
  // load the texture

  for (i = 0; i < parameters.length; i++) {

    color = parameters[i][0];
    size = parameters[i][1];

    materials[i] = new THREE.PointsMaterial({
      size: size,
      map: tex // apply the texture in your material
    });

    particles = new THREE.Points(geometry, materials[i]);

    particles.rotation.x = Math.random() * 6;
    particles.rotation.y = Math.random() * 6;
    particles.rotation.z = Math.random() * 6;

    scene.add(particles);

  }

Upvotes: 1

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