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Object3D

This is the base class for most objects in three.js and provides a set of properties and methods for manipulating objects in 3D space.

Note that this can be used for grouping objects via the .add( object ) method which adds the object as a child, however it is better to use Group for this.

Constructor​

Object3D​

function Object3D( ): void;

The constructor takes no arguments.

Properties​

animations​

animations: AnimationClip;

Array with object's animation clips.

castShadow​

castShadow: Boolean;

Whether the object gets rendered into shadow map. Default is false.

children​

children: Array;

Array with object's children. See Group for info on manually grouping objects.

customDepthMaterial​

customDepthMaterial: Material;

Custom depth material to be used when rendering to the depth map. Can only be used in context of meshes. When shadow-casting with a DirectionalLight or SpotLight, if you are modifying vertex positions in the vertex shader you must specify a customDepthMaterial for proper shadows. Default is undefined.

customDistanceMaterial​

customDistanceMaterial: Material;

Same as .customDepthMaterial, but used with PointLight. Default is undefined.

frustumCulled​

frustumCulled: Boolean;

When this is set, it checks every frame if the object is in the frustum of the camera before rendering the object. If set to false the object gets rendered every frame even if it is not in the frustum of the camera. Default is true.

id​

id: Integer;

readonly – Unique number for this object instance.

isObject3D​

isObject3D: Boolean;

Read-only flag to check if a given object is of type Object3D.

layers​

layers: Layers;

The layer membership of the object. The object is only visible if it has at least one layer in common with the Camera in use. This property can also be used to filter out unwanted objects in ray- intersection tests when using Raycaster.

matrix​

matrix: Matrix4;

The local transform matrix.

matrixAutoUpdate​

matrixAutoUpdate: Boolean;

When this is set, it calculates the matrix of position, (rotation or quaternion) and scale every frame and also recalculates the matrixWorld property. Default is Object3D.DEFAULT_MATRIX_AUTO_UPDATE (true).

matrixWorld​

matrixWorld: Matrix4;

The global transform of the object. If the Object3D has no parent, then it's identical to the local transform .matrix.

matrixWorldAutoUpdate​

matrixWorldAutoUpdate: Boolean;

If set, then the renderer checks every frame if the object and its children need matrix updates. When it isn't, then you have to maintain all matrices in the object and its children yourself. Default is Object3D.DEFAULT_MATRIX_WORLD_AUTO_UPDATE (true).

matrixWorldNeedsUpdate​

matrixWorldNeedsUpdate: Boolean;

When this is set, it calculates the matrixWorld in that frame and resets this property to false. Default is false.

modelViewMatrix​

modelViewMatrix: Matrix4;

This is passed to the shader and used to calculate the position of the object.

name​

name: String;

Optional name of the object (doesn't need to be unique). Default is an empty string.

normalMatrix​

normalMatrix: Matrix3;

This is passed to the shader and used to calculate lighting for the object. It is the transpose of the inverse of the upper left 3x3 sub-matrix of this object's modelViewMatrix.

The reason for this special matrix is that simply using the modelViewMatrix could result in a non-unit length of normals (on scaling) or in a non- perpendicular direction (on non-uniform scaling).

On the other hand the translation part of the modelViewMatrix is not relevant for the calculation of normals. Thus a Matrix3 is sufficient.

onAfterRender​

onAfterRender: Function;

An optional callback that is executed immediately after a 3D object is rendered. This function is called with the following parameters: renderer, scene, camera, geometry, material, group.

Please notice that this callback is only executed for renderable 3D objects. Meaning 3D objects which define their visual appearance with geometries and materials like instances of Mesh, Line, Points or Sprite. Instances of Object3D, Group or Bone are not renderable and thus this callback is not executed for such objects.

onBeforeRender​

onBeforeRender: Function;

An optional callback that is executed immediately before a 3D object is rendered. This function is called with the following parameters: renderer, scene, camera, geometry, material, group.

Please notice that this callback is only executed for renderable 3D objects. Meaning 3D objects which define their visual appearance with geometries and materials like instances of Mesh, Line, Points or Sprite. Instances of Object3D, Group or Bone are not renderable and thus this callback is not executed for such objects.

parent​

parent: Object3D;

Object's parent in the scene graph. An object can have at most one parent.

position​

position: Vector3;

A Vector3 representing the object's local position. Default is (0, 0, 0).

quaternion​

quaternion: Quaternion;

Object's local rotation as a Quaternion.

receiveShadow​

receiveShadow: Boolean;

Whether the material receives shadows. Default is false.

renderOrder​

renderOrder: Number;

This value allows the default rendering order of scene graph objects to be overridden although opaque and transparent objects remain sorted independently. When this property is set for an instance of Group, all descendants objects will be sorted and rendered together. Sorting is from lowest to highest renderOrder. Default value is 0.

rotation​

rotation: Euler;

Object's local rotation (see Euler angles), in radians.

scale​

scale: Vector3;

The object's local scale. Default is Vector3( 1, 1, 1 ).

up​

up: Vector3;

This is used by the .lookAt method, for example, to determine the orientation of the result.
Default is Object3D.DEFAULT_UP - that is, ( 0, 1, 0 ).

userData​

userData: Object;

An object that can be used to store custom data about the Object3D. It should not hold references to functions as these will not be cloned.

uuid​

uuid: String;

UUID of this object instance. This gets automatically assigned, so this shouldn't be edited.

visible​

visible: Boolean;

Object gets rendered if true. Default is true.

Static Properties​

Static properties and methods are defined per class rather than per instance of that class. This means that changing Object3D.DEFAULT_UP or Object3D.DEFAULT_MATRIX_AUTO_UPDATE will change the values of .up and .matrixAutoUpdate for every instance of Object3D (or derived classes) created after the change has been made (already created Object3Ds will not be affected).

DEFAULT_UP​

DEFAULT_UP: Vector3;

The default .up direction for objects, also used as the default position for DirectionalLight, HemisphereLight and Spotlight (which creates lights shining from the top down).
Set to ( 0, 1, 0 ) by default.

DEFAULT_MATRIX_AUTO_UPDATE​

DEFAULT_MATRIX_AUTO_UPDATE: Boolean;

The default setting for .matrixAutoUpdate for newly created Object3Ds.

DEFAULT_MATRIX_WORLD_AUTO_UPDATE​

DEFAULT_MATRIX_WORLD_AUTO_UPDATE: Boolean;

The default setting for .matrixWorldAutoUpdate for newly created Object3Ds.

Methods​

EventDispatcher methods are available on this class.

add​

function add( object: Object3D ): this;

Adds object as child of this object. An arbitrary number of objects may be added. Any current parent on an object passed in here will be removed, since an object can have at most one parent.

See Group for info on manually grouping objects.

applyMatrix4​

function applyMatrix4( matrix: Matrix4 ): undefined;

Applies the matrix transform to the object and updates the object's position, rotation and scale.

applyQuaternion​

function applyQuaternion( quaternion: Quaternion ): this;

Applies the rotation represented by the quaternion to the object.

attach​

function attach( object: Object3D ): this;

Adds object as a child of this, while maintaining the object's world transform.

Note: This method does not support scene graphs having non-uniformly-scaled nodes(s).

clone​

function clone( recursive: Boolean ): Object3D;

recursive -- if true, descendants of the object are also cloned. Default is true.

Returns a clone of this object and optionally all descendants.

copy​

function copy( object: Object3D, recursive: Boolean ): this;

recursive -- if true, descendants of the object are also copied. Default is true.

Copy the given object into this object. Note: event listeners and user-defined callbacks (.onAfterRender and .onBeforeRender) are not copied.

getObjectById​

function getObjectById( id: Integer ): Object3D;

id -- Unique number of the object instance

Searches through an object and its children, starting with the object itself, and returns the first with a matching id.
Note that ids are assigned in chronological order: 1, 2, 3, ..., incrementing by one for each new object.

getObjectByName​

function getObjectByName( name: String ): Object3D;

name -- String to match to the children's Object3D.name property.

Searches through an object and its children, starting with the object itself, and returns the first with a matching name.
Note that for most objects the name is an empty string by default. You will have to set it manually to make use of this method.

getObjectByProperty​

function getObjectByProperty( name: String, value: Any ): Object3D;

name -- the property name to search for.
value -- value of the given property.

Searches through an object and its children, starting with the object itself, and returns the first with a property that matches the value given.

getObjectsByProperty​

function getObjectsByProperty( name: String, value: Any ): Object3D;

name -- the property name to search for.
value -- value of the given property.

Searches through an object and its children, starting with the object itself, and returns all the objects with a property that matches the value given.

getWorldPosition​

function getWorldPosition( target: Vector3 ): Vector3;

target — the result will be copied into this Vector3.

Returns a vector representing the position of the object in world space.

getWorldQuaternion​

function getWorldQuaternion( target: Quaternion ): Quaternion;

target — the result will be copied into this Quaternion.

Returns a quaternion representing the rotation of the object in world space.

getWorldScale​

function getWorldScale( target: Vector3 ): Vector3;

target — the result will be copied into this Vector3.

Returns a vector of the scaling factors applied to the object for each axis in world space.

getWorldDirection​

function getWorldDirection( target: Vector3 ): Vector3;

target — the result will be copied into this Vector3.

Returns a vector representing the direction of object's positive z-axis in world space.

localToWorld​

function localToWorld( vector: Vector3 ): Vector3;

vector - A vector representing a position in this object's local space.

Converts the vector from this object's local space to world space.

lookAt​

function lookAt( vector: Vector3, x: Float, y: Float, z: Float ): undefined;

vector - A vector representing a position in world space.

Optionally, the .x, .y and .z components of the world space position.

Rotates the object to face a point in world space.

This method does not support objects having non-uniformly-scaled parent(s).

raycast​

function raycast( raycaster: Raycaster, intersects: Array ): undefined;

Abstract (empty) method to get intersections between a casted ray and this object. Subclasses such as Mesh, Line, and Points implement this method in order to use raycasting.

remove​

function remove( object: Object3D ): this;

Removes object as child of this object. An arbitrary number of objects may be removed.

removeFromParent​

function removeFromParent( ): this;

Removes this object from its current parent.

clear​

function clear( ): this;

Removes all child objects.

rotateOnAxis​

function rotateOnAxis( axis: Vector3, angle: Float ): this;

axis -- A normalized vector in object space.
angle -- The angle in radians.

Rotate an object along an axis in object space. The axis is assumed to be normalized.

rotateOnWorldAxis​

function rotateOnWorldAxis( axis: Vector3, angle: Float ): this;

axis -- A normalized vector in world space.
angle -- The angle in radians.

Rotate an object along an axis in world space. The axis is assumed to be normalized. Method Assumes no rotated parent.

rotateX​

function rotateX( rad: Float ): this;

rad - the angle to rotate in radians.

Rotates the object around x axis in local space.

rotateY​

function rotateY( rad: Float ): this;

rad - the angle to rotate in radians.

Rotates the object around y axis in local space.

rotateZ​

function rotateZ( rad: Float ): this;

rad - the angle to rotate in radians.

Rotates the object around z axis in local space.

setRotationFromAxisAngle​

function setRotationFromAxisAngle( axis: Vector3, angle: Float ): undefined;

axis -- A normalized vector in object space.
angle -- angle in radians

Calls setFromAxisAngle( .loat, .loat ) on the .quaternion.

setRotationFromEuler​

function setRotationFromEuler( euler: Euler ): undefined;

euler -- Euler angle specifying rotation amount.
Calls setRotationFromEuler( .uler) on the .quaternion.

setRotationFromMatrix​

function setRotationFromMatrix( m: Matrix4 ): undefined;

m -- rotate the quaternion by the rotation component of the matrix.
Calls setFromRotationMatrix( .atrix4) on the .quaternion.

Note that this assumes that the upper 3x3 of m is a pure rotation matrix (i.e, unscaled).

setRotationFromQuaternion​

function setRotationFromQuaternion( q: Quaternion ): undefined;

q -- normalized Quaternion.

Copy the given quaternion into .quaternion.

toJSON​

function toJSON( meta: Object ): Object;

meta -- object containing metadata such as materials, textures or images for the object.
Convert the object to three.js JSON Object/Scene format.

translateOnAxis​

function translateOnAxis( axis: Vector3, distance: Float ): this;

axis -- A normalized vector in object space.
distance -- The distance to translate.

Translate an object by distance along an axis in object space. The axis is assumed to be normalized.

translateX​

function translateX( distance: Float ): this;

Translates object along x axis in object space by distance units.

translateY​

function translateY( distance: Float ): this;

Translates object along y axis in object space by distance units.

translateZ​

function translateZ( distance: Float ): this;

Translates object along z axis in object space by distance units.

traverse​

function traverse( callback: Function ): undefined;

callback - A function with as first argument an object3D object.

Executes the callback on this object and all descendants.
Note: Modifying the scene graph inside the callback is discouraged.

traverseVisible​

function traverseVisible( callback: Function ): undefined;

callback - A function with as first argument an object3D object.

Like traverse, but the callback will only be executed for visible objects. Descendants of invisible objects are not traversed.
Note: Modifying the scene graph inside the callback is discouraged.

traverseAncestors​

function traverseAncestors( callback: Function ): undefined;

callback - A function with as first argument an object3D object.

Executes the callback on all ancestors.
Note: Modifying the scene graph inside the callback is discouraged.

updateMatrix​

function updateMatrix( ): undefined;

Updates the local transform.

updateMatrixWorld​

function updateMatrixWorld( force: Boolean ): undefined;

force - A boolean that can be used to bypass .matrixWorldAutoUpdate, to recalculate the world matrix of the object and descendants on the current frame. Useful if you cannot wait for the renderer to update it on the next frame (assuming .matrixWorldAutoUpdate set to true).

Updates the global transform of the object and its descendants if the world matrix needs update (.matrixWorldNeedsUpdate set to true) or if the force parameter is set to true.

updateWorldMatrix​

function updateWorldMatrix( updateParents: Boolean, updateChildren: Boolean ):
undefined;

updateParents - recursively updates global transform of ancestors.
updateChildren - recursively updates global transform of descendants.

Updates the global transform of the object.

worldToLocal​

function worldToLocal( vector: Vector3 ): Vector3;

vector - A vector representing a position in world space.

Converts the vector from world space to this object's local space.

Source​

src/core/Object3D.js