Three.js

Introduction

Three.js is a cross-browser JavaScript library and Application Programming Interface (API) used to create and display animated 3D computer graphics in a web browser. Three.js uses HTML5 and WebGL. The source code is hosted in a repository on GitHub. For a more complete description see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three.js

I started investigating this in 2017, then left it favour of other projects. As with my earlier efforts in VRML2, I decided to begin with a static model and chose to recreate the Aphaia temple, since I have already done the research and got the dimensions and drawings for it. Constructing the model itself was fairly straightforward but providing a background and ground texture proved to be more tricky. Three.js is an evolving library and changes in recommended practice can be confusing. Documentation and examples that work and are understandable to the beginner are hard to find. There are few books and the examples given there and on various web-sites are often out of date. I have had to resort to asking questions on the Stack Overflow site, where I have received valuable help.

The current state of the model (or scene, to use three.js terminlogy. In VRML it is called a world.) can be viewed here.

Page last modified: 21st July 2020