building-3d-graphics

name	building-3d-graphics
description	Claude builds immersive 3D web experiences with Three.js and React Three Fiber. Use when creating WebGL scenes, 3D animations, shaders, or physics simulations.

Building 3D Graphics

Quick Start

import { Canvas } from '@react-three/fiber';
import { OrbitControls, Environment } from '@react-three/drei';

export function Scene() {
  return (
    <Canvas shadows camera={{ position: [5, 3, 5], fov: 50 }}>
      <ambientLight intensity={0.5} />
      <directionalLight position={[10, 10, 5]} castShadow />
      <mesh castShadow>
        <boxGeometry args={[1, 1, 1]} />
        <meshStandardMaterial color="#4ecdc4" />
      </mesh>
      <OrbitControls enableDamping />
      <Environment preset="city" />
    </Canvas>
  );
}

Features

Feature	Description	Guide
Scene Management	Renderer, camera, controls setup with proper disposal	ref/scene-manager.md
React Three Fiber	Declarative 3D with React components and hooks	ref/r3f-patterns.md
Custom Shaders	GLSL vertex/fragment shaders with uniforms	ref/shader-materials.md
Physics	Rapier physics with rigid bodies and colliders	ref/physics-system.md
Animation	GSAP and Three.js animation mixer integration	ref/animation.md
Performance	LOD, instancing, frustum culling, texture optimization	ref/optimization.md

Common Patterns

Animated Component with Interaction

function AnimatedBox({ position }: { position: [number, number, number] }) {
  const meshRef = useRef<THREE.Mesh>(null);
  const [hovered, setHovered] = useState(false);

  useFrame((state, delta) => {
    if (meshRef.current) {
      meshRef.current.rotation.y += delta * 0.5;
      const scale = hovered ? 1.2 : 1;
      meshRef.current.scale.lerp(new THREE.Vector3(scale, scale, scale), 0.1);
    }
  });

  return (
    <mesh
      ref={meshRef}
      position={position}
      onPointerOver={() => setHovered(true)}
      onPointerOut={() => setHovered(false)}
    >
      <boxGeometry args={[1, 1, 1]} />
      <meshStandardMaterial color={hovered ? '#ff6b6b'  '#'} />
    
  );
}

Instanced Mesh for Performance

function InstancedBoxes({ count = 1000 }: { count?: number }) {
  const meshRef = useRef<THREE.InstancedMesh>(null);
  const temp = useMemo(() => new THREE.Object3D(), []);

  useEffect(() => {
    for (let i = 0; i < count; i++) {
      temp.position.set(
        (Math.random() - 0.5) * 50,
        (Math.random() - 0.5) * 50,
        (Math.random() - 0.5) * 50
      );
      temp.updateMatrix();
      meshRef.current?.setMatrixAt(i, temp.matrix);
    }
    meshRef.current!.instanceMatrix.needsUpdate = true;
  }, [count, temp]);

  return (
    <instancedMesh ref={meshRef} args={[undefined, undefined, count]}>
      
      
    
  );
}

Custom Shader Material

const GradientMaterial = shaderMaterial(
  { uTime: 0, uColorA: new THREE.Color('#ff6b6b'), uColorB: new THREE.Color('#4ecdc4') },
  // Vertex shader
  `varying vec2 vUv;
   void main() {
     vUv = uv;
     gl_Position = projectionMatrix * modelViewMatrix * vec4(position, 1.0);
   }`,
  // Fragment shader
  `uniform float uTime;
   uniform vec3 uColorA;
   uniform vec3 uColorB;
   varying vec2 vUv;
   void main() {
     vec3 color = mix(uColorA, uColorB, vUv.y + sin(uTime) * 0.1);
     gl_FragColor = vec4(color, 1.0);
   }`
);
extend({ GradientMaterial });

Best Practices

Do	Avoid
Use React Three Fiber for React apps	Creating geometries/materials in render loops
Dispose geometries, materials, textures on unmount	Too many dynamic lights (limit to 3-4)
Use instancing for many identical objects	Skipping frustum culling in large scenes
Implement LOD for complex scenes	Uncompressed high-resolution textures
Cap pixel ratio at 2: Math.min(window.devicePixelRatio, 2)	Transparent materials unless necessary
Use compressed textures (KTX2, Basis)	Forgetting to update instanceMatrix after changes