Class Group<TEventMap>

Its purpose is to make working with groups of objects syntactically clearer.

Remarks

This is almost identical to an Object3D

Example

const geometry = new THREE.BoxGeometry(1, 1, 1);
const material = new THREE.MeshBasicMaterial({
    color: 0x00ff00
});
const cubeA = new THREE.Mesh(geometry, material);
cubeA.position.set(100, 100, 0);
const cubeB = new THREE.Mesh(geometry, material);
cubeB.position.set(-100, -100, 0);
//create a {@link Group} and add the two cubes
//These cubes can now be rotated / scaled etc as a {@link Group}  * const {@link Group} = new THREE.Group();
group.add(cubeA);
group.add(cubeB);
scene.add(group);

See

Type Parameters

Hierarchy (view full)

Constructors

constructor

Properties

DEFAULT_UP DEFAULT_MATRIX_AUTO_UPDATE DEFAULT_MATRIX_WORLD_AUTO_UPDATE isGroup type isObject3D id uuid name parent children up position rotation quaternion scale modelViewMatrix normalMatrix matrix matrixWorld matrixAutoUpdate matrixWorldAutoUpdate matrixWorldNeedsUpdate layers visible castShadow receiveShadow frustumCulled renderOrder animations userData customDepthMaterial? customDistanceMaterial?

Methods

onBeforeShadow onAfterShadow onBeforeRender onAfterRender applyMatrix4 applyQuaternion setRotationFromAxisAngle setRotationFromEuler setRotationFromMatrix setRotationFromQuaternion rotateOnAxis rotateOnWorldAxis rotateX rotateY rotateZ translateOnAxis translateX translateY translateZ localToWorld worldToLocal lookAt add remove removeFromParent clear attach getObjectById getObjectByName getObjectByProperty getObjectsByProperty getWorldPosition getWorldQuaternion getWorldScale getWorldDirection raycast traverse traverseVisible traverseAncestors updateMatrix updateMatrixWorld updateWorldMatrix toJSON clone copy addEventListener hasEventListener removeEventListener dispatchEvent

Constructors

constructor

Properties

StaticDEFAULT_UP

DEFAULT_UP: Vector3

The default up direction for objects, also used as the default position for THREE.DirectionalLight | DirectionalLight,
THREE.HemisphereLight | HemisphereLight and THREE.Spotlight | Spotlight (which creates lights shining from the top down).

Default Value

new THREE.Vector3( 0, 1, 0)

StaticDEFAULT_MATRIX_AUTO_UPDATE

DEFAULT_MATRIX_AUTO_UPDATE: boolean

The default setting for matrixAutoUpdate for newly created Object3Ds.

Default Value

true

StaticDEFAULT_MATRIX_WORLD_AUTO_UPDATE

DEFAULT_MATRIX_WORLD_AUTO_UPDATE: boolean

The default setting for matrixWorldAutoUpdate for newly created Object3Ds.

Default Value

true

ReadonlyisGroup

isGroup: true

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

Remarks

This is a constant value

Default Value

true

Readonlytype

type: string

Default Value

Group

ReadonlyisObject3D

isObject3D: true

Flag to check if a given object is of type Object3D.

Remarks

This is a constant value

Default Value

true

Readonlyid

id: number

Unique number for this Object3D instance.

Remarks

Note that ids are assigned in chronological order: 1, 2, 3, ..., incrementing by one for each new object.
Expects a Integer

uuid

uuid: string

UUID of this object instance.

Remarks

This gets automatically assigned and shouldn't be edited.

name

name: string

Optional name of the object

Remarks

(doesn't need to be unique).

Default Value

""

parent

parent: null | Object3D<Object3DEventMap>

Object's parent in the scene graph.

Remarks

An object can have at most one parent.

Default Value

null

children

children: Object3D<Object3DEventMap>[]

Array with object's children.

See

THREE.Object3DGroup | Group for info on manually grouping objects.

Default Value

[]

up

up: Vector3

This is used by the lookAt method, for example, to determine the orientation of the result.

Default Value

Object3D.DEFAULT_UP - that is (0, 1, 0).

Readonlyposition

position: Vector3

Object's local position.

Default Value

new THREE.Vector3() - that is (0, 0, 0).

Readonlyrotation

rotation: Euler

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

Default Value

new THREE.Euler() - that is (0, 0, 0, Euler.DEFAULT_ORDER).

Readonlyquaternion

quaternion: Quaternion

Object's local rotation as a THREE.Quaternion | Quaternion.

Default Value

new THREE.Quaternion() - that is (0, 0, 0, 1).

Readonlyscale

scale: Vector3

The object's local scale.

Default Value

new THREE.Vector3( 1, 1, 1 )

ReadonlymodelViewMatrix

modelViewMatrix: Matrix4

Default Value

new THREE.Matrix4()

ReadonlynormalMatrix

normalMatrix: Matrix3

Default Value

new THREE.Matrix3()

matrix

matrix: Matrix4

The local transform matrix.

Default Value

new THREE.Matrix4()

matrixWorld

matrixWorld: Matrix4

The global transform of the object.

Remarks

If the Object3D has no parent, then it's identical to the local transform THREE.Object3D.matrix | .matrix.

Default Value

new THREE.Matrix4()

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 Value

DEFAULT_MATRIX_AUTO_UPDATE - that is (true).

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 Value

DEFAULT_MATRIX_WORLD_AUTO_UPDATE - that is (true).

matrixWorldNeedsUpdate

matrixWorldNeedsUpdate: boolean

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

Default Value

false

layers

layers: Layers

The layer membership of the object.

Remarks

The object is only visible if it has at least one layer in common with the THREE.Object3DCamera | Camera in use.
This property can also be used to filter out unwanted objects in ray-intersection tests when using THREE.Raycaster | Raycaster.

Default Value

new THREE.Layers()

visible

visible: boolean

Object gets rendered if true.

Default Value

true

castShadow

castShadow: boolean

Whether the object gets rendered into shadow map.

Default Value

false

receiveShadow

receiveShadow: boolean

Whether the material receives shadows.

Default Value

false

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 Value

true

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.

Remarks

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

0

animations

animations: AnimationClip[]

Array with object's animation clips.

Default Value

[]

userData

userData: Record<string, any>

An object that can be used to store custom data about the Object3D.

Remarks

It should not hold references to functions as these will not be cloned.

Default

{}

OptionalcustomDepthMaterial

customDepthMaterial?: Material

Custom depth material to be used when rendering to the depth map.

Remarks

Can only be used in context of meshes.
When shadow-casting with a THREE.DirectionalLight | DirectionalLight or THREE.SpotLight | SpotLight,
if you are modifying vertex positions in the vertex shader you must specify a customDepthMaterial for proper shadows.

Default Value

undefined

OptionalcustomDistanceMaterial

customDistanceMaterial?: Material

Same as customDepthMaterial, but used with THREE.Object3DPointLight | PointLight.

Default Value

undefined

Methods

onBeforeShadow

  • onBeforeShadow(renderer, scene, shadowCamera, geometry, depthMaterial, group): void

  • An optional callback that is executed immediately before a 3D object is rendered to a shadow map.

    Parameters

    Returns void

    Remarks

    This function is called with the following parameters: renderer, scene, camera, shadowCamera, geometry,
    depthMaterial, 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.

onAfterShadow

  • onAfterShadow(renderer, scene, shadowCamera, geometry, depthMaterial, group): void

  • An optional callback that is executed immediately after a 3D object is rendered to a shadow map.

    Parameters

    Returns void

    Remarks

    This function is called with the following parameters: renderer, scene, camera, shadowCamera, geometry,
    depthMaterial, 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(renderer, scene, camera, geometry, material, group): void

  • An optional callback that is executed immediately before a 3D object is rendered.

    Parameters

    Returns void

    Remarks

    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.

onAfterRender

  • onAfterRender(renderer, scene, camera, geometry, material, group): void

  • An optional callback that is executed immediately after a 3D object is rendered.

    Parameters

    Returns void

    Remarks

    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.

applyMatrix4

  • applyMatrix4(matrix): void

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

    Parameters

    Returns void

applyQuaternion

  • applyQuaternion(quaternion): this

  • Applies the rotation represented by the quaternion to the object.

    Parameters

    Returns this

setRotationFromAxisAngle

  • setRotationFromAxisAngle(axis, angle): void

  • Calls THREE.Quaternion.setFromAxisAngle | setFromAxisAngle(axis, angle) on the .quaternion.

    Parameters

    • axis: Vector3

      A normalized vector in object space.

    • angle: number

      Angle in radians. Expects a Float

    Returns void

setRotationFromEuler

  • setRotationFromEuler(euler): void

  • Calls THREE.Quaternion.setFromEuler | setFromEuler(euler) on the .quaternion.

    Parameters

    • euler: Euler

      Euler angle specifying rotation amount.

    Returns void

setRotationFromMatrix

  • setRotationFromMatrix(m): void

  • Calls THREE.Quaternion.setFromRotationMatrix | setFromRotationMatrix(m) on the .quaternion.

    Parameters

    • m: Matrix4

      Rotate the quaternion by the rotation component of the matrix.

    Returns void

    Remarks

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

setRotationFromQuaternion

rotateOnAxis

  • rotateOnAxis(axis, angle): this

  • Rotate an object along an axis in object space.

    Parameters

    • axis: Vector3

      A normalized vector in object space.

    • angle: number

      The angle in radians. Expects a Float

    Returns this

    Remarks

    The axis is assumed to be normalized.

rotateOnWorldAxis

  • rotateOnWorldAxis(axis, angle): this

  • Rotate an object along an axis in world space.

    Parameters

    • axis: Vector3

      A normalized vector in world space.

    • angle: number

      The angle in radians. Expects a Float

    Returns this

    Remarks

    The axis is assumed to be normalized
    Method Assumes no rotated parent.

rotateX

  • rotateX(angle): this

  • Rotates the object around x axis in local space.

    Parameters

    • angle: number

    Returns this

rotateY

  • rotateY(angle): this

  • Rotates the object around y axis in local space.

    Parameters

    • angle: number

    Returns this

rotateZ

  • rotateZ(angle): this

  • Rotates the object around z axis in local space.

    Parameters

    • angle: number

    Returns this

translateOnAxis

  • translateOnAxis(axis, distance): this

  • Translate an object by distance along an axis in object space

    Parameters

    • axis: Vector3

      A normalized vector in object space.

    • distance: number

      The distance to translate. Expects a Float

    Returns this

    Remarks

    The axis is assumed to be normalized.

translateX

  • translateX(distance): this

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

    Parameters

    • distance: number

      Expects a Float

    Returns this

translateY

  • translateY(distance): this

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

    Parameters

    • distance: number

      Expects a Float

    Returns this

translateZ

  • translateZ(distance): this

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

    Parameters

    • distance: number

      Expects a Float

    Returns this

localToWorld

  • localToWorld(vector): Vector3

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

    Parameters

    • vector: Vector3

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

    Returns Vector3

worldToLocal

  • worldToLocal(vector): Vector3

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

    Parameters

    • vector: Vector3

      A vector representing a position in world space.

    Returns Vector3

lookAt

  • lookAt(vector): void

  • Rotates the object to face a point in world space.

    Parameters

    • vector: Vector3

      A vector representing a position in world space to look at.

    Returns void

    Remarks

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

  • lookAt(x, y, z): void

  • Rotates the object to face a point in world space.

    Parameters

    • x: number

      Expects a Float

    • y: number

      Expects a Float

    • z: number

      Expects a Float

    Returns void

    Remarks

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

add

  • add(...object): this

  • Adds another Object3D as child of this Object3D.

    Parameters

    Returns this

    Remarks

    An arbitrary number of objects may be added
    Any current parent on an object passed in here will be removed, since an Object3D can have at most one parent.

    See

    • attach
    • THREE.Group | Group for info on manually grouping objects.

remove

  • remove(...object): this

  • Removes a Object3D as child of this Object3D.

    Parameters

    Returns this

    Remarks

    An arbitrary number of objects may be removed.

    See

    THREE.Group | Group for info on manually grouping objects.

removeFromParent

  • removeFromParent(): this

  • Removes this object from its current parent.

    Returns this

clear

  • clear(): this

  • Removes all child objects.

    Returns this

attach

  • attach(object): this

  • Adds a Object3D as a child of this, while maintaining the object's world transform.

    Parameters

    Returns this

    Remarks

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

    See

    add

getObjectById

  • getObjectById(id): undefined | Object3D<Object3DEventMap>

  • Searches through an object and its children, starting with the object itself, and returns the first with a matching id.

    Parameters

    • id: number

      Unique number of the object instance. Expects a Integer

    Returns undefined | Object3D<Object3DEventMap>

    Remarks

    Note that ids are assigned in chronological order: 1, 2, 3, ..., incrementing by one for each new object.

    See

    id

getObjectByName

  • getObjectByName(name): undefined | Object3D<Object3DEventMap>

  • Searches through an object and its children, starting with the object itself, and returns the first with a matching name.

    Parameters

    • name: string

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

    Returns undefined | Object3D<Object3DEventMap>

    Remarks

    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

  • getObjectByProperty(name, value): undefined | Object3D<Object3DEventMap>

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

    Parameters

    • name: string

      the property name to search for.

    • value: any

      value of the given property.

    Returns undefined | Object3D<Object3DEventMap>

getObjectsByProperty

  • getObjectsByProperty(name, value, optionalTarget?): Object3D<Object3DEventMap>[]

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

    Parameters

    • name: string

      The property name to search for.

    • value: any

      Value of the given property.

    • OptionaloptionalTarget: Object3D<Object3DEventMap>[]

      target to set the result. Otherwise a new Array is instantiated. If set, you must clear
      this array prior to each call (i.e., array.length = 0;).

    Returns Object3D<Object3DEventMap>[]

getWorldPosition

  • getWorldPosition(target): Vector3

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

    Parameters

    • target: Vector3

      The result will be copied into this Vector3.

    Returns Vector3

getWorldQuaternion

  • getWorldQuaternion(target): Quaternion

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

    Parameters

    • target: Quaternion

      The result will be copied into this Quaternion.

    Returns Quaternion

getWorldScale

  • getWorldScale(target): Vector3

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

    Parameters

    • target: Vector3

      The result will be copied into this Vector3.

    Returns Vector3

getWorldDirection

  • getWorldDirection(target): Vector3

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

    Parameters

    • target: Vector3

      The result will be copied into this Vector3.

    Returns Vector3

raycast

  • raycast(raycaster, intersects): void

  • Abstract (empty) method to get intersections between a casted ray and this object

    Parameters

    Returns void

    Remarks

    Subclasses such as THREE.Mesh | Mesh, THREE.Line | Line, and THREE.Points | Points implement this method in order to use raycasting.

    See

    THREE.Raycaster | Raycaster

    Default Value

    () => {}

traverse

  • traverse(callback): void

  • Executes the callback on this object and all descendants.

    Parameters

    Returns void

    Remarks

    Note: Modifying the scene graph inside the callback is discouraged.

traverseVisible

  • traverseVisible(callback): void

  • Like traverse, but the callback will only be executed for visible objects

    Parameters

    Returns void

    Remarks

    Descendants of invisible objects are not traversed.
    Note: Modifying the scene graph inside the callback is discouraged.

traverseAncestors

  • traverseAncestors(callback): void

  • Executes the callback on all ancestors.

    Parameters

    Returns void

    Remarks

    Note: Modifying the scene graph inside the callback is discouraged.

updateMatrix

  • updateMatrix(): void

  • Updates local transform.

    Returns void

updateMatrixWorld

  • updateMatrixWorld(force?): void

  • Updates the global transform of the object.
    And will update the object descendants if .matrixWorldNeedsUpdate is set to true or if the force parameter is set to true.

    Parameters

    • Optionalforce: boolean

      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.

    Returns void

updateWorldMatrix

  • updateWorldMatrix(updateParents, updateChildren): void

  • Updates the global transform of the object.

    Parameters

    • updateParents: boolean

      Recursively updates global transform of ancestors.

    • updateChildren: boolean

      Recursively updates global transform of descendants.

    Returns void

toJSON

  • toJSON(meta?): any

  • Convert the object to three.js JSON Object/Scene format.

    Parameters

    • Optionalmeta: {
          geometries: any;
          materials: any;
          textures: any;
          images: any;
      }

      Object containing metadata such as materials, textures or images for the object.

      • geometries: any
      • materials: any
      • textures: any
      • images: any

    Returns any

clone

  • clone(recursive?): this

  • Returns a clone of this object and optionally all descendants.

    Parameters

    • Optionalrecursive: boolean

      If true, descendants of the object are also cloned. Default true

    Returns this

copy

  • copy(object, recursive?): this

  • Copies the given object into this object.

    Parameters

    • object: Object3D<Object3DEventMap>
    • Optionalrecursive: boolean

      If set to true, descendants of the object are copied next to the existing ones. If set to
      false, descendants are left unchanged. Default is true.

    Returns this

    Remarks

    Event listeners and user-defined callbacks (.onAfterRender and .onBeforeRender) are not copied.

addEventListener

  • addEventListener<T>(type, listener): void

  • Adds a listener to an event type.

    Type Parameters

    • T extends string

    Parameters

    Returns void

  • addEventListener<T>(type, listener): void

  • Type Parameters

    • T extends string

    Parameters

    Returns void

hasEventListener

  • hasEventListener<T>(type, listener): boolean

  • Checks if listener is added to an event type.

    Type Parameters

    • T extends string

    Parameters

    Returns boolean

  • hasEventListener<T>(type, listener): boolean

  • Type Parameters

    • T extends string

    Parameters

    Returns boolean

removeEventListener

  • removeEventListener<T>(type, listener): void

  • Removes a listener from an event type.

    Type Parameters

    • T extends string

    Parameters

    Returns void

  • removeEventListener<T>(type, listener): void

  • Type Parameters

    • T extends string

    Parameters

    Returns void

dispatchEvent

  • dispatchEvent<T>(event): void

  • Fire an event type.

    Type Parameters

    • T extends string

    Parameters

    Returns void

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constructorDEFAULT_UPDEFAULT_MATRIX_AUTO_UPDATEDEFAULT_MATRIX_WORLD_AUTO_UPDATEisGrouptypeisObject3DiduuidnameparentchildrenuppositionrotationquaternionscalemodelViewMatrixnormalMatrixmatrixmatrixWorldmatrixAutoUpdatematrixWorldAutoUpdatematrixWorldNeedsUpdatelayersvisiblecastShadowreceiveShadowfrustumCulledrenderOrderanimationsuserDatacustomDepthMaterialcustomDistanceMaterialonBeforeShadowonAfterShadowonBeforeRenderonAfterRenderapplyMatrix4applyQuaternionsetRotationFromAxisAnglesetRotationFromEulersetRotationFromMatrixsetRotationFromQuaternionrotateOnAxisrotateOnWorldAxisrotateXrotateYrotateZtranslateOnAxistranslateXtranslateYtranslateZlocalToWorldworldToLocallookAtaddremoveremoveFromParentclearattachgetObjectByIdgetObjectByNamegetObjectByPropertygetObjectsByPropertygetWorldPositiongetWorldQuaterniongetWorldScalegetWorldDirectionraycasttraversetraverseVisibletraverseAncestorsupdateMatrixupdateMatrixWorldupdateWorldMatrixtoJSONclonecopyaddEventListenerhasEventListenerremoveEventListenerdispatchEvent