three.js Materials & Lighting

Make three.js surfaces look right: pick the correct material, light the scene, enable shadows, and add image-based lighting. Patterns target r186, verified against r186 (lighting is physically based by default since r155).

When to use

• Use when a mesh renders black or flat, when choosing a material, adding lights, enabling shadows, or setting up environment-map reflections (IBL).
• Use when code constructs MeshStandardMaterial, DirectionalLight, etc., or sets renderer.shadowMap.enabled or scene.environment.

When not to use: the renderer/camera/loop → threejs-scene-setup. Loading models (whose PBR materials this complements) → threejs-gltf-loading. Custom GLSL/ShaderMaterial is its own topic; for the portable concept see shader-programming.

Core workflow

1. Pick a material by need. MeshStandardMaterial (PBR: roughness, metalness, reacts to lights/IBL) for realism; MeshPhysicalMaterial for clearcoat/transmission; MeshBasicMaterial (unlit, ignores lights) for UI/flat; MeshNormalMaterial/MeshDepthMaterial for debugging.
2. Add light, or nothing shows. Lit materials need a light source and/or scene.environment. Combine a soft fill (AmbientLight/HemisphereLight) with a key DirectionalLight.
3. Mind light intensity. Since r155, lighting is physically based; modern intensities are higher than old tutorials (a key DirectionalLight ≈ 1–3).
4. Enable shadows in three places. renderer.shadowMap.enabled = true, the light's castShadow = true, and each mesh's castShadow/receiveShadow. Then fit the light's shadow camera to the scene.
5. Use an environment map for grounded reflections. Assign an equirectangular or PMREM-processed texture to scene.environment; PBR materials pick it up automatically.
6. Verify under real lighting — confirm the surface responds to the key light (highlights move), shadows land where expected, and reflections look plausible.

Patterns

1. PBR material under a 3-light rig

import * as THREE from 'three';

const material = new THREE.MeshStandardMaterial({
  color: 0xcc4444,
  roughness: 0.5,     // 0 = mirror, 1 = fully matte
  metalness: 0.0,     // 0 = dielectric (plastic/wood), 1 = metal
});
const mesh = new THREE.Mesh(new THREE.SphereGeometry(1, 32, 16), material);
scene.add(mesh);

// Soft sky/ground fill + a directional key light.
scene.add(new THREE.HemisphereLight(0xbbddff, 0x443322, 1.0)); // sky, ground, intensity
const key = new THREE.DirectionalLight(0xffffff, 2.5);
key.position.set(5, 10, 7);
scene.add(key);

2. Unlit material (no light needed)

// MeshBasicMaterial ignores lights — for flat color, UI, or sprites/labels.
const flat = new THREE.MeshBasicMaterial({ color: 0x44aa88 });
// A textured color map should be tagged sRGB so colors aren't washed out:
const tex = new THREE.TextureLoader().load('assets/logo.png');
tex.colorSpace = THREE.SRGBColorSpace;
const logo = new THREE.MeshBasicMaterial({ map: tex, transparent: true });

3. Shadows (the three required switches + camera fit)

renderer.shadowMap.enabled = true;
renderer.shadowMap.type = THREE.PCFShadowMap;         // soft by default since r182

const sun = new THREE.DirectionalLight(0xffffff, 3);
sun.position.set(8, 12, 6);
sun.castShadow = true;
sun.shadow.mapSize.set(2048, 2048);                   // default 512; raise for crisp
// DirectionalLight uses an OrthographicCamera — fit it tightly to the scene:
const cam = sun.shadow.camera;
cam.near = 1; cam.far = 40;
cam.left = -15; cam.right = 15; cam.top = 15; cam.bottom = -15;
scene.add(sun);

mesh.castShadow = true;
ground.receiveShadow = true;                          // a plane to catch the shadow

4. PBR textures on a material

const loader = new THREE.TextureLoader();
const colorMap = loader.load('assets/brick_color.jpg');
colorMap.colorSpace = THREE.SRGBColorSpace;           // color maps are sRGB
const normalMap = loader.load('assets/brick_normal.jpg'); // data maps stay linear
const roughMap  = loader.load('assets/brick_rough.jpg');

const brick = new THREE.MeshStandardMaterial({
  map: colorMap,
  normalMap,
  roughnessMap: roughMap,
  metalness: 0,
});

5. Image-based lighting from an HDR environment

import { HDRLoader } from 'three/addons/loaders/HDRLoader.js'; // RGBELoader before r180

new HDRLoader().load('assets/studio.hdr', (hdr) => {
  hdr.mapping = THREE.EquirectangularReflectionMapping;
  scene.environment = hdr;     // lights + reflects all PBR materials
  scene.background = hdr;       // optional: show it as the backdrop
});
// Optional cinematic tone curve:
renderer.toneMapping = THREE.ACESFilmicToneMapping;
renderer.toneMappingExposure = 1.0;

Pitfalls

• Mesh is pure black → a lit material with no light and no scene.environment. Add a light or an environment map; to confirm geometry, temporarily swap to MeshBasicMaterial/MeshNormalMaterial.
• Scene too dark even with lights → old tutorial intensities. r155+ is physically based; raise intensities (key light ≈ 2–3) or add an environment map.
• Shadows don't appear → you missed one of the three switches (renderer.shadowMap.enabled, light.castShadow, mesh castShadow/ receiveShadow).
• Shadows are cut off or blocky → the DirectionalLight's orthographic shadow.camera frustum is too big/small or doesn't cover the scene; tighten left/right/top/bottom/near/far and raise shadow.mapSize. Visualise it with new THREE.CameraHelper(light.shadow.camera).
• Shadow acne / peter-panning → adjust light.shadow.bias (small negative) and light.shadow.normalBias.
• Colors look washed out / too bright → color (albedo) textures need texture.colorSpace = THREE.SRGBColorSpace; normal/roughness/metalness maps must stay linear (leave them as NoColorSpace).
• PointLight shadows tank performance → a point light renders the scene 6 times (cube map). Prefer one shadow-casting DirectionalLight; use cheaper fakes elsewhere.

References

• For the material cheat-sheet (which Mesh*Material for which look), light types and their parameters/units, transparency vs alphaTest ordering, and the PMREMGenerator/RoomEnvironment route to IBL without an HDR file, read references/materials-lights-table.md.

Related skills

• threejs-scene-setup — renderer, camera, and loop (set shadowMap, tone mapping).
• threejs-gltf-loading — models arrive with PBR materials this skill tunes.
• shader-programming — custom shader effects (engine-agnostic concept).