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 r165+, verified against r184 (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

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

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.
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
```
.
Mind light intensity. Since r155, lighting is physically based; modern intensities are higher than old tutorials (a key
```
DirectionalLight
```
≈ 1–3).
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.
Use an environment map for grounded reflections. Assign an equirectangular or PMREM-processed texture to
```
scene.environment
```
; PBR materials pick it up automatically.
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.PCFSoftShadowMap;     // softer edges

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 { RGBELoader } from 'three/addons/loaders/RGBELoader.js';

new RGBELoader().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).

threejs-materials-lighting

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content