Three.js Animation
Quick Start
javascript
import * as THREE from "three";
// Simple procedural animationconst clock = new THREE.Clock();
function animate() { const delta = clock.getDelta(); const elapsed = clock.getElapsedTime();
mesh.rotation.y += delta; mesh.position.y = Math.sin(elapsed) * 0.5;
requestAnimationFrame(animate); renderer.render(scene, camera);}animate();Animation System Overview
Three.js animation system has three main components:
- AnimationClip - Container for keyframe data
- AnimationMixer - Plays animations on a root object
- AnimationAction - Controls playback of a clip
AnimationClip
Stores keyframe animation data.
javascript
// Create animation clipconst times = [0, 1, 2]; // Keyframe times (seconds)const values = [0, 1, 0]; // Values at each keyframe
const track = new THREE.NumberKeyframeTrack( ".position[y]", // Property path times, values,);
const clip = new THREE.AnimationClip("bounce", 2, [track]);KeyframeTrack Types
javascript
// Number track (single value)new THREE.NumberKeyframeTrack(".opacity", times, [1, 0]);new THREE.NumberKeyframeTrack(".material.opacity", times, [1, 0]);
// Vector track (position, scale)new THREE.VectorKeyframeTrack(".position", times, [ 0, 0, 0, // t=0 1, 2, 0, // t=1 0, 0, 0, // t=2]);
// Quaternion track (rotation)const q1 = new THREE.Quaternion().setFromEuler(new THREE.Euler(0, 0, 0));const q2 = new THREE.Quaternion().setFromEuler(new THREE.Euler(0, Math.PI, 0));new THREE.QuaternionKeyframeTrack( ".quaternion", [0, 1], [q1.x, q1.y, q1.z, q1.w, q2.x, q2.y, q2.z, q2.w],);
// Color tracknew THREE.ColorKeyframeTrack(".material.color", times, [ 1, 0, 0, // red 0, 1, 0, // green 0, 0, 1, // blue]);
// Boolean tracknew THREE.BooleanKeyframeTrack(".visible", [0, 0.5, 1], [true, false, true]);
// String track (for morph targets)new THREE.StringKeyframeTrack( ".morphTargetInfluences[smile]", [0, 1], ["0", "1"],);Interpolation Modes
javascript
const track = new THREE.VectorKeyframeTrack(".position", times, values);
// Interpolationtrack.setInterpolation(THREE.InterpolateLinear); // Defaulttrack.setInterpolation(THREE.InterpolateSmooth); // Cubic splinetrack.setInterpolation(THREE.InterpolateDiscrete); // Step functionAnimationMixer
Plays animations on an object and its descendants.
javascript
const mixer = new THREE.AnimationMixer(model);
// Create action from clipconst action = mixer.clipAction(clip);action.play();
// Update in animation loopfunction animate() { const delta = clock.getDelta(); mixer.update(delta); // Required!
requestAnimationFrame(animate); renderer.render(scene, camera);}Mixer Events
javascript
mixer.addEventListener("finished", (e) => { console.log("Animation finished:", e.action.getClip().name);});
mixer.addEventListener("loop", (e) => { console.log("Animation looped:", e.action.getClip().name);});AnimationAction
Controls playback of an animation clip.
javascript
const action = mixer.clipAction(clip);
// Playback controlaction.play();action.stop();action.reset();action.halt(fadeOutDuration);
// Playback stateaction.isRunning();action.isScheduled();
// Time controlaction.time = 0.5; // Current timeaction.timeScale = 1; // Playback speed (negative = reverse)action.paused = false;
// Weight (for blending)action.weight = 1; // 0-1, contribution to final poseaction.setEffectiveWeight(1);
// Loop modesaction.loop = THREE.LoopRepeat; // Default: loop foreveraction.loop = THREE.LoopOnce; // Play once and stopaction.loop = THREE.LoopPingPong; // Alternate forward/backwardaction.repetitions = 3; // Number of loops (Infinity default)
// Clampingaction.clampWhenFinished = true; // Hold last frame when done
// Blendingaction.blendMode = THREE.NormalAnimationBlendMode;action.blendMode = THREE.AdditiveAnimationBlendMode;Fade In/Out
javascript
// Fade inaction.reset().fadeIn(0.5).play();
// Fade outaction.fadeOut(0.5);
// Crossfade between animationsconst action1 = mixer.clipAction(clip1);const action2 = mixer.clipAction(clip2);
action1.play();
// Later, crossfade to action2action1.crossFadeTo(action2, 0.5, true);action2.play();Loading GLTF Animations
Most common source of skeletal animations.
javascript
import { GLTFLoader } from "three/examples/jsm/loaders/GLTFLoader.js";
const loader = new GLTFLoader();loader.load("model.glb", (gltf) => { const model = gltf.scene; scene.add(model);
// Create mixer const mixer = new THREE.AnimationMixer(model);
// Get all clips const clips = gltf.animations; console.log( "Available animations:", clips.map((c) => c.name), );
// Play first animation if (clips.length > 0) { const action = mixer.clipAction(clips[0]); action.play(); }
// Play specific animation by name const walkClip = THREE.AnimationClip.findByName(clips, "Walk"); if (walkClip) { mixer.clipAction(walkClip).play(); }
// Store mixer for update loop window.mixer = mixer;});
// Animation loopfunction animate() { const delta = clock.getDelta(); if (window.mixer) window.mixer.update(delta);
requestAnimationFrame(animate); renderer.render(scene, camera);}Skeletal Animation
Skeleton and Bones
javascript
// Access skeleton from skinned meshconst skinnedMesh = model.getObjectByProperty("type", "SkinnedMesh");const skeleton = skinnedMesh.skeleton;
// Access bonesskeleton.bones.forEach((bone) => { console.log(bone.name, bone.position, bone.rotation);});
// Find specific bone by nameconst headBone = skeleton.bones.find((b) => b.name === "Head");if (headBone) headBone.rotation.y = Math.PI / 4; // Turn head
// Skeleton helperconst helper = new THREE.SkeletonHelper(model);scene.add(helper);Programmatic Bone Animation
javascript
function animate() { const time = clock.getElapsedTime();
// Animate bone const headBone = skeleton.bones.find((b) => b.name === "Head"); if (headBone) { headBone.rotation.y = Math.sin(time) * 0.3; }
// Update mixer if also playing clips mixer.update(clock.getDelta());}Bone Attachments
javascript
// Attach object to boneconst weapon = new THREE.Mesh(weaponGeometry, weaponMaterial);const handBone = skeleton.bones.find((b) => b.name === "RightHand");if (handBone) handBone.add(weapon);
// Offset attachmentweapon.position.set(0, 0, 0.5);weapon.rotation.set(0, Math.PI / 2, 0);Morph Targets
Blend between different mesh shapes.
javascript
// Morph targets are stored in geometryconst geometry = mesh.geometry;console.log("Morph attributes:", Object.keys(geometry.morphAttributes));
// Access morph target influencesmesh.morphTargetInfluences; // Array of weightsmesh.morphTargetDictionary; // Name -> index mapping
// Set morph target by indexmesh.morphTargetInfluences[0] = 0.5;
// Set by nameconst smileIndex = mesh.morphTargetDictionary["smile"];mesh.morphTargetInfluences[smileIndex] = 1;Animating Morph Targets
javascript
// Proceduralfunction animate() { const t = clock.getElapsedTime(); mesh.morphTargetInfluences[0] = (Math.sin(t) + 1) / 2;}
// With keyframe animationconst track = new THREE.NumberKeyframeTrack( ".morphTargetInfluences[smile]", [0, 0.5, 1], [0, 1, 0],);const clip = new THREE.AnimationClip("smile", 1, [track]);mixer.clipAction(clip).play();Animation Blending
Mix multiple animations together.
javascript
// Setup actionsconst idleAction = mixer.clipAction(idleClip);const walkAction = mixer.clipAction(walkClip);const runAction = mixer.clipAction(runClip);
// Play all with different weightsidleAction.play();walkAction.play();runAction.play();
// Set initial weightsidleAction.setEffectiveWeight(1);walkAction.setEffectiveWeight(0);runAction.setEffectiveWeight(0);
// Blend based on speedfunction updateAnimations(speed) { if (speed < 0.1) { idleAction.setEffectiveWeight(1); walkAction.setEffectiveWeight(0); runAction.setEffectiveWeight(0); } else if (speed < 5) { const t = speed / 5; idleAction.setEffectiveWeight(1 - t); walkAction.setEffectiveWeight(t); runAction.setEffectiveWeight(0); } else { const t = Math.min((speed - 5) / 5, 1); idleAction.setEffectiveWeight(0); walkAction.setEffectiveWeight(1 - t); runAction.setEffectiveWeight(t); }}Additive Blending
javascript
// Base poseconst baseAction = mixer.clipAction(baseClip);baseAction.play();
// Additive layer (e.g., breathing)const additiveAction = mixer.clipAction(additiveClip);additiveAction.blendMode = THREE.AdditiveAnimationBlendMode;additiveAction.play();
// Convert clip to additiveTHREE.AnimationUtils.makeClipAdditive(additiveClip);Animation Utilities
javascript
import * as THREE from "three";
// Find clip by nameconst clip = THREE.AnimationClip.findByName(clips, "Walk");
// Create subclipconst subclip = THREE.AnimationUtils.subclip(clip, "subclip", 0, 30, 30);
// Convert to additiveTHREE.AnimationUtils.makeClipAdditive(clip);THREE.AnimationUtils.makeClipAdditive(clip, 0, referenceClip);
// Clone clipconst clone = clip.clone();
// Get clip durationclip.duration;
// Optimize clip (remove redundant keyframes)clip.optimize();
// Reset clip to first frameclip.resetDuration();Procedural Animation Patterns
Smooth Damping
javascript
// Smooth follow/lerpconst target = new THREE.Vector3();const current = new THREE.Vector3();const velocity = new THREE.Vector3();
function smoothDamp(current, target, velocity, smoothTime, deltaTime) { const omega = 2 / smoothTime; const x = omega * deltaTime; const exp = 1 / (1 + x + 0.48 * x * x + 0.235 * x * x * x); const change = current.clone().sub(target); const temp = velocity .clone() .add(change.clone().multiplyScalar(omega)) .multiplyScalar(deltaTime); velocity.sub(temp.clone().multiplyScalar(omega)).multiplyScalar(exp); return target.clone().add(change.add(temp).multiplyScalar(exp));}
function animate() { current.copy(smoothDamp(current, target, velocity, 0.3, delta)); mesh.position.copy(current);}Spring Physics
javascript
class Spring { constructor(stiffness = 100, damping = 10) { this.stiffness = stiffness; this.damping = damping; this.position = 0; this.velocity = 0; this.target = 0; }
update(dt) { const force = -this.stiffness * (this.position - this.target); const dampingForce = -this.damping * this.velocity; this.velocity += (force + dampingForce) * dt; this.position += this.velocity * dt; return this.position; }}
const spring = new Spring(100, 10);spring.target = 1;
function animate() { mesh.position.y = spring.update(delta);}Oscillation
javascript
function animate() { const t = clock.getElapsedTime();
// Sine wave mesh.position.y = Math.sin(t * 2) * 0.5;
// Bouncing mesh.position.y = Math.abs(Math.sin(t * 3)) * 2;
// Circular motion mesh.position.x = Math.cos(t) * 2; mesh.position.z = Math.sin(t) * 2;
// Figure 8 mesh.position.x = Math.sin(t) * 2; mesh.position.z = Math.sin(t * 2) * 1;}Performance Tips
- Share clips: Same AnimationClip can be used on multiple mixers
- Optimize clips: Call
clip.optimize()to remove redundant keyframes - Disable when off-screen: Stop mixer updates for invisible objects
- Use LOD for animations: Simpler rigs for distant characters
- Limit active mixers: Each mixer.update() has a cost
javascript
// Pause animation when not visiblemesh.onBeforeRender = () => { action.paused = false;};
mesh.onAfterRender = () => { // Check if will be visible next frame if (!isInFrustum(mesh)) { action.paused = true; }};
// Cache clipsconst clipCache = new Map();function getClip(name) { if (!clipCache.has(name)) { clipCache.set(name, loadClip(name)); } return clipCache.get(name);}See Also
threejs-loaders- Loading animated GLTF modelsthreejs-fundamentals- Clock and animation loopthreejs-shaders- Vertex animation in shaders


