react-three-fiber is a React renderer for threejs.
Build your scene declaratively with re-usable, self-contained components that react to state, are readily interactive and can participate in React's ecosystem.
npm install three @react-three/fiberNone. Everything that works in Threejs will work here without exception.
No. There is no overhead. Components render outside of React. It outperforms Threejs in scale due to Reacts scheduling abilities.
Yes. It merely expresses Threejs in JSX: <mesh /> becomes new THREE.Mesh(), and that happens dynamically. If a new Threejs version adds, removes or changes features, it will be available to you instantly without depending on updates to this library.
| Let's make a re-usable component that has its own state, reacts to user-input and participates in the render-loop. (live demo). |
 |
import { createRoot } from 'react-dom/client'
import React, { useRef, useState } from 'react'
import { Canvas, useFrame } from '@react-three/fiber'
function Box(props) {
// This reference gives us direct access to the THREE.Mesh object
const ref = useRef()
// Hold state for hovered and clicked events
const [hovered, hover] = useState(false)
const [clicked, click] = useState(false)
// Subscribe this component to the render-loop, rotate the mesh every frame
useFrame((state, delta) => (ref.current.rotation.x += 0.01))
// Return the view, these are regular Threejs elements expressed in JSX
return (
<mesh
{...props}
ref={ref}
scale={clicked ? 1.5 : 1}
onClick={(event) => click(!clicked)}
onPointerOver={(event) => hover(true)}
onPointerOut={(event) => hover(false)}>
<boxGeometry args={[1, 1, 1]} />
<meshStandardMaterial color={hovered ? 'hotpink' : 'orange'} />
</mesh>
)
}
createRoot(document.getElementById('root')).render(
<Canvas>
<ambientLight />
<pointLight position={[10, 10, 10]} />
<Box position={[-1.2, 0, 0]} />
<Box position={[1.2, 0, 0]} />
</Canvas>,
)Show TypeScript example
npm install @types/threeimport * as THREE from 'three'
import { createRoot } from 'react-dom/client'
import React, { useRef, useState } from 'react'
import { Canvas, useFrame } from '@react-three/fiber'
function Box(props: JSX.IntrinsicElements['mesh']) {
const ref = useRef<THREE.Mesh>(null!)
const [hovered, hover] = useState(false)
const [clicked, click] = useState(false)
useFrame((state, delta) => (ref.current.rotation.x += 0.01))
return (
<mesh
{...props}
ref={ref}
scale={clicked ? 1.5 : 1}
onClick={(event) => click(!clicked)}
onPointerOver={(event) => hover(true)}
onPointerOut={(event) => hover(false)}>
<boxGeometry args={[1, 1, 1]} />
<meshStandardMaterial color={hovered ? 'hotpink' : 'orange'} />
</mesh>
)
}
createRoot(document.getElementById('root') as HTMLElement).render(
<Canvas>
<ambientLight />
<pointLight position={[10, 10, 10]} />
<Box position={[-1.2, 0, 0]} />
<Box position={[1.2, 0, 0]} />
</Canvas>
)Live demo: https://codesandbox.io/s/icy-tree-brnsm?file=/src/App.tsx
Show React Native example
This example relies on react 18 and uses expo-cli, but you can create a bare project with their template or with the react-native CLI.
# Install expo-cli, this will create our app
npm install expo-cli -g
# Create app and cd into it
expo init my-app
cd my-app
# Install dependencies
npm install three @react-three/fiber@beta react@rc
# Start
expo startSome configuration may be required to tell the Metro bundler about your assets if you use useLoader or Drei abstractions like useGLTF and useTexture:
// metro.config.js
module.exports = {
resolver: {
sourceExts: ['js', 'jsx', 'json', 'ts', 'tsx', 'cjs'],
assetExts: ['glb', 'png', 'jpg'],
},
}import React, { useRef, useState } from 'react'
import { Canvas, useFrame } from '@react-three/fiber/native'
function Box(props) {
const mesh = useRef(null)
const [hovered, setHover] = useState(false)
const [active, setActive] = useState(false)
useFrame((state, delta) => (mesh.current.rotation.x += 0.01))
return (
<mesh
{...props}
ref={mesh}
scale={active ? 1.5 : 1}
onClick={(event) => setActive(!active)}
onPointerOver={(event) => setHover(true)}
onPointerOut={(event) => setHover(false)}>
<boxGeometry args={[1, 1, 1]} />
<meshStandardMaterial color={hovered ? 'hotpink' : 'orange'} />
</mesh>
)
}
export default function App() {
return (
<Canvas>
<ambientLight />
<pointLight position={[10, 10, 10]} />
<Box position={[-1.2, 0, 0]} />
<Box position={[1.2, 0, 0]} />
</Canvas>
)
}Visit docs.pmnd.rs
You need to be versed in both React and Threejs before rushing into this. If you are unsure about React consult the official React docs, especially the section about hooks. As for Threejs, make sure you at least glance over the following links:
- Make sure you have a basic grasp of Threejs. Keep that site open.
- When you know what a scene is, a camera, mesh, geometry, material, fork the demo above.
- Look up the JSX elements that you see (mesh, ambientLight, etc), all threejs exports are native to three-fiber.
- Try changing some values, scroll through our API to see what the various settings and hooks do.
Some reading material:
- Threejs-docs
- Threejs-examples
- Threejs-fundamentals
- Discover Threejs
- Do's and don'ts for performance and best practices
- react-three-fiber alligator.io tutorial by @dghez_
@react-three/gltfjsx– turns GLTFs into JSX components@react-three/drei– useful helpers for react-three-fiber@react-three/postprocessing– post-processing effects@react-three/flex– flexbox for react-three-fiber@react-three/xr– VR/AR controllers and events@react-three/cannon– physics based hooks@react-three/a11y– real a11y for your scenezustand– state managementreact-spring– a spring-physics-based animation libraryreact-use-gesture– mouse/touch gesturesleva– create GUI controls in seconds
If you like this project, please consider helping out. All contributions are welcome as well as donations to Opencollective, or in crypto BTC: 36fuguTPxGCNnYZSRdgdh6Ea94brCAjMbH, ETH: 0x6E3f79Ea1d0dcedeb33D3fC6c34d2B1f156F2682.
Thank you to all our backers! 🙏
This project exists thanks to all the people who contribute.
