Threejs & React Avatar Builder Tutorial - Part 6: Camera Controls
Science & Technology
Introduction
In this sixth installment of our 3D Avatar Builder tutorial series, we will focus on enhancing the user experience by adding camera controls. These enhancements will allow for better adjustment of the camera position to facilitate editing and will also introduce a photo booth mode for taking screenshots of avatars in various poses. We will address several issues we encountered, including crashes and the visibility of newly added assets like eyes and hair.
Fixing Crashes and Ensuring Asset Visibility
When dragging and dropping the newly generated eyes with blinking animations, we encountered crashes due to undefined morph targets. To resolve this issue, we need to add a morph target dictionary and influences to the skin mesh we created. After adding the required geometry and material, we reassigned the morph target dictionary in our child mesh. Following this, we saved our changes, and the assets displayed correctly.
We also adjusted UI aspects for better visibility of facial features and assets. This included refining the selection box colors, ensuring options were distinguishable in their selected and unselected states.
Enhancing Camera Controls
Next, we implemented camera controls to dynamically adjust based on the category being edited. Instead of standard orbit controls, we created a new CameraManager component that utilizes a camera controls library. This library allows for smooth camera transitions when switching between different parts of the avatar, ensuring a more intuitive editing experience.
Using setLookAt, we smoothly transitioned the camera based on the target and the current category. We defined default camera positions for different avatar categories: using specific positions for the head, hair, top, and bottom, and reverting to a default position when necessary.
To facilitate adjustments, we added a debugging tool from Leva to fetch our camera position and target in order to store them. We created a new collection in Pocketbase to store camera placements that hold JSON data containing position and target information. Each avatar category was then linked to its appropriate camera placement.
Improving Lighting & Background
We further adjusted the settings for optimal lighting and background aesthetics. We opted to change the background color to a darker shade for better contrast. The floor was switched to a simple plane to allow for 360-degree viewing. We optimized the lighting to reduce harsh shadows on the avatar while ensuring it remained visually compelling.
Setting Up Photo Booth Mode
To allow for great-looking avatar poses, we integrated Mixamo to search for various poses. These poses were downloaded, combined in Blender into a single GLB file for efficiency, with animations optimally included. A new UI section was created for selecting avatar poses, interchanging them smoothly.
For the screenshot functionality, we introduced the ability to capture an image of the avatar. This included generating a secondary canvas for our screenshot, retaining the existing canvas dimensions, and layering a logo on top of the rendered content.
A significant adjustment was made to ensure the background wasn't cleared while taking snapshots. We modified the rendering properties to preserve the drawing buffer.
Finally, after implementing the changes and ensuring everything worked seamlessly, we are now able to take good-looking pictures of avatars configured in the builder.
Conclusion
With these enhancements, your 3D Avatar Builder is coming along nicely, allowing users to effectively edit their avatars and take stunning pictures. In the next part of our series, we will dive into post-processing effects, enhance the loading experience, and perform even more polish to perfect the configurator.
Keywords
3D, avatar builder, camera controls, Three.js, React, morph target, Pocketbase, Mixamo, lighting, Blender, screenshot, UI enhancements, user experience.
FAQ
Q1: What improvements were made to the avatar builder in this part of the tutorial?
A1: Camera controls were added, enabling users to zoom in on specific parts of the avatar; a photo booth mode for taking screenshots was implemented, and various user interface adjustments were made for better visibility.
Q2: How did you resolve the crash issues related to the new eye assets?
A2: The crash was resolved by adding a morph target dictionary and influences to the skin mesh used for the eyes.
Q3: What is the purpose of the CameraManager component?
A3: The CameraManager component allows smooth transitions and positioning of the camera based on which part of the avatar is currently being edited.
Q4: How can I take screenshots of my avatar?
A4: Screenshots can be taken by using a dedicated button in the UI, which captures the current view of the avatar and allows for branding through logo overlays.
Q5: Where can I find avatar poses for the builder?
A5: Poses can be searched and downloaded from Mixamo, and they can be combined into a single GLB file for easier integration into the avatar configurator.