Apply gradient to BufferGeometry vertices - three.js

Question

I have an animation that uses a BufferGeometry to create a grid of particles which are then animated using Perlin noise. That all works perfectly but the final thing to do is to apply a gradient across the grid. I have tried everything I have found and nothing is working. I feel like using a ShaderMaterial is the best/easiest solution but the code I've found for gradients just isn't working so I'm asking what the best way to do this is and ideally an example of how to do it.
Here is a link to the codepen so you can see all of the code and the example working.
https://codepen.io/JJGerrish/pen/oNxyJXX?editors=0010
And here is an example of the what I want the grid to look like.
I've left my attempt at creating a gradient shader in so you are welcome to play around with that or come up with a better solution.

Answer 1

Your problem is that you are using uVu.y , but you don't have any uv coordinates so the value will always be 0.
Are you sure you don't want to be using the position x value?
gl_FragColor = vec4(mix(color1, color2, smoothstep(-10.0, 10.0, pos.x)), 1.0);
(demo in code below with a smoothstep, note sending the pos variable from the vertex to fragment shader).
Also, why not do the noise in the shader too rather than in the JS?
//noise library
/*
* A speed-improved perlin and simplex noise algorithms for 2D.
*
* Based on example code by Stefan Gustavson (stegu#itn.liu.se).
* Optimisations by Peter Eastman (peastman#drizzle.stanford.edu).
* Better rank ordering method by Stefan Gustavson in 2012.
* Converted to Javascript by Joseph Gentle.
*
* Version 2012-03-09
*
* This code was placed in the public domain by its original author,
* Stefan Gustavson. You may use it as you see fit, but
* attribution is appreciated.
*
*/
(function(global){
var module = global.noise = {};
function Grad(x, y, z) {
this.x = x; this.y = y; this.z = z;
}
Grad.prototype.dot2 = function(x, y) {
return this.x*x + this.y*y;
};
Grad.prototype.dot3 = function(x, y, z) {
return this.x*x + this.y*y + this.z*z;
};
var grad3 = [new Grad(1,1,0),new Grad(-1,1,0),new Grad(1,-1,0),new Grad(-1,-1,0),
new Grad(1,0,1),new Grad(-1,0,1),new Grad(1,0,-1),new Grad(-1,0,-1),
new Grad(0,1,1),new Grad(0,-1,1),new Grad(0,1,-1),new Grad(0,-1,-1)];
var p = [151,160,137,91,90,15,
131,13,201,95,96,53,194,233,7,225,140,36,103,30,69,142,8,99,37,240,21,10,23,
190, 6,148,247,120,234,75,0,26,197,62,94,252,219,203,117,35,11,32,57,177,33,
88,237,149,56,87,174,20,125,136,171,168, 68,175,74,165,71,134,139,48,27,166,
77,146,158,231,83,111,229,122,60,211,133,230,220,105,92,41,55,46,245,40,244,
102,143,54, 65,25,63,161, 1,216,80,73,209,76,132,187,208, 89,18,169,200,196,
135,130,116,188,159,86,164,100,109,198,173,186, 3,64,52,217,226,250,124,123,
5,202,38,147,118,126,255,82,85,212,207,206,59,227,47,16,58,17,182,189,28,42,
223,183,170,213,119,248,152, 2,44,154,163, 70,221,153,101,155,167, 43,172,9,
129,22,39,253, 19,98,108,110,79,113,224,232,178,185, 112,104,218,246,97,228,
251,34,242,193,238,210,144,12,191,179,162,241, 81,51,145,235,249,14,239,107,
49,192,214, 31,181,199,106,157,184, 84,204,176,115,121,50,45,127, 4,150,254,
138,236,205,93,222,114,67,29,24,72,243,141,128,195,78,66,215,61,156,180];
// To remove the need for index wrapping, double the permutation table length
var perm = new Array(512);
var gradP = new Array(512);
// This isn't a very good seeding function, but it works ok. It supports 2^16
// different seed values. Write something better if you need more seeds.
module.seed = function(seed) {
if(seed > 0 && seed < 1) {
// Scale the seed out
seed *= 65536;
}
seed = Math.floor(seed);
if(seed < 256) {
seed |= seed << 8;
}
for(var i = 0; i < 256; i++) {
var v;
if (i & 1) {
v = p[i] ^ (seed & 255);
} else {
v = p[i] ^ ((seed>>8) & 255);
}
perm[i] = perm[i + 256] = v;
gradP[i] = gradP[i + 256] = grad3[v % 12];
}
};
module.seed(0);
/*
for(var i=0; i<256; i++) {
perm[i] = perm[i + 256] = p[i];
gradP[i] = gradP[i + 256] = grad3[perm[i] % 12];
}*/
// Skewing and unskewing factors for 2, 3, and 4 dimensions
var F2 = 0.5*(Math.sqrt(3)-1);
var G2 = (3-Math.sqrt(3))/6;
var F3 = 1/3;
var G3 = 1/6;
// 2D simplex noise
module.simplex2 = function(xin, yin) {
var n0, n1, n2; // Noise contributions from the three corners
// Skew the input space to determine which simplex cell we're in
var s = (xin+yin)*F2; // Hairy factor for 2D
var i = Math.floor(xin+s);
var j = Math.floor(yin+s);
var t = (i+j)*G2;
var x0 = xin-i+t; // The x,y distances from the cell origin, unskewed.
var y0 = yin-j+t;
// For the 2D case, the simplex shape is an equilateral triangle.
// Determine which simplex we are in.
var i1, j1; // Offsets for second (middle) corner of simplex in (i,j) coords
if(x0>y0) { // lower triangle, XY order: (0,0)->(1,0)->(1,1)
i1=1; j1=0;
} else { // upper triangle, YX order: (0,0)->(0,1)->(1,1)
i1=0; j1=1;
}
// A step of (1,0) in (i,j) means a step of (1-c,-c) in (x,y), and
// a step of (0,1) in (i,j) means a step of (-c,1-c) in (x,y), where
// c = (3-sqrt(3))/6
var x1 = x0 - i1 + G2; // Offsets for middle corner in (x,y) unskewed coords
var y1 = y0 - j1 + G2;
var x2 = x0 - 1 + 2 * G2; // Offsets for last corner in (x,y) unskewed coords
var y2 = y0 - 1 + 2 * G2;
// Work out the hashed gradient indices of the three simplex corners
i &= 255;
j &= 255;
var gi0 = gradP[i+perm[j]];
var gi1 = gradP[i+i1+perm[j+j1]];
var gi2 = gradP[i+1+perm[j+1]];
// Calculate the contribution from the three corners
var t0 = 0.5 - x0*x0-y0*y0;
if(t0<0) {
n0 = 0;
} else {
t0 *= t0;
n0 = t0 * t0 * gi0.dot2(x0, y0); // (x,y) of grad3 used for 2D gradient
}
var t1 = 0.5 - x1*x1-y1*y1;
if(t1<0) {
n1 = 0;
} else {
t1 *= t1;
n1 = t1 * t1 * gi1.dot2(x1, y1);
}
var t2 = 0.5 - x2*x2-y2*y2;
if(t2<0) {
n2 = 0;
} else {
t2 *= t2;
n2 = t2 * t2 * gi2.dot2(x2, y2);
}
// Add contributions from each corner to get the final noise value.
// The result is scaled to return values in the interval [-1,1].
return 70 * (n0 + n1 + n2);
};
// 3D simplex noise
module.simplex3 = function(xin, yin, zin) {
var n0, n1, n2, n3; // Noise contributions from the four corners
// Skew the input space to determine which simplex cell we're in
var s = (xin+yin+zin)*F3; // Hairy factor for 2D
var i = Math.floor(xin+s);
var j = Math.floor(yin+s);
var k = Math.floor(zin+s);
var t = (i+j+k)*G3;
var x0 = xin-i+t; // The x,y distances from the cell origin, unskewed.
var y0 = yin-j+t;
var z0 = zin-k+t;
// For the 3D case, the simplex shape is a slightly irregular tetrahedron.
// Determine which simplex we are in.
var i1, j1, k1; // Offsets for second corner of simplex in (i,j,k) coords
var i2, j2, k2; // Offsets for third corner of simplex in (i,j,k) coords
if(x0 >= y0) {
if(y0 >= z0) { i1=1; j1=0; k1=0; i2=1; j2=1; k2=0; }
else if(x0 >= z0) { i1=1; j1=0; k1=0; i2=1; j2=0; k2=1; }
else { i1=0; j1=0; k1=1; i2=1; j2=0; k2=1; }
} else {
if(y0 < z0) { i1=0; j1=0; k1=1; i2=0; j2=1; k2=1; }
else if(x0 < z0) { i1=0; j1=1; k1=0; i2=0; j2=1; k2=1; }
else { i1=0; j1=1; k1=0; i2=1; j2=1; k2=0; }
}
// A step of (1,0,0) in (i,j,k) means a step of (1-c,-c,-c) in (x,y,z),
// a step of (0,1,0) in (i,j,k) means a step of (-c,1-c,-c) in (x,y,z), and
// a step of (0,0,1) in (i,j,k) means a step of (-c,-c,1-c) in (x,y,z), where
// c = 1/6.
var x1 = x0 - i1 + G3; // Offsets for second corner
var y1 = y0 - j1 + G3;
var z1 = z0 - k1 + G3;
var x2 = x0 - i2 + 2 * G3; // Offsets for third corner
var y2 = y0 - j2 + 2 * G3;
var z2 = z0 - k2 + 2 * G3;
var x3 = x0 - 1 + 3 * G3; // Offsets for fourth corner
var y3 = y0 - 1 + 3 * G3;
var z3 = z0 - 1 + 3 * G3;
// Work out the hashed gradient indices of the four simplex corners
i &= 255;
j &= 255;
k &= 255;
var gi0 = gradP[i+ perm[j+ perm[k ]]];
var gi1 = gradP[i+i1+perm[j+j1+perm[k+k1]]];
var gi2 = gradP[i+i2+perm[j+j2+perm[k+k2]]];
var gi3 = gradP[i+ 1+perm[j+ 1+perm[k+ 1]]];
// Calculate the contribution from the four corners
var t0 = 0.6 - x0*x0 - y0*y0 - z0*z0;
if(t0<0) {
n0 = 0;
} else {
t0 *= t0;
n0 = t0 * t0 * gi0.dot3(x0, y0, z0); // (x,y) of grad3 used for 2D gradient
}
var t1 = 0.6 - x1*x1 - y1*y1 - z1*z1;
if(t1<0) {
n1 = 0;
} else {
t1 *= t1;
n1 = t1 * t1 * gi1.dot3(x1, y1, z1);
}
var t2 = 0.6 - x2*x2 - y2*y2 - z2*z2;
if(t2<0) {
n2 = 0;
} else {
t2 *= t2;
n2 = t2 * t2 * gi2.dot3(x2, y2, z2);
}
var t3 = 0.6 - x3*x3 - y3*y3 - z3*z3;
if(t3<0) {
n3 = 0;
} else {
t3 *= t3;
n3 = t3 * t3 * gi3.dot3(x3, y3, z3);
}
// Add contributions from each corner to get the final noise value.
// The result is scaled to return values in the interval [-1,1].
return 32 * (n0 + n1 + n2 + n3);
};
// ##### Perlin noise stuff
function fade(t) {
return t*t*t*(t*(t*6-15)+10);
}
function lerp(a, b, t) {
return (1-t)*a + t*b;
}
// 2D Perlin Noise
module.perlin2 = function(x, y) {
// Find unit grid cell containing point
var X = Math.floor(x), Y = Math.floor(y);
// Get relative xy coordinates of point within that cell
x = x - X; y = y - Y;
// Wrap the integer cells at 255 (smaller integer period can be introduced here)
X = X & 255; Y = Y & 255;
// Calculate noise contributions from each of the four corners
var n00 = gradP[X+perm[Y]].dot2(x, y);
var n01 = gradP[X+perm[Y+1]].dot2(x, y-1);
var n10 = gradP[X+1+perm[Y]].dot2(x-1, y);
var n11 = gradP[X+1+perm[Y+1]].dot2(x-1, y-1);
// Compute the fade curve value for x
var u = fade(x);
// Interpolate the four results
return lerp(
lerp(n00, n10, u),
lerp(n01, n11, u),
fade(y));
};
// 3D Perlin Noise
module.perlin3 = function(x, y, z) {
// Find unit grid cell containing point
var X = Math.floor(x), Y = Math.floor(y), Z = Math.floor(z);
// Get relative xyz coordinates of point within that cell
x = x - X; y = y - Y; z = z - Z;
// Wrap the integer cells at 255 (smaller integer period can be introduced here)
X = X & 255; Y = Y & 255; Z = Z & 255;
// Calculate noise contributions from each of the eight corners
var n000 = gradP[X+ perm[Y+ perm[Z ]]].dot3(x, y, z);
var n001 = gradP[X+ perm[Y+ perm[Z+1]]].dot3(x, y, z-1);
var n010 = gradP[X+ perm[Y+1+perm[Z ]]].dot3(x, y-1, z);
var n011 = gradP[X+ perm[Y+1+perm[Z+1]]].dot3(x, y-1, z-1);
var n100 = gradP[X+1+perm[Y+ perm[Z ]]].dot3(x-1, y, z);
var n101 = gradP[X+1+perm[Y+ perm[Z+1]]].dot3(x-1, y, z-1);
var n110 = gradP[X+1+perm[Y+1+perm[Z ]]].dot3(x-1, y-1, z);
var n111 = gradP[X+1+perm[Y+1+perm[Z+1]]].dot3(x-1, y-1, z-1);
// Compute the fade curve value for x, y, z
var u = fade(x);
var v = fade(y);
var w = fade(z);
// Interpolate
return lerp(
lerp(
lerp(n000, n100, u),
lerp(n001, n101, u), w),
lerp(
lerp(n010, n110, u),
lerp(n011, n111, u), w),
v);
};
})(this);
//effective animation code
var wWidth = window.innerWidth;
var wHeight = window.innerHeight;
var scene = new THREE.Scene();
var camera = new THREE.PerspectiveCamera(75, wWidth / wHeight, 0.01, 1000);
camera.position.x = 0;
camera.position.y = 0; // 0
camera.position.z = 50; // 40
camera.lookAt(new THREE.Vector3(0, 0, 0));
var renderer = new THREE.WebGLRenderer({
alpha: true
});
renderer.setClearColor(0x000000, 0);
document.getElementById('sec-graphical-intro').appendChild(renderer.domElement);
//Animation parameters
var rows = 50;
var cols = 100;
var separation = 1;
var perlinScale = 0.025;
var waveSpeed = 0.1;
var waveHeight = 8;
var FPS = 45;
var startTime = new Date().getTime();
var particles = 0;
var count = 0;
noise.seed(Math.random());
function createGeometry() {
var numParticles = cols * rows;
var positions = new Float32Array( numParticles * 3 );
var i = 0
var j = 0;
for ( var ix = 0; ix < cols; ix ++ ) {
for ( var iy = 0; iy < rows; iy ++ ) {
positions[i] = ix * separation - ( ( cols * separation ) / 2 ); // x
positions[i + 1] = 0; // y
positions[i + 2] = iy * separation - ( ( rows * separation ) / 2 ); // z
i += 3;
j ++;
}
}
var geometry = new THREE.BufferGeometry();
geometry.addAttribute( 'position', new THREE.BufferAttribute( positions, 3 ) );
// geometry.dynamic = true;
// geometry.translate(-100, 0, -25);
return geometry;
}
var geo = createGeometry();
var material = new THREE.ShaderMaterial( {
uniforms: {
"color1": {
type : "c",
value: new THREE.Color(0x2753c9)
},
"color2": {
type : "c",
value: new THREE.Color(0x1dcdc0)
}
},
vertexShader: `
varying vec2 vUv;
varying vec4 pos;
void main() {
vUv = uv;
gl_PointSize = 4.0;
pos = projectionMatrix * modelViewMatrix * vec4(position,1.0);
gl_Position = pos;
}
`,
fragmentShader: `
uniform vec3 color1;
uniform vec3 color2;
varying vec2 vUv;
varying vec4 pos;
void main() {
if ( length( gl_PointCoord - vec2( 0.5, 0.5 ) ) > 0.475 ) discard;
gl_FragColor = vec4(mix(color1, color2, smoothstep(-10.0, 10.0, pos.x)), 1.0);
}
`
});
particles = new THREE.Points(geo, material);
scene.add(particles);
function perlinAnimate() {
var curTime = new Date().getTime();
var positions = particles.geometry.attributes.position.array;
var i = 0
var j = 0;
for ( var ix = 0; ix < cols; ix ++ ) {
for ( var iy = 0; iy < rows; iy ++ ) {
pX = (ix * perlinScale) + ((curTime - startTime) / 1000) * waveSpeed;
pZ = (iy * perlinScale) + ((curTime - startTime) / 1000) * waveSpeed;
positions[ i + 1 ] = (noise.simplex2(pX, pZ)) * waveHeight;
i += 3;
}
}
particles.geometry.attributes.position.needsUpdate = true;
count += 0.1;
}
function render() {
renderer.render(scene, camera);
}
function animate() {
perlinAnimate();
render();
window.setTimeout(function() {
requestAnimationFrame(animate);
}, 1000 / FPS);
}
function refreshCanvasState() {
wWidth = window.innerWidth;
wHeight = window.innerHeight;
camera.aspect = wWidth / wHeight;
camera.updateProjectionMatrix();
renderer.setSize(wWidth, wHeight);
}
//EVENTS && INTERACTIONS
window.addEventListener('resize', refreshCanvasState, false);
animate();
refreshCanvasState();
addEvent(document, "keypress", function(e) {
e = e || window.event;
// use e.keyCode
console.log(e.keyCode);
});
function addEvent(element, eventName, callback) {
if (element.addEventListener) {
element.addEventListener(eventName, callback, false);
} else if (element.attachEvent) {
element.attachEvent("on" + eventName, callback);
} else {
element["on" + eventName] = callback;
}
}
<head>
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/three.js/84/three.min.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
<section id="sec-graphical-intro"></section>