THREE Particles

Particle system for ThreeJS.

Features

• Easy integration with Three.js.
• Visual editor for creating and fine-tuning effects: THREE Particles Editor
• Highly customizable particle properties (position, velocity, size, color, alpha, rotation, etc.).
• Support for various emitter shapes and parameters.
• TypeDoc API documentation available.

Live Demo & Examples

• Editor & Live Demo: https://newkrok.com/three-particles-editor/index.html
• CodePen Basic Example: https://codepen.io/NewKrok/pen/GgRzEmP
• CodePen Fire Animation: https://codepen.io/NewKrok/pen/ByabNRJ
• CodePen Projectile Simulation: https://codepen.io/NewKrok/pen/jEEErZy
• Video - Projectiles: https://youtu.be/Q352JuxON04
• Video - First Preview: https://youtu.be/dtN_bndvoGU

Installation

NPM

npm install @newkrok/three-particles

CDN (Browser)

Include the script directly in your HTML:

<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@newkrok/three-particles@latest/dist/three-particles.min.js"></script>
<!-- or -->
<script src="https://unpkg.com/@newkrok/three-particles@latest/dist/three-particles.min.js"></script>

Usage

Here's a basic example of how to load and use a particle system:

// Create a particle system
const effect = {
  // Your effect configuration here
  // It can be empty to use default settings
};
const { instance } = createParticleSystem(effect);
scene.add(instance);

// Update the particle system in your animation loop
// Pass the current time, delta time, and elapsed time
updateParticleSystems({now, delta, elapsed});

Documentation

Automatically generated TypeDoc: https://newkrok.github.io/three-particles/api/

Important Notes

Color Over Lifetime

The colorOverLifetime feature uses a multiplier-based approach (similar to Unity's particle system), where each RGB channel curve acts as a multiplier applied to the particle's startColor.

Formula: finalColor = startColor * colorOverLifetime

⚠️ Important: To achieve full color transitions, set startColor to white { r: 1, g: 1, b: 1 }. If any channel in startColor is set to 0, that channel cannot be modified by colorOverLifetime.

Example - Rainbow effect:

{
  startColor: {
    min: { r: 1, g: 1, b: 1 },  // White - allows full color range
    max: { r: 1, g: 1, b: 1 }
  },
  colorOverLifetime: {
    isActive: true,
    r: {  // Red: full → half → off
      type: 'BEZIER',
      scale: 1,
      bezierPoints: [
        { x: 0, y: 1, percentage: 0 },
        { x: 0.5, y: 0.5, percentage: 0.5 },
        { x: 1, y: 0, percentage: 1 }
      ]
    },
    g: {  // Green: off → full → off
      type: 'BEZIER',
      scale: 1,
      bezierPoints: [
        { x: 0, y: 0, percentage: 0 },
        { x: 0.5, y: 1, percentage: 0.5 },
        { x: 1, y: 0, percentage: 1 }
      ]
    },
    b: {  // Blue: off → half → full
      type: 'BEZIER',
      scale: 1,
      bezierPoints: [
        { x: 0, y: 0, percentage: 0 },
        { x: 0.5, y: 0.5, percentage: 0.5 },
        { x: 1, y: 1, percentage: 1 }
      ]
    }
  }
}