Chapter 87: PointsMaterial

Core Idea

A material for rendering point primitives.

Materials define the appearance of renderable 3D objects.

Key Concepts

alphaMap : Texture: The alpha map is a grayscale texture that controls the opacity across the surface (black: fully transparent; white: fully opaque).
color : Color: Color of the material.
fog : boolean: Whether the material is affected by fog or not.
isPointsMaterial : boolean (readonly): This flag can be used for type testing.
map : Texture: The color map. May optionally include an alpha channel, typically combined with Material#transparent or [Mater…
size : number: Defines the size of the points in pixels.
sizeAttenuation : boolean: Specifies whether size of individual points is attenuated by the camera depth (perspective camera only).

Code Examples

const vertices = [];
for ( let i = 0; i < 10000; i ++ ) {
	const x = THREE.MathUtils.randFloatSpread( 2000 );
	const y = THREE.MathUtils.randFloatSpread( 2000 );
	const z = THREE.MathUtils.randFloatSpread( 2000 );
	vertices.push( x, y, z );
}
const geometry = new THREE.BufferGeometry();
geometry.setAttribute( 'position', new THREE.Float32BufferAttribute( vertices, 3 ) );
const material = new THREE.PointsMaterial( { color: 0x888888 } );
const points = new THREE.Points( geometry, material );
scene.add( points );

What it demonstrates: Typical usage of PointsMaterial.

Reference Tables

Constructor

Signature
`new PointsMaterial( parameters : Object )`

Properties

Property	Description
`.alphaMap : Texture`	The alpha map is a grayscale texture that controls the opacity across the surface (black: fully transparent; white: fully opaque).
`.color : Color`	Color of the material.
`.fog : boolean`	Whether the material is affected by fog or not.
`.isPointsMaterial : boolean (readonly)`	This flag can be used for type testing.
`.map : Texture`	The color map. May optionally include an alpha channel, typically combined with Material#transparent or Material#alphaTest. The texture map col…
`.size : number`	Defines the size of the points in pixels.
`.sizeAttenuation : boolean`	Specifies whether size of individual points is attenuated by the camera depth (perspective camera only).

Key Takeaways

PointsMaterial extends: EventDispatcher → Material
Most relevant properties: alphaMap, color, fog, isPointsMaterial.

Connects To

EventDispatcher: parent class
Material: parent class
Source: src/materials/PointsMaterial.js