Chapter 88: PointsNodeMaterial

Core Idea

Node material version of PointsMaterial.

This material can be used in two ways:

• By rendering point primitives with Points. Since WebGPU only supports point primitives with a pixel size of 1, it's not possible to define a size.

const pointCloud = new THREE.Points( geometry, new THREE.PointsNodeMaterial() );

• By rendering point primitives with Sprites. In this case, size is honored, see PointsNodeMaterial#sizeNode.

const instancedPoints = new THREE.Sprite( new THREE.PointsNodeMaterial( { positionNode: instancedBufferAttribute( positionAttribute ) } ) );

Key Concepts

• alphaToCoverage : boolean: Whether alpha to coverage should be used or not.
• isPointsNodeMaterial : boolean (readonly): This flag can be used for type testing.
• sizeNode : Node.<vec2>: This node property provides an additional way to set the point size.

Reference Tables

Constructor

Signature
new PointsNodeMaterial( parameters : Object )

Properties

Property	Description
.alphaToCoverage : boolean	Whether alpha to coverage should be used or not.
.isPointsNodeMaterial : boolean (readonly)	This flag can be used for type testing.
.sizeNode : Node.<vec2>	This node property provides an additional way to set the point size.

Key Takeaways

1. PointsNodeMaterial extends: EventDispatcher → Material → NodeMaterial → SpriteNodeMaterial
2. Most relevant properties: alphaToCoverage, isPointsNodeMaterial, sizeNode.

Connects To

• EventDispatcher: parent class
• Material: parent class
• NodeMaterial: parent class
• SpriteNodeMaterial: parent class
• Source: src/materials/nodes/PointsNodeMaterial.js