3d-scene

3D Scene Skill

Decision Matrix — Pick Approach

Need	Approach	Bundle Impact	Complexity
Product showcase with scroll	R3F + ScrollControls	~150KB (Three.js)	Medium
Hero 3D scene (no-code)	Spline embed	~0KB (iframe)	Low
Custom shaders + 3D	Three.js vanilla	~150KB	High
Lightweight shader-only	OGL	~8KB	Medium
Interactive configurator	R3F + Leva/dat.gui	~150KB	Medium

---

1. React Three Fiber (R3F) + Drei [E1]

Install:

npm i three @react-three/fiber @react-three/drei

Basic Scene

import { Canvas } from "@react-three/fiber";
import { OrbitControls, Environment, useGLTF } from "@react-three/drei";

function Model({ url }) {
  const { scene } = useGLTF(url);
  return <primitive object={scene} />;
}

function Scene() {
  return (
    <Canvas
      camera={{ position: [0, 2, 5], fov: 45 }}
      style={{ width: "100%", height: "100vh" }}
    >
      <Environment preset="studio" />
      <Model url="/models/product.glb" />
      <OrbitControls enableZoom={false} />
    </Canvas>
  );
}

ScrollControls (Scroll-Linked 3D) [E1]

import { Canvas, useFrame } from "@react-three/fiber";
import { ScrollControls, Scroll, useScroll } from "@react-three/drei";

function AnimatedModel() {
  const scroll = useScroll();
  const ref = useRef();

  useFrame(() => {
    const offset = scroll.offset; // 0 to 1
    // Rotate model based on scroll
    ref.current.rotation.y = offset * Math.PI * 2;
    // Move camera/model along a path
    ref.current.position.y = offset * -5;
  });

  return (
    <mesh ref={ref}>
      <boxGeometry args={[1, 1, 1]} />
      <meshStandardMaterial color="royalblue" />
    </mesh>
  );
}

function ScrollScene() {
  return (
    <Canvas>
      <ScrollControls
        pages={5}       // 5 pages of scroll (500vh)
        damping={0.25}  // friction (seconds to catch up)
      >
        {/* 3D content */}
        <Scroll>
          <AnimatedModel />
        </Scroll>

        {/* HTML content overlaid */}
        <Scroll html>
          <div style={{ position: "absolute", top: "100vh" }}>
            <h2>Section 2</h2>
          </div>
          <div style={{ position: "absolute", top: "200vh" }}>
            <h2>Section 3</h2>
          </div>
        </Scroll>
      </ScrollControls>

      <ambientLight intensity={0.5} />
      <directionalLight position={[5, 5, 5]} />
    </Canvas>
  );
}

useScroll Utilities

const scroll = useScroll();

// scroll.offset     — 0 to 1 (overall progress)
// scroll.delta      — scroll speed
// scroll.range(from, distance)  — 0-1 within range
// scroll.curve(from, distance)  — bell curve within range
// scroll.visible(from, distance) — boolean visibility

useFrame(() => {
  // Animate only in section 2 (20%-40% of scroll)
  const sectionProgress = scroll.range(0.2, 0.2);
  ref.current.scale.setScalar(1 + sectionProgress * 0.5);

  // Fade in section 3
  const visible = scroll.visible(0.4, 0.2);
  material.current.opacity = visible ? scroll.curve(0.4, 0.2) : 0;
});

R3F + GSAP (Alternative to ScrollControls) [E2]

When you need GSAP's pin/snap with 3D:

import { useGSAP } from "@gsap/react";
import gsap from "gsap";
import { ScrollTrigger } from "gsap/ScrollTrigger";

function GSAPModel() {
  const mesh = useRef();

  useGSAP(() => {
    gsap.to(mesh.current.rotation, {
      y: Math.PI * 2,
      scrollTrigger: {
        trigger: "#scene-container",
        start: "top top",
        end: "+=3000",
        pin: true,
        scrub: 1,
      }
    });
  });

  return <mesh ref={mesh}>...</mesh>;
}

---

2. Spline Embeds [E2]

What: No-code 3D design tool with web export. Best for: Quick 3D heroes, interactive product views, landing pages.

Embed Methods

// Method 1: iframe (simplest, no bundle impact)
<iframe
  src="https://my.spline.design/scene-abc123/"
  frameBorder="0"
  width="100%"
  height="500px"
  style={{ border: "none" }}
/>

// Method 2: React component (more control)
import Spline from "@splinetool/react-spline";

<Spline scene="https://prod.spline.design/abc123/scene.splinecode" />

// Method 3: Vanilla JS
import { Application } from "@splinetool/runtime";
const app = new Application(canvas);
app.load("https://prod.spline.design/abc123/scene.splinecode");

Spline Capabilities

• Scroll-linked animations (native events)
• Mouse follow / hover interactions
• State changes on click
• Physics simulations
• Responsive layout
• AI text-to-3D / image-to-3D generation

Spline Limitations

• Performance: Keep <3 lights per scene
• Polygons: Smooth subdivision max 2 levels
• Loading: Scenes can be 1-5MB+ for complex objects
• Control: Less fine-grained than custom Three.js
• Offline: Requires network to load from Spline CDN (self-hosted export available)
• Scroll sync: Less precise than R3F ScrollControls or GSAP

Spline Optimization

• Delete invisible objects (inside or behind other objects)
• Use <3 lights
• Compress on export (quality vs size tradeoff)
• Reduce subdivision levels
• Optimize CAD imports: strip internal geometry, small fillets
• Keep total polygon count reasonable for target devices

---

3. GLTF/GLB Loading & Optimization [E1]

The Pipeline

Source (FBX/OBJ/Blender)
  → Export as GLTF/GLB
  → Optimize with gltf-transform
    → Draco/Meshopt compression
    → KTX2 texture compression
    → Mesh quantization
  → Load in Three.js/R3F

gltf-transform Optimization [E1]

# Install
npm i -g @gltf-transform/cli

# Full optimization pipeline
gltf-transform optimize input.glb output.glb \
  --compress draco \
  --texture-compress webp

# Or step by step:
gltf-transform dedup input.glb deduped.glb           # remove duplicate data
gltf-transform draco deduped.glb compressed.glb       # geometry compression
gltf-transform webp compressed.glb textured.glb       # texture to WebP
gltf-transform quantize textured.glb output.glb       # mesh quantization

Real-World Size Reductions

Stage	Example Size	Reduction
Raw FBX	50 MB	baseline
GLTF/GLB export	29 MB	-42%
Draco compression	5 MB	-83%
+ KTX2 textures	2.5 MB	-91%
+ Mesh quantization	2 MB	-93%

Compression Methods

Method	Compression	Decode Speed	Three.js Version
Draco	Best (~90%)	Slower (Web Worker)	r100+
Meshopt	Good (~85%)	Faster	r122+
Quantization	Moderate (~50%)	Instant	r100+

Decision: Draco for smallest files, Meshopt for fastest client decode. Combine with KTX2 textures.

Loading in R3F

import { useGLTF, useTexture } from "@react-three/drei";

// Preload for instant display
useGLTF.preload("/models/product.glb");

function Product() {
  const { scene, nodes, materials } = useGLTF("/models/product.glb");

  return (
    <primitive
      object={scene}
      scale={0.5}
      position={[0, -1, 0]}
    />
  );
}

// With Draco decoder
import { DRACOLoader } from "three/examples/jsm/loaders/DRACOLoader";

// In Canvas setup or loader config:
// DRACOLoader points to decoder files (usually from CDN)

---

4. Performance Budgets [E1]

Polygon Limits

Device Class	Max Triangles	Draw Calls	Notes
High-end desktop	500K-1M	<200	Gaming GPU
Average desktop	100K-300K	<100	Integrated GPU
Mobile (flagship)	50K-150K	<50	iPhone 14+ level
Mobile (budget)	20K-50K	<30	Older Android

Key insight: Draw call count matters MORE than polygon count. Below 100 draw calls, most devices maintain 60fps. Above 500, even powerful GPUs struggle.

Texture Budgets

Texture	Max Size	Format	VRAM
Diffuse/Albedo	2048x2048	KTX2/WebP	~5MB
Normal map	1024x1024	KTX2	~1.3MB
Roughness/Metal	512x512	KTX2	~0.3MB
Environment	256x256 cube	HDR/EXR	~2MB

Critical: A 200KB PNG on disk = 20MB+ in VRAM! KTX2 with Basis Universal stays compressed on GPU (~10x reduction).

R3F Performance Tips

// 1. Use instancing for repeated objects
import { Instances, Instance } from "@react-three/drei";

<Instances>
  {positions.map((pos, i) => (
    <Instance key={i} position={pos} />
  ))}
</Instances>

// 2. Frustum culling (enabled by default in Three.js)
// 3. LOD (Level of Detail)
import { Detailed } from "@react-three/drei";

<Detailed distances={[0, 50, 100]}>
  <HighPolyModel />
  <MedPolyModel />
  <LowPolyModel />
</Detailed>

// 4. Limit pixel ratio on mobile
<Canvas dpr={[1, 2]}> {/* max 2x, not device native */}

// 5. Use drei's Preload for loading screen
import { Preload } from "@react-three/drei";
<Canvas>
  <Suspense fallback={null}>
    <Scene />
  </Suspense>
  <Preload all />
</Canvas>

Monitor Performance

import { useFrame } from "@react-three/fiber";
import { Stats } from "@react-three/drei";

// Show FPS/MS/MB overlay
<Stats />

// Or manual monitoring
useFrame((state) => {
  const info = state.gl.info;
  // info.render.triangles — triangles per frame
  // info.render.calls — draw calls per frame
  // info.memory.textures — loaded textures
  // info.memory.geometries — loaded geometries
});

---

5. Lighting & Environment [E2]

Quick Setups (drei)

// Studio lighting (product showcase)
<Environment preset="studio" />

// HDR environment
<Environment files="/hdri/warehouse.hdr" />

// Simple 3-point lighting
<ambientLight intensity={0.3} />
<directionalLight position={[5, 5, 5]} intensity={1} castShadow />
<directionalLight position={[-3, 3, -5]} intensity={0.5} />

// Contact shadows (cheap fake shadows)
<ContactShadows
  position={[0, -1, 0]}
  opacity={0.5}
  scale={10}
  blur={2}
/>

Environment Presets (drei)

Available: apartment, city, dawn, forest, lobby, night, park, studio, sunset, warehouse

---

6. Common Patterns

Product Reveal on Scroll

function ProductReveal() {
  return (
    <Canvas>
      <ScrollControls pages={4} damping={0.3}>
        <Scroll>
          <ProductModel />  {/* rotates with scroll */}
        </Scroll>
        <Scroll html>
          <section style={{ top: "100vh" }}>Feature 1</section>
          <section style={{ top: "200vh" }}>Feature 2</section>
          <section style={{ top: "300vh" }}>CTA</section>
        </Scroll>
      </ScrollControls>
      <Environment preset="studio" />
    </Canvas>
  );
}

Floating Objects (Parallax)

import { Float } from "@react-three/drei";

<Float
  speed={2}           // animation speed
  rotationIntensity={0.5}
  floatIntensity={0.5}
>
  <mesh>
    <torusGeometry args={[1, 0.3, 16, 32]} />
    <meshStandardMaterial color="hotpink" />
  </mesh>
</Float>

Text in 3D

import { Text3D, Center } from "@react-three/drei";

<Center>
  <Text3D
    font="/fonts/inter_bold.json"
    size={0.75}
    height={0.2}
    curveSegments={12}
  >
    Hello World
    <meshNormalMaterial />
  </Text3D>
</Center>

---

Workflow

1. Define the 3D need — is it product showcase, decoration, interactive?
2. Pick approach — R3F for code control, Spline for no-code, OGL for shader-only
3. Prepare models — export GLTF/GLB, optimize with gltf-transform
4. Set up scene — Camera, lighting, environment
5. Add scroll interaction — ScrollControls or GSAP integration
6. Optimize — polygon budget, texture compression, instancing
7. Test performance — Stats component, Chrome DevTools, test on mobile
8. Add fallbacks — static image for low-end devices, loading state