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How do I make the alpha channels of my animated sprite see through?

I'm trying to learn the capabilities of ThreeJS by making a small game. I have an animated sprite that is working great in my scene by using a PlaneGeometry and using a png texture in my MeshBasicMaterial but unfortunately even though my png has an alpha channel, the mesh is displaying the alpha channel as black when instead I'd prefer it to obviously be transparent. Is there a way to correct this?
//this is a customer function you can see at the top of my codepen
texture = new THREE.SpriteSheetTexture('assets/monster.png', 4, 1, 250, 4);
//loading the basic material here
var material = new THREE.MeshBasicMaterial({
map: texture
});
geometry = new THREE.PlaneGeometry(1, 1, 1, 1);
monster = new THREE.Mesh( geometry, material );
scene.add( monster );
You can view how I have the code laid out here, note though, I cannot get the png resource working on codepen:
https://codepen.io/GreedFeed/pen/yrqpQY

You've to set the .transparent property of the THRRE.Material which states the material transparent and activates the special treatment of transparent objects:
var material = new THREE.MeshBasicMaterial({
map: texture,
transparent: true
});

Three.js – Applying texture to Collada mesh yields unexpected result

Following the Three.js ColladaLoader example, I've exported a Cinema4D soda
can model (consisting of 4 meshes) to a .dae file. One of the meshes, the body of the can, I want to add a texture to.
In Cinema4D I've already made a texture based on a UV map of the mesh (spherical). However, when I try to apply the texture to the mesh, it simply shows a solid white fill. I've added the entire code in this Codepen. Relevant code below, edited for brevity:
loader = new THREE.ColladaLoader();
loader.load('can.dae', function (collada) {
can = collada.scene;
can.traverse(function (node) {
var textureLoader
if (node.name == 'wrapper') {
textureLoader = new THREE.TextureLoader();
textureLoader.load('wrapper.png', function (texture) {
node.material = new THREE.MeshBasicMaterial({
map: texture
});
node.material.needsUpdate = true;
});
}
});
scene.add(can);
});
Illustration of the result. As you can see, the wrapper of the can isn't the red wrapper.png provided, but a solid white fill. I've tried experimenting with mapping and wrapping modes, but to no avail. Any help very much appreciated!
FYI: I've already ruled out CORS issues.

I added a cube in your loader and gave it that material and it worked.. so the implication is that your can mesh does not have proper UV coordinates assigned to it.. Perhaps it is using an automatic cylindrical mapping in your authoring software which is not exporting it's UVs? What software are you authoring in?
scene.add(new THREE.Mesh(new THREE.BoxGeometry(1,1,1),node.material));
https://codepen.io/manthrax/pen/ePBZbZ?editors=1001

Three.js - Extreme shadow on face of mesh

I've created a chest model using blender, created a handpainted texture for it and set the whole thing up in an environment rendered with Three.js. The chest front face however has a unusually extreme shadow:
Here's my Renderer setup:
var renderer = new THREE.WebGLRenderer();
renderer.setSize(window.innerWidth, window.innerHeight);
document.body.appendChild(renderer.domElement);
return renderer;
This is the light source (in the screenshot, it's the only light source) causing this shadow:
var envLight = new THREE.PointLight(color, 0.5, 320);
envLight.position.set(0, 80, zPos);
return envLight;
Material setup:
var material = new THREE.MeshPhongMaterial();
//diffuse texture setup
material.map = THREE.ImageUtils.loadTexture(textureURL);
material.map.wrapS = material.map.wrapT = THREE.RepeatWrapping;
material.map.repeat.set(repeatX, repeatY);
// specular map setup
material.specularMap = THREE.ImageUtils.loadTexture(specularMapURL);
material.specularMap.wrapS = material.specularMap.wrapT = THREE.RepeatWrapping;
material.specularMap.repeat.set(repeatX, repeatY);
material.specular = that.specularLightingColor;
return material;
The mesh is created using this material together with the JSON data containing the geometry and UV mapping exported from Blender. I use THREE.JSONLoader to get the data at runtime.
Here's a screenshot from blender showing the mesh and UV map unwrapped, it seems to be an issue with the selected face as it matches the exact shape and position of the weird shadow.
I've tried disabling the shadow with Object3D's castShadow/receiveShadow attributes but that doesn't show any effect at all.
Another screenshot of the normals orientation of the mesh
(source: front-a-little.de)

I've updated to the latest three.js release (r70) and updated the completely re-written Blender Export addon.
The described issue was most likely a bug in a previous version of this exporter, an exported model using the new addon doesn't show the weird shadow.
The new exporter comes with new settings in the save screen, I had to make sure the "UVs" box under "Materials" is checked in order to load the model via Three.JSONLoader

How to texture animated js model exported from blender ? [Three.js]

I have successfully animated a model in blender using bone animation technique and i have also textured it in blender using uv texturing. Then Using three.js export add-on in blender i have exported the model making sure uv and animation in checked in. However i don't know the technique to load the texture for the animated model. I viewed the morph normal example included in three.js where there is simple color texture is used using Lambert material. I have texture from external file. How do i load the texture. In js animated model file there is location for the texture and it is in same location. But it doesn't load. i used the face material technique as well.
the location for three.js example that i used to modify:
http://threejs.org/examples/webgl_morphnormals.html
Here is my code:
var loader = new THREE.JSONLoader();
loader.load( "bird_final.js", function( geometry, materials ) {
morphColorsToFaceColors( geometry );
geometry.computeMorphNormals();
// the old code to set color to the model
//var material = new THREE.MeshLambertMaterial( { color: 0xffffff, morphTargets: true, morphNormals: true, vertexColors: THREE.FaceColors, shading: THREE.SmoothShading } );
// my code
var meshAnim = new THREE.MorphAnimMesh( geometry, new THREE.MeshFaceMaterial( materials ) );
meshAnim.duration = 500;
meshAnim.scale.set( 20, 20, 20 );
meshAnim.position.y = 150;
meshAnim.position.x = -100;
scene1.add( meshAnim );
morphs.push( meshAnim );
} );
Except the documentation and some basic tutorials scattered across the web, is there anywhere i can learn three.js from ground up. like i know setting up scene and creating basic geometry stuffs but some detail info like loading textured model loading scenes etc.

I have created a series of commented examples for Three.js that illustrate features one at a time, starting with very basic features and progressing to more advanced ones (including loading models).
http://stemkoski.github.io/Three.js
Hope this helps!

Working with complex geometry, materials, textures, and animations are some of the hardest things to figure out in THREE.js - that's why we started there with our editor.
We make all of these easy. Export an FBX file (or OBJ/MTL, or Collada) from Blender. Bring it into a project in Verold Studio, then load it into your THREE.js program using our loader. Service is free for use, you pay us if you want enablement services or have a client who wants a maintenance/support agreement.
See the example below, couldn't be easier to bring your scene to THREE.js,
http://jsfiddle.net/rossmckegney/EeMCk/
// 1. Set and then start the animation :)
this.model.setAnimation("mixamo.com");
this.model.playAnimation(true);
//this.model.pauseAnimation();
// 2. Get the threedata for a model
console.log(this.model.threeData);
// 3. Move the model
this.tweenObjectTo(
this.model.threeData, // the model
new THREE.Vector3(1, 0, 0), // go to
new THREE.Quaternion(), // rotation
1, // time, in seconds
false, // smooth start
true); // smooth end
// 4. Clone the model
that = this;
this.model2 = this.model.clone({
success_hierarchy: function(clonedModel) {
that.veroldEngine.getActiveScene().addChildObject(clonedModel);
}
});

How to use camera as texture image in Three.js

In three.js, I am trying to create a texture whose image is the current scene as viewed from a Camera. Using a CubeCamera to create a similar effect is well-documented; and with CubeCamera I have created an example of a scene to illustrate my goal at:
http://stemkoski.github.com/Three.js/Camera-Texture-Almost.html
However, I would like to use a regular Camera (rather than a CubeCamera) as the texture. How could I do this?

Ideally this would work.
Init:
renderTarget = new THREE.WebGLRenderTarget( 512, 512, { format: THREE.RGBFormat } );
var planelikeGeometry = new THREE.CubeGeometry( 400, 200, 200 );
var plane = new THREE.Mesh( planelikeGeometry, new THREE.MeshBasicMaterial( { map: renderTarget } ) );
plane.position.set(0,100,-500);
scene.add(plane);
Render:
renderer.render( scene, topCamera, renderTarget, true );
renderer.render( scene, topCamera );
And it almost does, but we have some unfinished business with y-flipped textures that ruins the party here.
So the best solution at the moment is to use the intermediry quad for flipping the texture (also saves a render):
http://mrdoob.github.com/three.js/examples/webgl_rtt.html

Based on mrdoob's example and suggestions, I have created a working example with very detailed comments, available at:
http://stemkoski.github.com/Three.js/Camera-Texture.html
part of my series of tutorial-style Three.js series of examples at
http://stemkoski.github.com/Three.js/