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Set 3d cube rotation origin

I have a simple 3d cube (BoxGeometry of 100, 100, 100) and I am trying to rotate it. If we call all 100x100x100 a tile - when I rotate it I can see it's overlapping the below tile.
(by changing color, now I totally understand the behaviour).
tl.to(this.cube4.rotation, 0.5, {z: -45* Math.PI/180});
[
What if I want to rotate it based on an anchor point of right bottom? So instead of overflowing inside the below tile, it will overflow that portion to above tile.
So it will look like the green example and not the red example:
The red example here is achieved by
tl.to(this.cube4.rotation, 0.5, {z: -45* Math.PI/180});
tl.to(this.cube4.position, 0.5, {x: 50 }, 0.5);
I am very new to three.js so if any terminology is wrong, please warn me

Add the ("red") cube to a THREE.Group, in that way that the rotation axis (the edge) is in the origin of the group. This means the cube has to be shifted by the half side length.
If you rotate the group object, then the cube (which is inside the group) will rotate around the edge and not around its center.
e.g.
var bbox = new THREE.Box3().setFromObject(cube);
cube.position.set(bbox.min.x, bbox.max.y, 0);
var pivot = new THREE.Group();
pivot.add(cube);
scene.add(pivot);
See also the answer to How to center a group of objects?, which uses this solution to rotate a group of objects.
(function onLoad() {
var camera, scene, renderer, orbitControls, pivot;
var rot = 0.02;
init();
animate();
function init() {
container = document.getElementById('container');
renderer = new THREE.WebGLRenderer({
antialias: true,
alpha: true
});
renderer.setPixelRatio(window.devicePixelRatio);
renderer.setSize(window.innerWidth, window.innerHeight);
renderer.shadowMap.enabled = true;
container.appendChild(renderer.domElement);
camera = new THREE.PerspectiveCamera(70, window.innerWidth / window.innerHeight, 1, 100);
camera.position.set(4, 1, 2);
//camera.lookAt( -1, 0, 0 );
loader = new THREE.TextureLoader();
loader.setCrossOrigin("");
scene = new THREE.Scene();
scene.background = new THREE.Color(0xffffff);
scene.add(camera);
window.onresize = function() {
renderer.setSize(window.innerWidth, window.innerHeight);
camera.aspect = window.innerWidth / window.innerHeight;
camera.updateProjectionMatrix();
}
orbitControls = new THREE.OrbitControls(camera, container);
var ambientLight = new THREE.AmbientLight(0x404040);
scene.add(ambientLight);
var directionalLight = new THREE.DirectionalLight( 0xffffff, 0.5 );
directionalLight.position.set(1,2,-1.5);
scene.add( directionalLight );
addGridHelper();
createModel();
}
function createModel() {
var material = new THREE.MeshPhongMaterial({color:'#80f080'});
var geometry = new THREE.BoxGeometry( 1, 1, 1 );
var cube1 = new THREE.Mesh(geometry, material);
cube1.position.set(0,-0.5,-0.5);
var cube2 = new THREE.Mesh(geometry, material);
cube2.position.set(0,0.5,-0.5);
var cube3 = new THREE.Mesh(geometry, material);
cube3.position.set(0,-0.5,0.5);
var material2 = new THREE.MeshPhongMaterial({color:'#f08080'});
var cube4 = new THREE.Mesh(geometry, material2);
var bbox = new THREE.Box3().setFromObject(cube4);
cube4.position.set(bbox.min.x, bbox.max.y, 0);
pivot = new THREE.Group();
pivot.add(cube4);
pivot.position.set(-bbox.min.x, 0.5-bbox.max.y, 0.5);
scene.add(cube1);
scene.add(cube2);
scene.add(cube3);
scene.add(pivot);
}
function addGridHelper() {
var helper = new THREE.GridHelper(100, 100);
helper.material.opacity = 0.25;
helper.material.transparent = true;
scene.add(helper);
var axis = new THREE.AxesHelper(1000);
scene.add(axis);
}
function animate() {
requestAnimationFrame(animate);
orbitControls.update();
pivot.rotation.z += rot;
if (pivot.rotation.z > 0.0 || pivot.rotation.z < -Math.PI/2) rot *= -1;
render();
}
function render() {
renderer.render(scene, camera);
}
})();
<!--script src="https://threejs.org/build/three.js"></!--script-->
<script src="https://rawcdn.githack.com/mrdoob/three.js/r124/build/three.js"></script>
<script src="https://rawcdn.githack.com/mrdoob/three.js/r124/examples/js/controls/OrbitControls.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/tween.js/17.2.0/Tween.js"></script>
<div id="container"></div>

From the first image, it appears that the pivot of your red tile is at its center.
For the rotation you want, you would ideally change the pivot to the lower right of the cube. This is impossible without modifying the geometry of the cube.
BUT a simple trick is to create an empty node at that pivot point, parent your cube to that empty, and apply your rotation to the empty. (Don't forget to remove your translation, you don't need it anymore)
Here is some pseudo code, assuming your red box is centered at (0,0,0) and has a width and height of 100:
// create an empty node at desired rotation pivot
var empty = new Object3D or group
empty.position = (50, -50, 0)
// parent your cube to the empty
var cube = your box
empty.add(cube)
// you may need to change the local position of your cube to bring it back to its global position of (0,0,0)
cube.position = (-50, 50, 0)
rotate empty by 45°

I think you can get the bounds of the rotated object like this:
bounds = new THREE.Box3().setFromObject( theRedObject )
Then reposition the object.y based on its bounds.min.y
let scene, camera, controls, ambient, point, loader, renderer, container, stats;
const targetRotation = 0;
const targetRotationOnMouseDown = 0;
const mouseX = 0;
const mouseXOnMouseDown = 0;
const windowHalfX = window.innerWidth / 2;
const windowHalfY = window.innerHeight / 2;
init();
animate();
var box, b1, b2, b3;
function init() {
// Create a scene which will hold all our meshes to be rendered
scene = new THREE.Scene();
// Create and position a camera
camera = new THREE.PerspectiveCamera(
60, // Field of view
window.innerWidth / window.innerHeight, // Aspect ratio
/*window.innerWidth / -8,
window.innerWidth / 8,
window.innerHeight / 8,
window.innerHeight / -8,
*/
0.1, // Near clipping pane
1000 // Far clipping pane
);
scene.add(camera)
// Reposition the camera
camera.position.set(0, 5, 10);
// Point the camera at a given coordinate
camera.lookAt(new THREE.Vector3(0, 0, 0));
// Add orbit control
controls = new THREE.OrbitControls(camera);
controls.target.set(0, -0.5, 0);
controls.update();
// Add an ambient lights
ambient = new THREE.AmbientLight(0xffffff, 0.2);
scene.add(ambient);
// Add a point light that will cast shadows
point = new THREE.PointLight(0xffffff, 1);
point.position.set(25, 50, 25);
point.castShadow = true;
point.shadow.mapSize.width = 1024;
point.shadow.mapSize.height = 1024;
scene.add(point);
group = new THREE.Group();
group.position.y = 0;
scene.add(group);
rotationAnchor = new THREE.Object3D()
group.add(rotationAnchor);
box = new THREE.Mesh(new THREE.BoxGeometry(), new THREE.MeshStandardMaterial({
color: 'grey'
}))
b1 = box.clone();
b2 = box.clone();
b3 = box.clone();
b3.material = b3.material.clone()
b3.material.color.set('red')
group.add(box);
group.add(b1);
b1.position.y += 1
group.add(b2);
b2.position.z += 1
rotationAnchor.add(b3);
rotationAnchor.position.set(0.5, 0.5, 1.5)
b3.position.set(-.5, -.5, -.5)
// Create a renderer
renderer = new THREE.WebGLRenderer({
antialias: true
});
// Set size
renderer.setPixelRatio(window.devicePixelRatio);
renderer.setSize(window.innerWidth, window.innerHeight);
// Set color
renderer.setClearColor(0xf8a5c2);
renderer.gammaOutput = true;
// Enable shadow mapping
renderer.shadowMap.enabled = true;
renderer.shadowMap.type = THREE.PCFSoftShadowMap;
// Append to the document
container = document.createElement("div");
document.body.appendChild(container);
document.body.appendChild(renderer.domElement);
// Add resize listener
window.addEventListener("resize", onWindowResize, false);
// Enable FPS stats
stats = new Stats();
container.appendChild(stats.dom);
var gui = new dat.GUI({
height: 5 * 32 - 1
});
let params = {
'test': 4,
'bevelThickness': 1,
'bevelSize': 1.5,
'bevelSegments': 3
}
gui.add(params, 'test', 0, 10).onChange(val => {
test = val
})
}
function onWindowResize() {
camera.aspect = window.innerWidth / window.innerHeight;
camera.updateProjectionMatrix();
renderer.setSize(window.innerWidth, window.innerHeight);
}
function animate() {
rotationAnchor.rotation.z = (Math.cos(performance.now() * 0.001) * Math.PI * 0.25) + (Math.PI * 1.25)
requestAnimationFrame(animate);
// Re-render scene
renderer.render(scene, camera);
// Update stats
stats.update();
}
body {
overflow: hidden;
margin: 0;
}
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/three.js/96/three.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://threejs.org/examples/js/controls/OrbitControls.js"></script>
<script src="https://threejs.org/examples/js/libs/stats.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/dat-gui/0.7.2/dat.gui.min.js"></script>

three.js raycast on skinning mesh

I'm trying to raycast skinning mesh (of knowing issue) after some skeleton changes (without animation on it, so performance isn't a priority).
The tricky thing i imagine in this attempt is:
Load skinned mesh add to scene
Make some changes in positions of specific bones at loaded mesh
Copy geometries of transformed loaded mesh (maybe from buffer?)
Create new mesh (some kind of imitation ghost mesh) from copied geometries and apply to it
set raycast on ghost mesh with opacity material= 0.0
Above list should work, but I'm stuck third day on point 3 cause I can't get transformed vertices after skinning.
var scene, camera, renderer, mesh, ghostMesh;
var raycaster = new THREE.Raycaster();
var raycasterMeshHelper;
initScene();
render();
function initScene() {
scene = new THREE.Scene();
camera = new THREE.PerspectiveCamera(75, window.innerWidth / window.innerHeight, 0.1, 200);
camera.position.set(20, 7, 3);
renderer = new THREE.WebGLRenderer({
antialias: true
});
renderer.setPixelRatio(window.devicePixelRatio);
renderer.setSize(window.innerWidth, window.innerHeight);
document.body.appendChild(renderer.domElement);
window.addEventListener('resize', onWindowResize, false);
var orbit = new THREE.OrbitControls(camera, renderer.domElement);
//lights stuff
var ambientLight = new THREE.AmbientLight(0xffffff, 0.3);
scene.add(ambientLight);
var lights = [];
lights[0] = new THREE.PointLight(0xffffff, 1, 0);
lights[1] = new THREE.PointLight(0xffffff, 1, 0);
lights[2] = new THREE.PointLight(0xffffff, 1, 0);
lights[0].position.set(0, 200, 0);
lights[1].position.set(100, 200, 100);
lights[2].position.set(-100, -200, -100);
scene.add(lights[0]);
scene.add(lights[1]);
scene.add(lights[2]);
//raycaster mesh
var raycasterMaterial = new THREE.MeshBasicMaterial({
color: 0xdddddd,
opacity: 0.7,
transparent: true
});
var geometrySphere = new THREE.SphereGeometry(0.5, 16, 16);
raycasterMeshHelper = new THREE.Mesh(geometrySphere, raycasterMaterial);
raycasterMeshHelper.visible = false;
scene.add(raycasterMeshHelper);
renderer.domElement.addEventListener('mousemove', onMouseMove, false);
//model Loading
var loader = new THREE.JSONLoader();
loader.load("https://raw.githubusercontent.com/visus100/skinnedTests/master/js_fiddle/skinned_mesh.json", function(geometry) {
var meshMaterial = new THREE.MeshStandardMaterial({
color: 0x00df15,
skinning: true
});
mesh = new THREE.SkinnedMesh(geometry, meshMaterial);
scene.add(mesh);
var skeleton = new THREE.SkeletonHelper(mesh);
scene.add(skeleton);
//some experimental skeletonal changes
mesh.skeleton.bones[1].rotation.z += 0.10;
mesh.skeleton.bones[2].rotation.x += -0.65;
mesh.skeleton.bones[3].rotation.y += -0.45;
mesh.skeleton.bones[3].position.x += 0.11;
//updates matrix
mesh.updateMatrix();
mesh.geometry.applyMatrix(mesh.matrix);
mesh.updateMatrixWorld(true);
//crate ghost mesh geometry
createGhostMesh();
//crate point cloud helper from buffergeometry
var bufferGeometry = new THREE.BufferGeometry().fromGeometry(mesh.geometry);
var particesMaterial = new THREE.PointsMaterial({
color: 0xff00ea,
size: 0.07,
sizeAttenuation: false
});
particles = new THREE.Points(bufferGeometry, particesMaterial);
particles.sortParticles = true;
scene.add(particles);
});
}
function createGhostMesh() {
var geometryForGhostMesh = new THREE.Geometry();
//push vertices and other stuff to geometry
for (i = 0; i < mesh.geometry.vertices.length; i++) {
var temp = new THREE.Vector3(mesh.geometry.vertices[i].x, mesh.geometry.vertices[i].y, mesh.geometry.vertices[i].z);
geometryForGhostMesh.vertices.push(temp);
//////
//here should be the code for calc translation vertices of skinned mesh and added to geometryForGhostMesh
//////
geometryForGhostMesh.skinIndices.push(mesh.geometry.skinIndices[i]);
geometryForGhostMesh.skinWeights.push(mesh.geometry.skinWeights[i]);
}
for (i = 0; i < mesh.geometry.faces.length; i++) {
geometryForGhostMesh.faces.push(mesh.geometry.faces[i]);
}
//create material and add to scene
var ghostMaterial = new THREE.MeshBasicMaterial({
color: 0xff0000,
opacity: 0.1,
transparent: true,
skinning: true
});
ghostMesh = new THREE.Mesh(geometryForGhostMesh, ghostMaterial);
scene.add(ghostMesh);
}
function onWindowResize() {
camera.aspect = window.innerWidth / window.innerHeight;
camera.updateProjectionMatrix();
renderer.setSize(window.innerWidth, window.innerHeight);
}
function render() {
requestAnimationFrame(render);
renderer.render(scene, camera);
};
function onMouseMove(event) {
//raycaster for ghostMesh
if (ghostMesh) {
var rect = renderer.domElement.getBoundingClientRect();
var mouseX = ((event.clientX - rect.left) / rect.width) * 2 - 1;
var mouseY = -((event.clientY - rect.top) / rect.height) * 2 + 1;
raycaster.setFromCamera(new THREE.Vector2(mouseX, mouseY), camera);
var intersects = raycaster.intersectObject(ghostMesh);
if (intersects.length > 0) {
raycasterMeshHelper.visible = true;
raycasterMeshHelper.position.set(0, 0, 0);
raycasterMeshHelper.lookAt(intersects[0].face.normal);
raycasterMeshHelper.position.copy(intersects[0].point);
} else {
raycasterMeshHelper.visible = false;
}
}
}
body {
margin: 0px;
background-color: #000000;
overflow: hidden;
}
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/three.js/98/three.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://threejs.org/examples/js/controls/OrbitControls.js"></script>
Please note that I need this in thre.js build r98 or less, because the rest of my code (not included here) and without morph tangents only skinning bones.
I tried to write it clearly and please if anyone want help do it so because I'm not a pro.
I not including my approach of calculating transformed geometries because I failed too hard.
I dug a lot about this problem here e.g. issue6440 and for today it's still not fixed.
But there existing methods to work with it e.g https://jsfiddle.net/fnjkeg9x/1/ but after several of attempts I failed and my conclusion is that the stormtrooper works on morph tanges and this could be the reason I failed.
EDIT:
I created next codepen based on this topics get-the-global-position-of-a-vertex-of-a-skinned-mesh and Stormtrooper.
Decided to start with simple box to make bounding around skinned transformed mesh.
Result is fail because it giving 0 at line:
boneMatrix.fromArray(skeleton.boneMatrices, si * 16);
Here i comparing stormtrooper with my example output from console: Screen shot image
Codpen with new progress: https://codepen.io/donkeyLuck0/pen/XQbBMQ
My other idea is to apply this bones form loaded model and rig as a morph tangent programmatically (but i don't even know if it is possible and how to figure it out)
Founded example of animated model
Sketchfab animation with points tracking

This is super late to the game, but here's an example of GPU picking that works with skinned meshes and doesn't require a separate picking scene to keep in sync with your main scene, nor does it require the user to manage custom materials:
https://github.com/bzztbomb/three_js_gpu_picking
The trick that allows for easy material overriding and scene re-use is here:
https://github.com/bzztbomb/three_js_gpu_picking/blob/master/gpupicker.js#L58

A proper support for raycasting for skinned meshes was added in https://github.com/mrdoob/three.js/pull/19178 in revision 116.

You can use GPU picking to "pick" skinned object. It won't give you a position though
Note: GPU picking requires rendering every pickable object with a custom material. How you implement that is up to you. This article does it by making 2 scenes. That might not be as useful for skinned objects.
Unfortunately three.js provides no way to override materials AFAICT. Here's an example that replaces the materials on the pickable objects before rendering for picking and then restores them after. You would also need to hide any objects you don't want picked.
const renderer = new THREE.WebGLRenderer({
antialias: true,
canvas: document.querySelector('canvas'),
});
const scene = new THREE.Scene();
const camera = new THREE.PerspectiveCamera(75, 2, 0.1, 200);
camera.position.set(20, 7, 3);
const orbit = new THREE.OrbitControls(camera, renderer.domElement);
//lights stuff
const ambientLight = new THREE.AmbientLight(0xffffff, 0.3);
scene.add(ambientLight);
const lights = [];
lights[0] = new THREE.PointLight(0xffffff, 1, 0);
lights[1] = new THREE.PointLight(0xffffff, 1, 0);
lights[2] = new THREE.PointLight(0xffffff, 1, 0);
lights[0].position.set(0, 200, 0);
lights[1].position.set(100, 200, 100);
lights[2].position.set(-100, -200, -100);
scene.add(lights[0]);
scene.add(lights[1]);
scene.add(lights[2]);
//raycaster mesh
const raycasterMaterial = new THREE.MeshBasicMaterial({
color: 0xdddddd,
opacity: 0.7,
transparent: true
});
const geometrySphere = new THREE.SphereGeometry(0.5, 16, 16);
raycasterMeshHelper = new THREE.Mesh(geometrySphere, raycasterMaterial);
raycasterMeshHelper.visible = false;
scene.add(raycasterMeshHelper);
//model Loading
const pickableObjects = [];
const loader = new THREE.JSONLoader();
loader.load("https://raw.githubusercontent.com/visus100/skinnedTests/master/js_fiddle/skinned_mesh.json", (geometry) => {
const meshMaterial = new THREE.MeshStandardMaterial({
color: 0x00df15,
skinning: true
});
const mesh = new THREE.SkinnedMesh(geometry, meshMaterial);
scene.add(mesh);
const id = pickableObjects.length + 1;
pickableObjects.push({
mesh,
renderingMaterial: meshMaterial,
pickingMaterial: new THREE.MeshPhongMaterial({
skinning: true,
emissive: new THREE.Color(id),
color: new THREE.Color(0, 0, 0),
specular: new THREE.Color(0, 0, 0),
//map: texture,
//transparent: true,
//side: THREE.DoubleSide,
//alphaTest: 0.5,
blending: THREE.NoBlending,
}),
});
//some experimental skeletonal changes
mesh.skeleton.bones[1].rotation.z += 0.10;
mesh.skeleton.bones[2].rotation.x += -0.65;
mesh.skeleton.bones[3].rotation.y += -0.45;
mesh.skeleton.bones[3].position.x += 0.11;
//updates matrix
mesh.updateMatrix();
mesh.geometry.applyMatrix(mesh.matrix);
mesh.updateMatrixWorld(true);
});
class GPUPickHelper {
constructor() {
// create a 1x1 pixel render target
this.pickingTexture = new THREE.WebGLRenderTarget(1, 1);
this.pixelBuffer = new Uint8Array(4);
}
pick(cssPosition, scene, camera) {
const {
pickingTexture,
pixelBuffer
} = this;
// set the view offset to represent just a single pixel under the mouse
const pixelRatio = renderer.getPixelRatio();
camera.setViewOffset(
renderer.context.drawingBufferWidth, // full width
renderer.context.drawingBufferHeight, // full top
cssPosition.x * pixelRatio | 0, // rect x
cssPosition.y * pixelRatio | 0, // rect y
1, // rect width
1, // rect height
);
// render the scene
// r102
//renderer.setRenderTarget(pickingTexture);
//renderer.render(scene, camera);
//renderer.setRenderTarget(null);
// r98
renderer.render(scene, camera, pickingTexture);
// clear the view offset so rendering returns to normal
camera.clearViewOffset();
//read the pixel
renderer.readRenderTargetPixels(
pickingTexture,
0, // x
0, // y
1, // width
1, // height
pixelBuffer);
const id =
(pixelBuffer[0] << 16) |
(pixelBuffer[1] << 8) |
(pixelBuffer[2]);
return id;
}
}
function resizeRendererToDisplaySize(renderer) {
const canvas = renderer.domElement;
const width = canvas.clientWidth;
const height = canvas.clientHeight;
const needResize = canvas.width !== width || canvas.height !== height;
if (needResize) {
renderer.setSize(width, height, false);
}
return needResize;
}
const pickPosition = {
x: 0,
y: 0,
};
const pickHelper = new GPUPickHelper();
let lastPickedId = 0;
let lastPickedObjectSavedEmissive;
function render(time) {
time *= 0.001; // convert to seconds;
if (resizeRendererToDisplaySize(renderer)) {
const canvas = renderer.domElement;
camera.aspect = canvas.clientWidth / canvas.clientHeight;
camera.updateProjectionMatrix();
}
if (lastPickedId) {
pickableObjects[lastPickedId - 1].renderingMaterial.emissive.setHex(lastPickedObjectSavedEmissive);
lastPickedId = 0;
}
for (pickableObject of pickableObjects) {
pickableObject.mesh.material = pickableObject.pickingMaterial;
}
const id = pickHelper.pick(pickPosition, scene, camera, time);
for (pickableObject of pickableObjects) {
pickableObject.mesh.material = pickableObject.renderingMaterial;
}
const pickedObject = pickableObjects[id - 1];
if (pickedObject) {
lastPickedId = id;
lastPickedObjectSavedEmissive = pickedObject.renderingMaterial.emissive.getHex();
pickedObject.renderingMaterial.emissive.setHex((time * 8) % 2 > 1 ? 0xFFFF00 : 0xFF0000);
}
renderer.render(scene, camera);
requestAnimationFrame(render);
};
requestAnimationFrame(render);
function setPickPosition(event) {
pickPosition.x = event.clientX;
pickPosition.y = event.clientY;
}
function clearPickPosition() {
// unlike the mouse which always has a position
// if the user stops touching the screen we want
// to stop picking. For now we just pick a value
// unlikely to pick something
pickPosition.x = -100000;
pickPosition.y = -100000;
}
window.addEventListener('mousemove', setPickPosition);
window.addEventListener('mouseout', clearPickPosition);
window.addEventListener('mouseleave', clearPickPosition);
window.addEventListener('touchstart', (event) => {
// prevent the window from scrolling
event.preventDefault();
setPickPosition(event.touches[0]);
}, {
passive: false
});
window.addEventListener('touchmove', (event) => {
setPickPosition(event.touches[0]);
});
window.addEventListener('touchend', clearPickPosition);
window.addEventListener('mousemove', setPickPosition);
window.addEventListener('mouseout', clearPickPosition);
window.addEventListener('mouseleave', clearPickPosition);
body {
margin: 0;
}
canvas {
width: 100vw;
height: 100vh;
display: block;
}
<script src="https://threejsfundamentals.org/threejs/resources/threejs/r98/three.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://threejsfundamentals.org/threejs/resources/threejs/r98/js/controls/OrbitControls.js"></script>
<canvas></canvas>

Three.js: Raycast Has an Empty Array of Intersects

I am using this example for my WebGL panorama cube: https://threejs.org/examples/?q=pano#webgl_panorama_equirectangular
I want to know what cube user clicks on and I discovered I can use Raycaster for this. According to docs I added the following function:
function onMouseDown( event ) {
event.preventDefault();
var mouseVector = new THREE.Vector3(
( event.clientX / window.innerWidth ) * 2 - 1,
- ( event.clientY / window.innerHeight ) * 2 + 1,
1 );
//projector.unprojectVector( mouseVector, camera );
mouseVector.unproject( camera );
var raycaster = new THREE.Raycaster( camera.position, mouseVector.sub( camera.position ).normalize() );
// create an array containing all objects in the scene with which the ray intersects
var intersects = raycaster.intersectObjects( scene.children );
console.log(intersects);
if (intersects.length>0){
console.log("Intersected object:", intersects.length);
intersects[ 0 ].object.material.color.setHex( Math.random() * 0xffffff );
}
// ...
But intersects is always empty. My scene is defined as
scene = new THREE.Scene();
and has skyBox added:
var skyBox = new THREE.Mesh( new THREE.CubeGeometry( 1, 1, 1 ), materials );
skyBox.applyMatrix( new THREE.Matrix4().makeScale( 1, 1, - 1 ) );
scene.add( skyBox );
I've seen similar posts related to this issue but could not figure out how to apply to this example. Any directions are appreciated.

Try adding this to your material definition:
var materials = new THREE.SomeMaterial({
/* other settings */,
side: THREE.DoubleSide
});
Raycaster won't intersect back-faces unless the side property is set to THREE.BackSide or THREE.DoubleSide. Even though your scaling technically inverts the face direction, the vertex order stays the same, which is what's important to Raycaster.
Some further explanation
The snippet below is showing how a ray projected from a camera at the center of a skybox inverted by a -Z scale might look.
The box itself looks weird because it has been -Z scaled, and the normals no longer match the material. But that's here nor there.
The green arrow represents the original ray. The red arrow represents what will happen to that ray inside the Mesh.raycast function, which will apply the inverse of the object's world matrix to the ray, but not to the object's geometry. This is a whole different problem.
The point I'm making is that within Mesh.raycast, it does not affect the vertex/index order, so when it checks the triangles of the mesh, they are still in their original order. For a standard BoxGeometry/BoxBufferGeometry, this means the faces all face outward from the geometric origin.
This means the rays (regardless of how the transformation matrix affects them) are still trying to intersect the back-face of those triangles, which will not work unless the material is set to THREE.DoubleSide. (It can also be set to THREE.BackSide, but the -Z scale will ruin that.)
Clicking either of the raycast buttons will produce 0 intersects if the -Z scaled box is not set to THREE.DoubleSide (default). Click the "Set THREE.DoubleSide" button and try it again--it will now intersect.
var renderer, scene, camera, controls, stats;
var WIDTH = window.innerWidth,
HEIGHT = window.innerHeight,
FOV = 35,
NEAR = 1,
FAR = 1000,
ray1, ray2, mesh;
function populateScene(){
var cubeGeo = new THREE.BoxBufferGeometry(10, 10, 10),
cubeMat = new THREE.MeshPhongMaterial({ color: "red", transparent: true, opacity: 0.5 });
mesh = new THREE.Mesh(cubeGeo, cubeMat);
mesh.applyMatrix( new THREE.Matrix4().makeScale( 1, 1, -1 ) );
mesh.updateMatrixWorld(true);
scene.add(mesh);
var dir = new THREE.Vector3(0.5, 0.5, 1);
dir.normalize();
ray1 = new THREE.Ray(new THREE.Vector3(), dir);
var arrow1 = new THREE.ArrowHelper(ray1.direction, ray1.origin, 20, 0x00ff00);
scene.add(arrow1);
var inverseMatrix = new THREE.Matrix4();
inverseMatrix.getInverse(mesh.matrixWorld);
ray2 = ray1.clone();
ray2.applyMatrix4(inverseMatrix);
var arrow2 = new THREE.ArrowHelper(ray2.direction, ray2.origin, 20, 0xff0000);
scene.add(arrow2);
}
function init() {
document.body.style.backgroundColor = "slateGray";
renderer = new THREE.WebGLRenderer({ antialias: true, alpha: true });
document.body.appendChild(renderer.domElement);
document.body.style.overflow = "hidden";
document.body.style.margin = "0";
document.body.style.padding = "0";
scene = new THREE.Scene();
camera = new THREE.PerspectiveCamera(FOV, WIDTH / HEIGHT, NEAR, FAR);
camera.position.z = 50;
scene.add(camera);
controls = new THREE.TrackballControls(camera, renderer.domElement);
controls.dynamicDampingFactor = 0.5;
controls.rotateSpeed = 3;
var light = new THREE.PointLight(0xffffff, 1, Infinity);
camera.add(light);
stats = new Stats();
stats.domElement.style.position = 'absolute';
stats.domElement.style.top = '0';
document.body.appendChild(stats.domElement);
resize();
window.onresize = resize;
populateScene();
animate();
var rayCaster = new THREE.Raycaster();
document.getElementById("greenCast").addEventListener("click", function(){
rayCaster.ray.copy(ray1);
alert(rayCaster.intersectObject(mesh).length + " intersections!");
});
document.getElementById("redCast").addEventListener("click", function(){
rayCaster.ray.copy(ray2);
alert(rayCaster.intersectObject(mesh).length + " intersections!");
});
document.getElementById("setSide").addEventListener("click", function(){
mesh.material.side = THREE.DoubleSide;
mesh.material.needsUpdate = true;
});
}
function resize() {
WIDTH = window.innerWidth;
HEIGHT = window.innerHeight;
if (renderer && camera && controls) {
renderer.setSize(WIDTH, HEIGHT);
camera.aspect = WIDTH / HEIGHT;
camera.updateProjectionMatrix();
controls.handleResize();
}
}
function render() {
renderer.render(scene, camera);
}
function animate() {
requestAnimationFrame(animate);
render();
controls.update();
stats.update();
}
function threeReady() {
init();
}
(function () {
function addScript(url, callback) {
callback = callback || function () { };
var script = document.createElement("script");
script.addEventListener("load", callback);
script.setAttribute("src", url);
document.head.appendChild(script);
}
addScript("https://threejs.org/build/three.js", function () {
addScript("https://threejs.org/examples/js/controls/TrackballControls.js", function () {
addScript("https://threejs.org/examples/js/libs/stats.min.js", function () {
threeReady();
})
})
})
})();
body{
text-align: center;
}
<input id="greenCast" type="button" value="Cast Green">
<input id="redCast" type="button" value="Cast Red">
<input id="setSide" type="button" value="Set THREE.DoubleSide">

You might actually want to use an easier process to determine your ray from the camera:
THREE.Raycaster.prototype.setFromCamera( Vector2, Camera );
Simply define your mouse coordinates as you do in a Vector2, then pass the elements to the Raycaster and let it do its thing. It hides the complexity of intersecting the frustrum with the ray from the camera, and should solve your problem.
(Also, the raycaster does indeed only intersect faces that face the ray directly, but since your SkyBox has been inverted its geometries faces are pointing to the inside of the box, so they should intersect if the camera is inside the box. Another possibility is that your box is further away than the raycasters default far value.)
function onMouseDown( event ) {
event.preventDefault();
var mouseVector = new THREE.Vector2(
event.clientX / window.innerWidth * 2 - 1,
-event.clientY / window.innerHeight * 2 + 1
);
var raycaster = new THREE.Raycaster;
raycaster.setFromCamera( mouseVector, camera );
var intersects = raycaster.intersectObjects( scene.children );
console.log(intersects);
if( intersects.length > 0 ){
console.log( "Intersected object:", intersects[ 0 ] );
intersects[ 0 ].object.material.color.setHex( Math.random() * 0xffffff );
}
}

Wrapping images around sphere

I've read many blogs/questions about this and didn't find the right answer. I'm creating an earth in three.js. But every time I'm mapping my texture and bump map it doesn't show. Also there aren't any console errors. It still shows my light on the sphere so the sphere is still there. But the textures won't show. :(
var scene,
camera,
light,
renderer,
earthObject;
var WIDTH = window.innerWidth,
HEIGHT = window.innerHeight;
var angle = 45,
aspect = WIDTH / HEIGHT,
near = 0.1,
far = 3000;
//Environment
var container = document.getElementById('container');
camera = new THREE.PerspectiveCamera(angle, aspect, near, far);
camera.position.set(0, 0, 0);
scene = new THREE.Scene();
//light
scene.add(new THREE.AmbientLight(0x333333));
var light = new THREE.DirectionalLight(0xffffff, 1);
light.position.set(5,3,5);
scene.add(light);
var earthGeo = new THREE.SphereGeometry (30, 40, 400),
earthMat = new THREE.MeshPhongMaterial();
// diffuse map
earthMat.map = THREE.ImageUtils.loadTexture('http://i317248.iris.fhict.nl/LSTE/globe/Images/globe.jpg');
// bump map
earthMat.bumpMap = THREE.ImageUtils.loadTexture('http://i317248.iris.fhict.nl/LSTE/globe/Images/bump.jpg');
earthMat.bumpScale = 8;
var earthMesh = new THREE.Mesh(earthGeo, earthMat);
earthMesh.position.set(-100, 0, 0);
earthMesh.rotation.y=5;
scene.add(earthMesh);
camera.lookAt( earthMesh.position );
//Renderer code.
var renderer = new THREE.WebGLRenderer({antialiasing : true});
renderer.setSize(WIDTH, HEIGHT);
renderer.domElement.style.position = 'relative';
container.appendChild(renderer.domElement);
renderer.autoClear = false;
renderer.shadowMapEnabled = true;
function render () {
renderer.render(scene, camera);
}
render();

Two problems in your code:
you're not waiting for the images to load before rendering the scene
you're having Cross-domain Policy problems (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-origin_policy) so the images are actually never loaded

Changing z rotation in three.js animation

I need to add an additional function to change the Z rotation value of the teapot from within the updateTeapot function. I saw this answer Three.js camera tilt up or down and keep horizon level, but how do I incorporate a z rotation function within this function?
function updateTeapot() {
if (teapot != null) {
teaPotHeight+=1;
teapot.position.y = teaPotHeight%200;
}
}
(function ( lab3 , $, undefined) {
lab3.init = function(hook) {
// Create a renderer
var WIDTH = 600,
HEIGHT = 500;
var renderer = new THREE.WebGLRenderer();
renderer.setSize(WIDTH, HEIGHT);
hook.append(renderer.domElement);
var scene = new THREE.Scene();
// Create lights
var pointLight =
new THREE.PointLight(0xFFFFFF);
pointLight.position = new THREE.Vector3(-10, 100, 100);
scene.add(pointLight);
// Add ambient light
var ambient = new THREE.AmbientLight( 0x555555 );
scene.add( ambient );
// Create a camera
var VIEW_ANGLE = 65, //65 FOV is most 'natural' FOV
ASPECT = WIDTH / HEIGHT,
NEAR = 0.1, //these elements are needed for cameras to
FAR = 10000; //partition space correctly
var camera = new THREE.PerspectiveCamera(
VIEW_ANGLE,
ASPECT,
NEAR,
FAR);
camera.position.z = 300;
scene.add(camera);
// Create and add controls
var controls = new THREE.TrackballControls( camera );
controls.target.set( 0, 0, 0 );
// Create a cube
var material =
new THREE.MeshLambertMaterial(
{
color: 0x00bbcc
});
var cube = new THREE.Mesh(
new THREE.CubeGeometry(
40, 55, 30),
material);
scene.add(cube);
// Animation
function renderLoop() {
renderer.render(scene, camera);
controls.update();
window.requestAnimationFrame(renderLoop);
updateTeapot();
}
window.requestAnimationFrame(renderLoop);
////////////////////////////////////////////////
var teapot = null;
var teaPotHeight=0;
loader = new THREE.JSONLoader();
loader.load( "models/utah-teapot.json", function( geometry ) {
teapot = new THREE.Mesh( geometry, new THREE.MeshLambertMaterial({
color: 0x00bb00,
side: THREE.DoubleSide
}));
teapot.scale.set( 20, 20, 20 );
teapot.position = new THREE.Vector3(-30, 100, 20);
function updateTeapot() {
if (teapot != null) {
teaPotHeight+=1;
teapot.position.y = teaPotHeight%200;
}
}
//add it to the scene
scene.add(teapot);
});
}
})(window.lab3 = window.lab3 || {} , jQuery)

Add
teapot.rotation.z = numInRadians;