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Orbit controls; Angle clamping

I've been working on a mini project recently for a visuals I want to develop and I'm having issues being able to limit the camera rotation based on the Y axis rotation, and I don't quite know why or how I'm having this issue.
I've looked around and all I can find is people wanting to remove the angle clamp, and they always seem to refer to minAzimuthAngle or maxAzimuthAngle, but I can't seem to get it to do anything.
// controls.minAzimuthAngle = -Math.PI, controls.maxAzimuthAngle = Math.PI
I'm just asking here as I can't find much elsewhere to explain my problem. I'm thinking it's just the specifically the way I'm using or rendering the camera but it's hard to find any reference to clamping the angles other than unclamping them.
var renderer, scene, camera; // scene render var creation
var orbitalControl = new THREE.OrbitControls(camera, renderer); //orbitcontrol setup
var controls = new THREE.OrbitControls( camera, renderer); // camera to renderer
controls.addEventListener( 'change', render ); //control listening
scene = new THREE.Scene(), camera; // scene creation
var W = window.innerWidth, H = window.innerHeight; // scene size
camera = new THREE.PerspectiveCamera(45, window.innerWidth / window.innerHeight, 0.1, 2000);
camera.position.set(0, 0, 400); // camera assignment
camera.up = new THREE.Vector3(0,500,0);
controls = new THREE.OrbitControls(camera); // centeralising the camera
controls.target = new THREE.Vector3(500, 200, 500); // controls
controls.addEventListener('change', render); // renderer based on controls
scene.add(camera); // camera to scene
controls.addEventListener( 'change', render ); // control adjustments
controls.screenSpacePanning = false;
controls.enableDamping = true, controls.dampingFactor = 0.25;
controls.enableZoom = false, controls.autoRotate = false;
controls.minPolarAngle = Math.PI / 2 ; // radians
controls.maxPolarAngle = Math.PI / 2 // radians
controls.minAzimuthAngle = -Math.PI * 0.5;
controls.maxAzimuthAngle = Math.PI * 0.5;
controls.addEventListener("change", () => {
if (this.renderer) this.renderer.render(this.scene, camera)});
regardless of whatever I change the min or max AzimuthAngle, it doesn't do anything, but it's the only thing I'm referred to from any other posts.
is there something conflicting with the way I'm trying to render this?
I genuinelly have no clue what the issue is.
Thanks in advance for anyone who responds
github link to the entire project; https://github.com/Thealonic/GENESIS

I'm having issues being able to limit the camera rotation based on the Y axis rotation,
In this case, you have to configure minAzimuthAngle and maxAzimuthAngle. Keep in mind that you can only use values in the range [ - Math.PI, Math.PI ]. Check out how the following example restricts how far you can orbit horizontally.
var mesh, renderer, scene, camera, controls;
init();
animate();
function init() {
// renderer
renderer = new THREE.WebGLRenderer();
renderer.setSize( window.innerWidth, window.innerHeight );
renderer.setPixelRatio( window.devicePixelRatio );
document.body.appendChild( renderer.domElement );
// scene
scene = new THREE.Scene();
// camera
camera = new THREE.PerspectiveCamera( 40, window.innerWidth / window.innerHeight, 1, 10000 );
camera.position.set( 20, 20, 20 );
// controls
controls = new THREE.OrbitControls( camera, renderer.domElement );
controls.minAzimuthAngle = 0;
controls.maxAzimuthAngle = Math.PI * 0.5;
// ambient
scene.add( new THREE.AmbientLight( 0x222222 ) );
// light
var light = new THREE.DirectionalLight( 0xffffff, 1 );
light.position.set( 20,20, 0 );
scene.add( light );
// axes
scene.add( new THREE.AxesHelper( 20 ) );
// geometry
var geometry = new THREE.SphereGeometry( 5, 12, 8 );
// material
var material = new THREE.MeshPhongMaterial( {
color: 0x00ffff,
flatShading: true,
transparent: true,
opacity: 0.7,
} );
// mesh
mesh = new THREE.Mesh( geometry, material );
scene.add( mesh );
}
function animate() {
requestAnimationFrame( animate );
renderer.render( scene, camera );
}
body {
margin: 0;
}
canvas {
display: block;
}
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/three#0.115/build/three.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/three#0.115/examples/js/controls/OrbitControls.js"></script>

three.js - Camera on spline doesn't have a uniform speed

I used this cool codepen to have my camera follow a spline :
https://codepen.io/wiledal/pen/WvNvEq
This works great but I want to have a uniform speed during my camera movement.
I played with all the parameters of the CatmullRomCurve3() function but to no avail.
In the following example you can see that it slows down at once when it reaches the curves.
Should I try to have the same intensity of points everywhere all along my spline ? If so how can I do that ?
Thank you very much.
var renderer, scene, camera, spline, camPos, camPosIndex;
function init(){
renderer = new THREE.WebGLRenderer();
scene = new THREE.Scene();
renderer.setSize(window.innerWidth, window.innerHeight);
document.body.appendChild(renderer.domElement);
const W = window.innerWidth;
camera = new THREE.PerspectiveCamera( 75, window.innerWidth / window.innerHeight, .1, 2000 );
spline = new THREE.CatmullRomCurve3([
new THREE.Vector3( -70, 9 ),
new THREE.Vector3( -20, 9 ),
new THREE.Vector3( -13, 9 ),
new THREE.Vector3( 13, -9 ),
new THREE.Vector3( 20, -9 ),
new THREE.Vector3( 70, -9 ),
]);
var points = spline.getPoints(500);
var geometry = new THREE.BufferGeometry().setFromPoints( points );
var material = new THREE.LineBasicMaterial( { color : 0xffffff } );
// Create the final object to add to the scene
var splineObject = new THREE.Line( geometry, material );
scene.add(splineObject);
camPosIndex = 0;
}
let speed = 1000;
function update() {
renderer.render(scene, camera);
requestAnimationFrame(update);
camPosIndex++;
if (camPosIndex > speed) {
camPosIndex = 0;
}
var camPos = spline.getPoint(camPosIndex / speed);
var camRot = spline.getTangent(camPosIndex / speed);
camera.position.x = camPos.x;
camera.position.y = camPos.y;
camera.position.z = camPos.z + 40; // so I can watch my spline
camera.rotation.x = camRot.x;
camera.rotation.y = camRot.y;
camera.rotation.z = camRot.z;
camera.lookAt(spline.getPoint((camPosIndex+1) / speed));
}
init();
update();
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/three.js/110/three.min.js"></script>

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>

How to set up image background in three.js?

I am trying to set up image background for my scene with globe in three.js, but unfortunately, when I did it the main object of my scene also became black (the same colour with background.
I used method:
renderer = new THREE.WebGLRenderer({ antialias: false, alpha:true });
Which makes default background transparent. And then I added image-background in CSS part.
My whole script for the scene looks like this:
var container, stats;
var camera, scene, renderer;
var group;
var mouseX = 0, mouseY = 0;
var windowHalfX = window.innerWidth / 2;
var windowHalfY = window.innerHeight / 2;
init();
animate();
function init() {
container = document.getElementById( 'container' );
camera = new THREE.PerspectiveCamera( 60, window.innerWidth / window.innerHeight, 1, 2000 );
//closer
camera.position.z = 500;
scene = new THREE.Scene();
group = new THREE.Group();
scene.add( group );
// earth
var loader = new THREE.TextureLoader();
loader.load( 'textures/mapnew1.jpg', function ( texture ) {
var geometry = new THREE.SphereGeometry( 180, 32, 32 );
var material = new THREE.MeshBasicMaterial( { map: texture, overdraw: 0.5 } );
var mesh = new THREE.Mesh( geometry, material );
group.add( mesh );
} );
// shadow
var canvas = document.createElement( 'canvas' );
canvas.width = 128;
canvas.height = 128;
var context = canvas.getContext( '2d' );
var gradient = context.createRadialGradient(
canvas.width / 2,
canvas.height / 2,
0,
canvas.width / 2,
canvas.height / 2,
canvas.width / 2
);
gradient.addColorStop( 0.1, '#000000' );
gradient.addColorStop( 1, '#000000' );
context.fillStyle = gradient;
context.fillRect( 0, 0, canvas.width, canvas.height );
var texture = new THREE.CanvasTexture( canvas );
var geometry = new THREE.PlaneBufferGeometry( 300, 300, 3, 3 );
var material = new THREE.MeshBasicMaterial( { map: texture, overdraw: 0.5 } );
var mesh = new THREE.Mesh( geometry, material );
mesh.position.y = - 200;
mesh.rotation.x = - Math.PI / 2;
group.add( mesh );
renderer = new THREE.CanvasRenderer();
renderer.setPixelRatio( window.devicePixelRatio );
renderer = new THREE.WebGLRenderer({ antialias: false, alpha:true });
renderer.setSize( window.innerWidth, window.innerHeight );
renderer.setClearColor(0x000000, 0);
container.appendChild( renderer.domElement );
stats = new Stats();
container.appendChild( stats.dom );
document.addEventListener( 'mousemove', onDocumentMouseMove, false );
//
window.addEventListener( 'resize', onWindowResize, false );
}
function onWindowResize() {
windowHalfX = window.innerWidth / 2;
windowHalfY = window.innerHeight / 2;
camera.aspect = window.innerWidth / window.innerHeight;
camera.updateProjectionMatrix();
renderer.setSize( window.innerWidth, window.innerHeight );
}
function onDocumentMouseMove( event ) {
mouseX = ( event.clientX - windowHalfX );
mouseY = ( event.clientY - windowHalfY );
}
//
function animate() {
requestAnimationFrame( animate );
render();
stats.update();
}
function render() {
camera.position.x += ( mouseX - camera.position.x ) * 0.08;
camera.position.y += ( - mouseY - camera.position.y ) * 0.08;
camera.lookAt( scene.position );
group.rotation.y -= 0.003;
renderer.render( scene, camera );
}
</script>
This is my CSS:
body {
color: #ffffff;
font-family:'Futura';
font-size:20px;
text-align: center;
background-image: url(textures/starfield.png);
background-color: black;
margin: 0px;
overflow: hidden;
}
Do you have any ideas how to fix it and make globe visible?
Thank you very much!

Regarding the background image, you are setting the alpha value for WebGLRenderer, which is correct. You didn't post your CSS, but ensure you're setting the background image on your container, not on the canvas.
Also, comment out this line:
renderer.setClearColor(0x000000, 0);
You don't need to set a clear color, since you are clearing to transparency, not a color. That should resolve the background image issue.
Regarding the all-black model, you need a light in your scene. Try adding this to your init method:
var light = new THREE.PointLight(0xffffff, 1, Infinity);
camera.add(light);
This will add a light source at the location of your camera (and will follow the camera as it moves).
Edit to add snippet:
var container, stats;
var camera, scene, renderer;
var group;
var mouseX = 0,
mouseY = 0;
var windowHalfX = window.innerWidth / 2;
var windowHalfY = window.innerHeight / 2;
init();
animate();
function init() {
container = document.getElementById('container');
camera = new THREE.PerspectiveCamera(60, window.innerWidth / window.innerHeight, 1, 2000);
//closer
camera.position.z = 500;
var light = new THREE.PointLight(0xffffff, 1, Infinity);
camera.add(light);
scene = new THREE.Scene();
group = new THREE.Group();
scene.add(group);
// earth
var loader = new THREE.TextureLoader();
loader.crossOrigin = '';
loader.load('https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/Equirectangular_projection_SW.jpg/640px-Equirectangular_projection_SW.jpg', function(texture) {
var geometry = new THREE.SphereGeometry(180, 32, 32);
var material = new THREE.MeshBasicMaterial({
map: texture,
overdraw: 0.5
});
var mesh = new THREE.Mesh(geometry, material);
group.add(mesh);
});
// shadow
var canvas = document.createElement('canvas');
canvas.width = 128;
canvas.height = 128;
var context = canvas.getContext('2d');
var gradient = context.createRadialGradient(
canvas.width / 2,
canvas.height / 2,
0,
canvas.width / 2,
canvas.height / 2,
canvas.width / 2
);
gradient.addColorStop(0.1, '#000000');
gradient.addColorStop(1, '#000000');
context.fillStyle = gradient;
context.fillRect(0, 0, canvas.width, canvas.height);
var texture = new THREE.CanvasTexture(canvas);
var geometry = new THREE.PlaneBufferGeometry(300, 300, 3, 3);
var material = new THREE.MeshBasicMaterial({
map: texture,
overdraw: 0.5
});
var mesh = new THREE.Mesh(geometry, material);
mesh.position.y = -200;
mesh.rotation.x = -Math.PI / 2;
group.add(mesh);
renderer = new THREE.WebGLRenderer({
antialias: false,
alpha: true
});
renderer.setPixelRatio(window.devicePixelRatio);
renderer.setSize(window.innerWidth, window.innerHeight);
//renderer.setClearColor(0x000000, 0);
container.appendChild(renderer.domElement);
stats = new Stats();
container.appendChild(stats.dom);
document.addEventListener('mousemove', onDocumentMouseMove, false);
//
window.addEventListener('resize', onWindowResize, false);
}
function onWindowResize() {
windowHalfX = window.innerWidth / 2;
windowHalfY = window.innerHeight / 2;
camera.aspect = window.innerWidth / window.innerHeight;
camera.updateProjectionMatrix();
renderer.setSize(window.innerWidth, window.innerHeight);
}
function onDocumentMouseMove(event) {
mouseX = (event.clientX - windowHalfX);
mouseY = (event.clientY - windowHalfY);
}
//
function animate() {
requestAnimationFrame(animate);
render();
stats.update();
}
function render() {
camera.position.x += (mouseX - camera.position.x) * 0.08;
camera.position.y += (-mouseY - camera.position.y) * 0.08;
camera.lookAt(scene.position);
group.rotation.y -= 0.003;
renderer.render(scene, camera);
}
body {
color: #ffffff;
font-family: 'Futura';
font-size: 20px;
text-align: center;
background-image: url(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Starsinthesky.jpg);
background-color: black;
margin: 0px;
overflow: hidden;
}
<script src="https://threejs.org/build/three.js"></script>
<script src="https://threejs.org/examples/js/renderers/Projector.js"></script>
<script src="https://threejs.org/examples/js/libs/stats.min.js"></script>
<div id="container"></div>
three.js r86

Since a while, there is:
var texture = new THREE.TextureLoader().load( "textures/bg.jpg" );
scene.background = texture;
I'm using three.js v 0.87

There are two ways to do it
1) Load a image using TextureLoader and set it as background. This will result into static background which may not look very realistic.
var texture = new THREE.TextureLoader().load(
"https://images.pexels.com/photos/110854/pexels-photo-110854.jpeg?auto=compress&cs=tinysrgb&dpr=2&h=650&w=940"
);
scene.background = texture;
2) Use skybox to load images for top, left, right bottom, front back sides. Then set them inside a cube or sphere geometry
var urls = [
"https://images.pexels.com/photos/110854/pexels-photo-110854.jpeg",
"https://images.pexels.com/photos/110854/pexels-photo-110854.jpeg",
"https://images.pexels.com/photos/110854/pexels-photo-110854.jpeg",
"https://images.pexels.com/photos/110854/pexels-photo-110854.jpeg",
"https://images.pexels.com/photos/110854/pexels-photo-110854.jpeg",
"https://images.pexels.com/photos/110854/pexels-photo-110854.jpeg"
];
var materialArray = [];
for (var i = 0; i < 6; i++)
materialArray.push(
new THREE.MeshBasicMaterial({
map: new THREE.TextureLoader().load(urls[i]),
side: THREE.BackSide
})
);
var skyGeometry = new THREE.SphereGeometry(400, 32, 32);
var skyMaterial = new THREE.MeshFaceMaterial(materialArray);
var skybox = new THREE.Mesh(skyGeometry, skyMaterial);
scene.add(skybox);
This will give a sphere with images as texture on backside. Just replace THREE.SphereGeometry with THREE.CubeGeometry and you can emulate envMap.

The previous solutions didn't work for me,
they miss the using of callback so at least from v.0.124 of the library,
this is how you can set the background image for the scene:
var texture_bg = new THREE.TextureLoader().load("img/bg.jpg", () => {
scene.background = texture_bg;
});

JavaScript interactive 3D Object

I am Trying to create an interactive Sphere with JavaScript for an assignment for HCI, the problem is that I am a novice to JavaScript and Three.js.
what I am after is to make it so when the sphere is clicked on that it displays the statistics of a specific subject. I have created the sphere and made it into an object but I am having trouble with the interaction of the sphere. I don't care if a div or a alert opens when the sphere is clicked on but I just need it to work as a dummy version
below is an example in JavaScript and THREE.js:
var sphere = new Object({}); //declared sphere as an object first.
var angularSpeed = 0.2;
var lastTime = 0;
function animate (){
//update
var time = (new Date()).getTime();
var timeDiff = time - lastTime;
var angleChange = angularSpeed * timeDiff * 0.1 * Math.PI / 1000;
sphere.rotation.y -= angleChange;
sphere2.rotation.sphere -=angleChange;
lastTime = time;
// render
renderer.render(scene, camera);
requestAnimationFrame(function(){ //request new frame
animate();
});
}
// renderer
var renderer = new THREE.WebGLRenderer();
renderer.setSize(window.innerWidth, window.innerHeight);
document.body.appendChild(renderer.domElement);
// camera
var camera = new THREE.PerspectiveCamera(45, window.innerWidth / window.innerHeight, 1, 1000);
camera.position.z = 500;
// scene
var scene = new THREE.Scene();
//material
var material = new THREE.MeshLambertMaterial({
map:THREE.ImageUtils.loadTexture('images/earth2.jpg')});
//sphere geometry
sphere = new THREE.Mesh(new THREE.SphereGeometry( 100, 50, 50 ), material);
sphere.overdraw = true;
sphere.rotation.x = Math.PI * 0.1;
sphere.position.x= 0; // moves position horizontally (abscissa) + = right and - = left
sphere.position.y= 0; // moves position virtually (ordinate) + = right and - = left
sphere.position.z= 0; // moves position z (applicate) + = forwards and - = backwards
scene.add(sphere);
//animate
animate();
var sphere = new Object:({event});
function statistics(){
alert('You clicked on the div!') // displays the statistics before the rendering
};
sphere.onMouseDown=statistics(event);

.onMouseDown is only available for HTML element. You can't use this function for THREE.js objects, but Raycaster is exactly what you want!
jsfiddle
var container, stats;
var camera, scene, projector, raycaster, renderer, selected, sphere;
var mouse = new THREE.Vector2(), INTERSECTED;
init();
animate();
function init() {
container = document.createElement( 'div' );
document.body.appendChild( container );
camera = new THREE.PerspectiveCamera( 70, window.innerWidth / window.innerHeight, 1, 10000 );
scene = new THREE.Scene();
var light = new THREE.DirectionalLight( 0xffffff, 2 );
light.position.set( 1, 1, 1 ).normalize();
scene.add( light );
var light = new THREE.DirectionalLight( 0xffffff );
light.position.set( -1, -1, -1 ).normalize();
scene.add( light );
sphere = new THREE.Mesh(new THREE.SphereGeometry( 20, 50, 50 ), new THREE.MeshNormalMaterial());
sphere.overdraw = true;
scene.add(sphere);
projector = new THREE.Projector();
raycaster = new THREE.Raycaster();
renderer = new THREE.WebGLRenderer();
renderer.setClearColor( 0xf0f0f0 );
renderer.setSize( window.innerWidth, window.innerHeight );
renderer.sortObjects = false;
container.appendChild(renderer.domElement);
document.addEventListener( 'mousemove', onDocumentMouseMove, false );
window.addEventListener( 'resize', onWindowResize, false );
renderer.domElement.addEventListener( 'mousedown', onCanvasMouseDown, false);
}
function animate() {
requestAnimationFrame( animate );
render();
}
function render() {
camera.lookAt(new THREE.Vector3(0,0,0));
camera.position = new THREE.Vector3(0,100,100);
// find intersections
var vector = new THREE.Vector3( mouse.x, mouse.y, 1 );
projector.unprojectVector( vector, camera );
raycaster.set( camera.position, vector.sub( camera.position ).normalize() );
selected = raycaster.intersectObjects( scene.children );
renderer.render( scene, camera );
}
function onWindowResize() {
camera.aspect = window.innerWidth / window.innerHeight;
camera.updateProjectionMatrix();
renderer.setSize( window.innerWidth, window.innerHeight );
}
function onDocumentMouseMove( event ) {
event.preventDefault();
mouse.x = ( event.clientX / window.innerWidth ) * 2 - 1;
mouse.y = - ( event.clientY / window.innerHeight ) * 2 + 1;
}
//detect mouse click on the sphere
function onCanvasMouseDown( event ){
if(selected[0].object==sphere){
statistics();
}
}
function statistics(){
alert('You clicked on the div!') // displays the statistics before the rendering
};