Three.js animation guidance for keyframes, skeletal animation, morph targets, and animation blending.
Real-world examples
Live HTML demos for this skill — rendered directly in the page. 4 examples.
- 01
Keyframe tracks & AnimationMixer
Build AnimationClips from Vector, Quaternion, and Color keyframe tracks, then drive them with AnimationMixer and Action loop modes.
- 02
Morph target blending
Shape-blend a mesh with morphTargetInfluences — procedural sine weights plus a NumberKeyframeTrack smile clip on the mixer.
- 03
Actions, fade & crossfade
Idle, spin, and hop clips on one mixer — fadeIn, fadeOut, crossFadeTo, LoopOnce with clampWhenFinished, and effective weights.
- 04
Skeletal bones & spring motion
A hand-built skeleton with SkeletonHelper, programmatic bone sway, a bone-attached prop, plus spring-physics and oscillation patterns.
Skill markdown
# Three.js Animation
## Quick Start
```javascript
import * as THREE from "three";
// Simple procedural animation
const clock = new THREE.Clock();
function animate() {
const delta = clock.getDelta();
const elapsed = clock.getElapsedTime();
mesh.rotation.y += delta;
mesh.position.y = Math.sin(elapsed) * 0.5;
requestAnimationFrame(animate);
renderer.render(scene, camera);
}
animate();
```
## Animation System Overview
Three.js animation system has three main components:
1. **AnimationClip** - Container for keyframe data
2. **AnimationMixer** - Plays animations on a root object
3. **AnimationAction** - Controls playback of a clip
## AnimationClip
Stores keyframe animation data.
```javascript
// Create animation clip
const times = [0, 1, 2]; // Keyframe times (seconds)
const values = [0, 1, 0]; // Values at each keyframe
const track = new THREE.NumberKeyframeTrack(
".position[y]", // Property path
times,
values,
);
const clip = new THREE.AnimationClip("bounce", 2, [track]);
```
### KeyframeTrack Types
```javascript
// Number track (single value)
new THREE.NumberKeyframeTrack(".opacity", times, [1, 0]);
new THREE.NumberKeyframeTrack(".material.opacity", times, [1, 0]);
// Vector track (position, scale)
new THREE.VectorKeyframeTrack(".position", times, [
0,
0,
0, // t=0
1,
2,
0, // t=1
0,
0,
0, // t=2
]);
// Quaternion track (rotation)
const q1 = new THREE.Quaternion().setFromEuler(new THREE.Euler(0, 0, 0));
const q2 = new THREE.Quaternion().setFromEuler(new THREE.Euler(0, Math.PI, 0));
new THREE.QuaternionKeyframeTrack(
".quaternion",
[0, 1],
[q1.x, q1.y, q1.z, q1.w, q2.x, q2.y, q2.z, q2.w],
);
// Color track
new THREE.ColorKeyframeTrack(".material.color", times, [
1,
0,
0, // red
0,
1,
0, // green
0,
0,
1, // blue
]);
// Boolean track
new THREE.BooleanKeyframeTrack(".visible", [0, 0.5, 1], [true, false, true]);
// String track (for morph targets)
new THREE.StringKeyframeTrack(
".morphTargetInfluences[smile]",
[0, 1],
["0", "1"],
);
```
### Interpolation Modes
```javascript
const track = new THREE.VectorKeyframeTrack(".position", times, values);
// Interpolation
track.setInterpolation(THREE.InterpolateLinear); // Default
track.setInterpolation(THREE.InterpolateSmooth); // Cubic spline
track.setInterpolation(THREE.InterpolateDiscrete); // Step function
```
## AnimationMixer
Plays animations on an object and its descendants.
```javascript
const mixer = new THREE.AnimationMixer(model);
// Create action from clip
const action = mixer.clipAction(clip);
action.play();
// Update in animation loop
function animate() {
const delta = clock.getDelta();
mixer.update(delta); // Required!
requestAnimationFrame(animate);
renderer.render(scene, camera);
}
```
### Mixer Events
```javascript
mixer.addEventListener("finished", (e) => {
console.log("Animation finished:", e.action.getClip().name);
});
mixer.addEventListener("loop", (e) => {
console.log("Animation looped:", e.action.getClip().name);
});
```
## AnimationAction
Controls playback of an animation clip.
```javascript
const action = mixer.clipAction(clip);
// Playback control
action.play();
action.stop();
action.reset();
action.halt(fadeOutDuration);
// Playback state
action.isRunning();
action.isScheduled();
// Time control
action.time = 0.5; // Current time
action.timeScale = 1; // Playback speed (negative = reverse)
action.paused = false;
// Weight (for blending)
action.weight = 1; // 0-1, contribution to final pose
action.setEffectiveWeight(1);
// Loop modes
action.loop = THREE.LoopRepeat; // Default: loop forever
action.loop = THREE.LoopOnce; // Play once and stop
action.loop = THREE.LoopPingPong; // Alternate forward/backward
action.repetitions = 3; // Number of loops (Infinity default)
// Clamping
action.clampWhenFinished = true; // Hold last frame when done
// Blending
action.blendMode = THREE.NormalAnimationBlendMode;
action.blendMode = THREE.AdditiveAnimationBlendMode;
```
### Fade In/Out
```javascript
// Fade in
action.reset().fadeIn(0.5).play();
// Fade out
action.fadeOut(0.5);
// Crossfade between animations
const action1 = mixer.clipAction(clip1);
const action2 = mixer.clipAction(clip2);
action1.play();
// Later, crossfade to action2
action1.crossFadeTo(action2, 0.5, true);
action2.play();
```
## Loading GLTF Animations
Most common source of skeletal animations.
```javascript
import { GLTFLoader } from "three/examples/jsm/loaders/GLTFLoader.js";
const loader = new GLTFLoader();
loader.load("model.glb", (gltf) => {
const model = gltf.scene;
scene.add(model);
// Create mixer
const mixer = new THREE.AnimationMixer(model);
// Get all clips
const clips = gltf.animations;
console.log(
"Available animations:",
clips.map((c) => c.name),
);
// Play first animation
if (clips.length > 0) {
const action = mixer.clipAction(clips[0]);
action.play();
}
// Play specific animation by name
const walkClip
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