Three.js post-processing techniques with EffectComposer, bloom, depth of field, and screen-space effects.
Real-world examples
Live HTML demos for this skill — rendered directly in the page. 4 examples.
- 01
Unreal bloom glow
EffectComposer + RenderPass + UnrealBloomPass — emissive neon meshes bloom while dark geometry stays sharp; strength / radius / threshold live-tweakable.
- 02
Bokeh depth of field
BokehPass DOF along a depth row of spheres — focus, aperture, and maxblur shift so near/far planes soft-blur while the target stays crisp.
- 03
Film, vignette & chromatic stack
Multi-pass stack: FilmPass grain, VignetteShader, and a custom ShaderPass chromatic aberration — classic screen-space grading pipeline.
- 04
Outline on selection
OutlinePass highlighting a cycling selection with edgeStrength, edgeGlow, and pulse — pick-style post outline without changing materials.
Skill markdown
# Three.js Post-Processing
## Quick Start
```javascript
import * as THREE from "three";
import { EffectComposer } from "three/addons/postprocessing/EffectComposer.js";
import { RenderPass } from "three/addons/postprocessing/RenderPass.js";
import { UnrealBloomPass } from "three/addons/postprocessing/UnrealBloomPass.js";
// Setup composer
const composer = new EffectComposer(renderer);
// Render scene
const renderPass = new RenderPass(scene, camera);
composer.addPass(renderPass);
// Add bloom
const bloomPass = new UnrealBloomPass(
new THREE.Vector2(window.innerWidth, window.innerHeight),
1.5, // strength
0.4, // radius
0.85, // threshold
);
composer.addPass(bloomPass);
// Animation loop - use composer instead of renderer
function animate() {
requestAnimationFrame(animate);
composer.render(); // NOT renderer.render()
}
```
## EffectComposer Setup
```javascript
import { EffectComposer } from "three/addons/postprocessing/EffectComposer.js";
import { RenderPass } from "three/addons/postprocessing/RenderPass.js";
const composer = new EffectComposer(renderer);
// First pass: render scene
const renderPass = new RenderPass(scene, camera);
composer.addPass(renderPass);
// Add more passes...
composer.addPass(effectPass);
// Last pass should render to screen
effectPass.renderToScreen = true; // Default for last pass
// Handle resize
function onResize() {
const width = window.innerWidth;
const height = window.innerHeight;
camera.aspect = width / height;
camera.updateProjectionMatrix();
renderer.setSize(width, height);
composer.setSize(width, height);
}
```
## Common Effects
### Bloom (Glow)
```javascript
import { UnrealBloomPass } from "three/addons/postprocessing/UnrealBloomPass.js";
const bloomPass = new UnrealBloomPass(
new THREE.Vector2(window.innerWidth, window.innerHeight),
1.5, // strength - intensity of glow
0.4, // radius - spread of glow
0.85, // threshold - brightness threshold
);
composer.addPass(bloomPass);
// Adjust at runtime
bloomPass.strength = 2.0;
bloomPass.threshold = 0.5;
bloomPass.radius = 0.8;
```
### Selective Bloom
Apply bloom only to specific objects.
```javascript
import { UnrealBloomPass } from "three/addons/postprocessing/UnrealBloomPass.js";
import { ShaderPass } from "three/addons/postprocessing/ShaderPass.js";
// Layer setup
const BLOOM_LAYER = 1;
const bloomLayer = new THREE.Layers();
bloomLayer.set(BLOOM_LAYER);
// Mark objects to bloom
glowingMesh.layers.enable(BLOOM_LAYER);
// Dark material for non-blooming objects
const darkMaterial = new THREE.MeshBasicMaterial({ color: 0x000000 });
const materials = {};
function darkenNonBloomed(obj) {
if (obj.isMesh && !bloomLayer.test(obj.layers)) {
materials[obj.uuid] = obj.material;
obj.material = darkMaterial;
}
}
function restoreMaterial(obj) {
if (materials[obj.uuid]) {
obj.material = materials[obj.uuid];
delete materials[obj.uuid];
}
}
// Custom render loop
function render() {
// Render bloom pass
scene.traverse(darkenNonBloomed);
composer.render();
scene.traverse(restoreMaterial);
// Render final scene over bloom
renderer.render(scene, camera);
}
```
### FXAA (Anti-Aliasing)
```javascript
import { ShaderPass } from "three/addons/postprocessing/ShaderPass.js";
import { FXAAShader } from "three/addons/shaders/FXAAShader.js";
const fxaaPass = new ShaderPass(FXAAShader);
fxaaPass.material.uniforms["resolution"].value.set(
1 / window.innerWidth,
1 / window.innerHeight,
);
composer.addPass(fxaaPass);
// Update on resize
function onResize() {
fxaaPass.material.uniforms["resolution"].value.set(
1 / window.innerWidth,
1 / window.innerHeight,
);
}
```
### SMAA (Better Anti-Aliasing)
```javascript
import { SMAAPass } from "three/addons/postprocessing/SMAAPass.js";
const smaaPass = new SMAAPass(
window.innerWidth * renderer.getPixelRatio(),
window.innerHeight * renderer.getPixelRatio(),
);
composer.addPass(smaaPass);
```
### SSAO (Ambient Occlusion)
```javascript
import { SSAOPass } from "three/addons/postprocessing/SSAOPass.js";
const ssaoPass = new SSAOPass(
scene,
camera,
window.innerWidth,
window.innerHeight,
);
ssaoPass.kernelRadius = 16;
ssaoPass.minDistance = 0.005;
ssaoPass.maxDistance = 0.1;
composer.addPass(ssaoPass);
// Output modes
ssaoPass.output = SSAOPass.OUTPUT.Default;
// SSAOPass.OUTPUT.Default - Final composited output
// SSAOPass.OUTPUT.SSAO - Just the AO
// SSAOPass.OUTPUT.Blur - Blurred AO
// SSAOPass.OUTPUT.Depth - Depth buffer
// SSAOPass.OUTPUT.Normal - Normal buffer
```
### Depth of Field (DOF)
```javascript
import { BokehPass } from "three/addons/postprocessing/BokehPass.js";
const bokehPass = new BokehPass(scene, camera, {
focus: 10.0, // Focus distance
aperture: 0.025, // Aperture (smaller = more DOF)
maxblur: 0.01, // Max blur amount
});
composer.addPass(bokehPass);
// Update focus dynamically
bokehPass.uniforms["focus"].value = distanceToTarget;
```
### Film Grain
```jav
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