Export and Load 3D Character Animations on Three.js from Blender

Creating 3D character animations in Blender and bringing them to life on the web using Three.js is an exciting process. This article will guide you through exporting 3D character animations from Blender and loading them into a Three.js project.

Create and Animate Your Character in Blender

1. **Model Your Character**:

– Use Blender to create your 3D character model. Ensure your character is well-rigged with an armature for animation.

– For detailed guides on character modeling and rigging, refer to Blender’s extensive documentation and tutorials.

2. **Animate Your Character**:

– Create your desired animations using Blender’s animation tools. This could include walk cycles, idle animations, or any other actions your character needs to perform.

– Use the Action Editor within Blender to manage different animation actions.

Exporting the Character and Animations

1. **Select the Export Format**:

– The recommended format for exporting from Blender to Three.js is the glTF format (.glb or .gltf). glTF is optimized for runtime asset delivery and is well-supported by Three.js.

2. **Export Settings**:

– In Blender, select your character and go to `File > Export > glTF 2.0`.

– In the export settings, make sure to:

– Choose `Format: glTF Binary (.glb)` for a single file or `glTF Embedded (.gltf)` for a JSON file with separate binary and texture files.

– Enable `Include > Selected Objects` to export only the selected character.

– Enable `Include > Animation` to ensure your character’s animations are included.

– Set `Transform > Apply` to ensure transformations are applied.

3. **Export the File**:

– Choose the export location and click `Export glTF 2.0`.

Loading the Character in Three.js

1. **Setup Your Three.js Project**:

– Ensure you have a basic Three.js setup. If not, you can start with a simple template:

“`html

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html>

<head>

<title>Three.js Character Animation</title>

</head>

<body>

import * as THREE from ‘https://unpkg.com/three@0.150.0/build/three.module.js’;

import { GLTFLoader } from ‘https://unpkg.com/three@0.150.0/examples/jsm/loaders/GLTFLoader.js’;

import { OrbitControls } from ‘https://unpkg.com/three@0.150.0/examples/jsm/controls/OrbitControls.js’;

const scene = new THREE.Scene();

const camera = new THREE.PerspectiveCamera(75, window.innerWidth / window.innerHeight, 0.1, 1000);

const renderer = new THREE.WebGLRenderer();

renderer.setSize(window.innerWidth, window.innerHeight);

document.body.appendChild(renderer.domElement);

const controls = new OrbitControls(camera, renderer.domElement);

const light = new THREE.DirectionalLight(0xffffff, 1);

light.position.set(1, 1, 1).normalize();

scene.add(light);

camera.position.set(0, 1, 3);

const loader = new GLTFLoader();

loader.load(‘path/to/your/model.glb’, (gltf) => {

const model = gltf.scene;

scene.add(model);

const mixer = new THREE.AnimationMixer(model);

gltf.animations.forEach((clip) => {

mixer.clipAction(clip).play();

});

function animate() {

requestAnimationFrame(animate);

mixer.update(0.01);

controls.update();

renderer.render(scene, camera);

}

animate();

});

</script>

</body>

</html>

“`

2. **Import Three.js Modules**:

– Use ES6 module imports for Three.js and its loaders and controls as shown above.

3. **Load the glTF Model**:

– Replace `’path/to/your/model.glb’` with the actual path to your exported glTF file.

– The `GLTFLoader` will handle loading the model and its animations.

4. **Setup Animation Mixer**:

– The `THREE.AnimationMixer` is used to play animations. For each animation clip in your glTF file, create an action and play it.

Create and Animate Your Character in Blender

Exporting the Character and Animations

Loading the Character in Three.js

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