Applying Textures to Materials

Now that we know how to load external models and textures, the next crucial step is to bring them together by applying those textures to our 3D objects. This process involves creating a material and then assigning a texture to a specific property of that material. Textures are the visual 'skins' we wrap around our 3D geometry to give them color, detail, and realism.

In Three.js, the most common way to apply textures is by using a TextureLoader to load an image and then assigning that loaded texture to the map property of a material. Let's break down the typical workflow.

graph TD
    A[Start] --> B{Load Texture Image};
    B --> C[Create a Texture Object];
    C --> D{Create a Material (e.g., MeshStandardMaterial)};
    D --> E[Assign Texture to Material.map];
    E --> F[Assign Material to Mesh];
    F --> G[End];

First, you'll need an instance of TextureLoader. This object is responsible for loading image files and converting them into THREE.Texture objects that Three.js can understand and use.

Next, you use the load() method of the TextureLoader to get your texture. This method takes the path to your image file as an argument. It's asynchronous, meaning it will load the image in the background without freezing your application. You provide a callback function that will be executed once the texture has loaded successfully. This callback receives the loaded THREE.Texture object as its argument.