Add Text as Texture on a 3D Object in a React App

Let's learn how to add text to a 3D object in a React application!

We will use @react-three/fiber to accomplish this feat.
I'll be assuming you already have a basic understanding of React and a new React application set up.

Step 1: Install Required Packages

Let's install the required packages first. Run the following command in your terminal (make sure you are in the root directory of your project):

npm install three @react-three/fiber @react-three/drei

Here, three is the base library that react-three-fiber uses to create and render the 3D scene. @react-three/drei is a helper library for react-three-fiber that provides a set of reusable components and functions.

Step 2: Setup the Canvas

Now, import the Canvas from @react-three/fiber in your React component.

import { Canvas } from '@react-three/fiber';

Use the Canvas inside return in a functional component like so:

const CubeCanvas = () => {
  return (
     <Canvas
      camera={{
        fov: 25,
        position: [5, 5, 5],
      }}
    >
    </Canvas>
  );
};

Set the fov (Field of View) and position of the Canvas according to your use case. (A larger fov will result in a wider view.)

Step 3: Add Some Lights

Add some lights inside the Canvas so the Cube isn't too dark when added later on. Let's use ambientLight and directionalLight (They don't need importing).

 <Canvas
      camera={{
        fov: 25,
        position: [5, 5, 5],
      }}
    >
      <ambientLight intensity={1} />
      <directionalLight position={[3, 2, 1]} />
    </Canvas>

Step 4: Create a Cube

Now, let's create a separate component to render our cube.

function Cube() {
  return (
    <mesh>
      <boxGeometry />
      <meshStandardMaterial>
        <RenderTexture attach="map">
          <color attach={"background"} args={["#dc9dcd"]} />
        </RenderTexture>
      </meshStandardMaterial>
    </mesh>
  );
}

Here, a mesh component is used, which is a low-level react-three-fiber component used to create and manipulate 3D objects. Inside mesh, we use boxGeometry for displaying a cube shaped object.

We also need a meshStandardMaterial to define the appearance of the cube. Inside, meshStandardMaterial, a RenderTexture component, imported from @react-three/drei is used to render texture on the cube. attach="map" indicates that the rendered texture should be used as the texture map for the material of the parent mesh.

We also give a color to the cube by using a color component.

Step 5: Add Text to Cube

Let's use the Text component from @react-three/drei to use text as a texture on our cube. Add the following inside the RenderTexture component.

<Text position={[-0.2, 0, 0]} fontSize={1} color={"#555"}>
 hello
</Text>

And that's all we need to add text to the cube. The positioning of the text may seem a little odd at the moment. But we can fix that using the PerspectiveCamera from @react-three/drei. Also, add Cube inside the CubeCanvas This is how both components finally look:

import {
  Text,
  PerspectiveCamera,
  RenderTexture,
} from "@react-three/drei";
import { Canvas } from "@react-three/fiber";

function Cube() {
  return (
    <mesh>
      <boxGeometry />
      <meshStandardMaterial>
        <RenderTexture attach={"map"}>
          <PerspectiveCamera makeDefault position={[0, 0, 5]} />
          <color attach={"background"} args={["#dc9dcd"]} />
          <Text position={[-0.2, 0, 0]} fontSize={1} color={"#555"}>
            hello
          </Text>
        </RenderTexture>
      </meshStandardMaterial>
    </mesh>
  );
}

function CubeCanvas() {
  return (
    <Canvas
      camera={{
        fov: 25,
        position: [5, 5, 5],
      }}
    >
      <ambientLight intensity={1} />
      <directionalLight position={[3, 2, 1]} />
      <Cube />
    </Canvas>
  );
}

And the text is now fixed 👌

Final Thoughts

That's the end of this tutorial. We rendered a 3D object in our React app using threejs, react-three-fiber and react-three/drei, and learned how to add text as texture to it.

You can find the official docs here and explore the vast world of 3D rendering in React using React-Three-Fiber.