Materials

Materials define how surfaces appear when rendered. GFXLite provides four material types with increasing complexity and realism.

Material Types: Basic, Lambert, Phong, Standard

Basic Material

The simplest material - displays a solid color without any lighting calculations.

import { BasicMaterial, Vector3 } from "gfxlite";

const material = new BasicMaterial({
  color: new Vector3(1, 0, 0), // RGB values from 0 to 1
});

Options

Property	Type	Default	Description
color	Vector3	(1, 1, 1)	Base color
opacity	number	1.0	Transparency (0-1)
blendMode	BlendMode	Opaque	Blending mode

Lambert Material

Diffuse shading using the Lambertian reflectance model. Reacts to lights but has no specular highlights.

import { LambertMaterial, Vector3 } from "gfxlite";

const material = new LambertMaterial({
  color: new Vector3(0.2, 0.8, 0.2),
});

Options

Property	Type	Default	Description
color	Vector3	(1, 1, 1)	Diffuse color
opacity	number	1.0	Transparency
map	Texture	null	Diffuse texture

Phong Material

Classic Phong shading with diffuse and specular components. Good for shiny surfaces.

import { PhongMaterial, Vector3 } from "gfxlite";

const material = new PhongMaterial({
  color: new Vector3(0.8, 0.2, 0.2),
  shininess: 64,
});

Options

Property	Type	Default	Description
color	Vector3	(1, 1, 1)	Diffuse color
shininess	number	32	Specular sharpness
specular	Vector3	(1, 1, 1)	Specular color
opacity	number	1.0	Transparency
map	Texture	null	Diffuse texture

Standard Material

A more physically-based material with roughness and metalness parameters.

import { StandardMaterial, Vector3 } from "gfxlite";

const material = new StandardMaterial({
  color: new Vector3(0.8, 0.6, 0.2),
  roughness: 0.3,
  metalness: 0.8,
});

Options

Property	Type	Default	Description
color	Vector3	(1, 1, 1)	Base color
roughness	number	0.5	Surface roughness (0=smooth, 1=rough)
metalness	number	0.0	Metallic factor (0=dielectric, 1=metal)
opacity	number	1.0	Transparency
map	Texture	null	Base color texture
normalMap	Texture	null	Normal map texture
roughnessMap	Texture	null	Roughness texture
metalnessMap	Texture	null	Metalness texture

Transparency

All materials support transparency through the opacity and blendMode properties:

import { BasicMaterial, BlendMode, Vector3 } from "gfxlite";

// Semi-transparent material
const material = new BasicMaterial({
  color: new Vector3(1, 0, 0),
  opacity: 0.5,
  blendMode: BlendMode.AlphaBlend,
});

// Alpha cutoff (for textures with hard edges)
const foliageMaterial = new BasicMaterial({
  map: leafTexture,
  blendMode: BlendMode.AlphaCutoff,
  alphaCutoff: 0.5,
});

Blend Modes

Mode	Description
BlendMode.Opaque	No transparency (default)
BlendMode.AlphaBlend	Standard alpha blending
BlendMode.AlphaCutoff	Binary transparency based on alpha threshold

Material Comparison

Material	Lighting	Specular	Performance	Use Case
Basic	No	No	Fastest	UI, unlit effects, debugging
Lambert	Yes	No	Fast	Matte surfaces, stylized graphics
Phong	Yes	Yes	Medium	Shiny objects, classic 3D look
Standard	Yes	Yes (PBR)	Slower	Realistic rendering