Related to this question : Z-buffer issue with BufferGeometry in ParticleSystem
The given solution does not work for me, I made my own shader for rendering as I added custom attributes for size and UV. Everythinf works fine with the buffer geometry except the particle ordering for transparency.
If Activated > squared texture are partly hiding the other particles.
If Deactivated (depthTest : false) > particles looks fine but are not ordered.
Thanks for your answer, the subject has been raised several times but nothing worked for me yet.
Using Three.js 61
particleMaterial = new THREE.ShaderMaterial({
fragmentShader : document.getElementById("sectorPointFragment").textContent,
vertexShader : document.getElementById("sectorPointVertex").textContent,
uniforms : uniforms,
attributes : attributes,
transparent : true,
alphaTest : 0.5
});
_this.particles = new THREE.ParticleSystem(geometry, particleMaterial);
_this.particles.sortParticles = true;
So here is the solution I took, creating a new array with value each time. Seems to work, tested with 1000 particles not more
this.updateShaders = function() {
if(clock.getElapsedTime() - _lastZOrdering <= 0.2) {
return;
}
// z-ordering
var distances = [],
attributes = this.particles.geometry.attributes,
nbParticle = attributes.position.numItems / 3,
tmpPos = new THREE.Vector3(0, 0, 0);
for (var i = 0; i < nbParticle; ++i) {
tmpPos.set(
attributes.position.array[i * 3],
attributes.position.array[i * 3 + 1],
attributes.position.array[i * 3 + 2]
);
distances[i] = [this.controls.object.position.distanceTo(tmpPos), i];
}
distances.sort(function(a, b){
return b[0] - a[0];
});
var index, indexSrc, indexDst, tmpTab;
for (var val in attributes) {
tmpTab = new Float32Array(attributes[val].itemSize * nbParticle);
for(i = 0; i < nbParticle; ++i){
index = distances[i][1];
for(j = 0; j < attributes[val].itemSize; ++j){
indexSrc = index * attributes[val].itemSize + j;
indexDst = i * attributes[val].itemSize + j;
tmpTab[indexDst] = attributes[val].array[indexSrc];
}
}
attributes[val].array = tmpTab;
attributes[val].needsUpdate = true;
}
_lastZOrdering = clock.getElapsedTime();
}