three.quarks ✨

three.quarks is a high-performance particle system and visual effects library for three.js, written in TypeScript.

Create stunning real-time VFX for games, interactive experiences, and web applications with an intuitive API and powerful visual editor.

🎮 Try the Demo

▶️ Launch Live Demo - See three.quarks in action with interactive examples!

🔗 Quick Links

🚀 Why three.quarks?

• ⚡ High Performance - Optimized batch rendering minimizes draw calls
• 🎮 Unity Compatible - Import particle systems from Unity's Shuriken system
• 🎨 Visual Editor - Design effects visually with three.quarks-editor
• 🔧 Flexible - Extensible plugin system for custom behaviors and emitters
• ✅ Production Ready - Used in games and interactive applications

📦 Installation

npm install three.quarks

⚡ Quick Start

import * as THREE from 'three';
import {
    BatchedRenderer,
    ParticleSystem,
    ConstantValue,
    IntervalValue,
    ConstantColor,
    PointEmitter,
    RenderMode
} from 'three.quarks';

// 1. Create the batch renderer (manages all particle systems)
const batchRenderer = new BatchedRenderer();
scene.add(batchRenderer);

// 2. Define your particle system
const particles = new ParticleSystem({
    duration: 2,
    looping: true,
    startLife: new IntervalValue(1, 2),
    startSpeed: new ConstantValue(5),
    startSize: new IntervalValue(0.1, 0.3),
    startColor: new ConstantColor(new THREE.Vector4(1, 1, 1, 1)),
    maxParticle: 100,
    emissionOverTime: new ConstantValue(20),
    shape: new PointEmitter(),
    material: new THREE.MeshBasicMaterial({
        map: yourTexture,
        transparent: true
    }),
    renderMode: RenderMode.BillBoard
});

// 3. Add to scene and renderer
scene.add(particles.emitter);
batchRenderer.addSystem(particles);

// 4. Update in your animation loop
function animate() {
    const delta = clock.getDelta();
    batchRenderer.update(delta);
    renderer.render(scene, camera);
    requestAnimationFrame(animate);
}

📂 Loading VFX from JSON

Export effects from the visual editor and load them at runtime:

import { QuarksLoader, QuarksUtil, BatchedRenderer } from 'three.quarks';

const batchRenderer = new BatchedRenderer();
const loader = new QuarksLoader();

loader.load('effects/explosion.json', (effect) => {
    QuarksUtil.addToBatchRenderer(effect, batchRenderer);
    scene.add(effect);
});

scene.add(batchRenderer);

Playing Multiple Instances

// Clone and play the effect multiple times
const instance = loadedEffect.clone();
scene.add(instance);

QuarksUtil.addToBatchRenderer(instance, batchRenderer);
QuarksUtil.setAutoDestroy(instance, true); // Auto-cleanup when finished
QuarksUtil.play(instance);

⚛️ React Three Fiber

Use the quarks.r3f package for declarative React integration:

npm install quarks.r3f three.quarks

import { Canvas } from '@react-three/fiber'
import { QuarksProvider, ParticleSystem } from 'quarks.r3f'
import { ConeEmitter, SizeOverLife, PiecewiseBezier, Bezier, RenderMode } from 'three.quarks'

function FireEffect() {
    const shape = useMemo(() => new ConeEmitter({ angle: 0.3, radius: 0.2 }), [])
    const behaviors = useMemo(() => [
        new SizeOverLife(new PiecewiseBezier([[new Bezier(1, 0.5, 0.2, 0), 0]]))
    ], [])

    return (
        <ParticleSystem
            duration={5}
            looping
            startLife={[1, 2]}
            startSpeed={[2, 4]}
            startSize={0.5}
            startColor={{ r: 1, g: 0.5, b: 0.2, a: 1 }}
            emissionOverTime={40}
            shape={shape}
            renderMode={RenderMode.BillBoard}
            behaviors={behaviors}
            position={[0, 0, 0]}
            autoPlay
        />
    )
}

function App() {
    return (
        <Canvas>
            <QuarksProvider>
                <FireEffect />
            </QuarksProvider>
        </Canvas>
    )
}

See quarks.r3f documentation for full API reference.

✨ Features

🎬 Renderers

• Billboard - Camera-facing sprites
• Stretched Billboard - Velocity-aligned sprites
• Mesh - 3D geometry particles
• Trail - Ribbon trails behind particles

📐 Emitter Shapes

• Point, Sphere, Hemisphere, Cone, Circle
• Mesh Surface - Emit from 3D model surfaces
• Grid - Structured emission patterns

🎭 Behaviors

• Color over lifetime
• Size over lifetime
• Rotation over lifetime
• Force fields
• Orbital motion
• Texture animation
• Sub-emitters
• Custom behaviors via plugin system

🎨 Materials

• MeshBasicMaterial (unlit)
• MeshStandardMaterial (PBR)
• Configurable blending modes
• Texture atlas support

🧪 Examples

Browse the examples folder or run locally:

npm install
npm run build
npm run examples

📦 Packages

This project is a monorepo with modular packages:

🛠️ Editor

• three.quarks-editor - Visual editor for creating and previewing particle effects with real-time preview and JSON export

📚 Resources

• Change Log
• Contributing Guide
• Development Guide
• Code of Conduct
• CodeSandbox Example
• React Three Fiber Package - Official R3F integration

🗺️ Roadmap

• 🔲 WebGPU rendering support
• 🔲 WebAssembly particle simulation
• 🔲 Node-based scriptable particle systems
• 🔲 Cross-platform native plugins

📄 License

MIT