OrbitControls

OrbitControls is a camera control utility from the Three.js library that enables interactive orbiting, panning, and zooming around a target point. It is typically attached to a perspective camera and a DOM element, such as the renderer’s domElement, and responds to user input to adjust the camera’s position relative to a fixed target.

The control translates pointer and touch input into camera movements by modifying the camera’s spherical coordinates around the target. It supports smooth motion through optional damping, limits on angular and distance ranges, and can automatically rotate the view. The target, distance limits, and other parameters can be configured to constrain how the scene is viewed.

Usage generally involves creating the control with new THREE.OrbitControls(camera, renderer.domElement), setting the initial target with controls.target, and calling controls.update() in the animation loop. Common options include enabling damping (enableDamping) and setting a damping factor (dampingFactor), enabling or disabling zoom (enableZoom) and panning (enablePan), and constraining distance (minDistance, maxDistance) and angles (minPolarAngle, maxPolarAngle). Auto-rotation can be enabled with autoRotate and controlled via autoRotateSpeed. The control emits events such as change, start, and end when interactions occur.

Input is typically mapped as left-drag to rotate, middle-click or wheel to zoom, and right-drag to pan (configurable in newer versions). It also supports touch gestures for rotate and zoom. OrbitControls is widely used in Three.js examples to provide a ready-made, flexible user interface for 3D navigation, though it is part of the examples and not the core library.