R3F Transform Plugin

A Vite plugin for React Three Fiber that enables scene editing capabilities. The plugin provides transform controls for meshes and automatically saves their transformations to a JSON file.

Features

• Transform controls for meshes (translate, rotate, scale)
• Auto-saves transformations to JSON file
• Mesh selection via clicking
• Transform data persistence across refreshes
• Mesh identification using unique names

Installation

npm install vite-plugin-r3f-transform

Setup

1. Add the plugin to your Vite config:

// vite.config.js
import r3fTransform from 'vite-plugin-r3f-transform'

export default {
  plugins: [r3fTransform()]
}

2. Import and use the DevTransformWrapper in your R3F scene:

import { DevTransformWrapper } from 'virtual:r3f-transform'

function Scene() {
  return (
    <DevTransformWrapper>
      <mesh name="uniqueName">
        <boxGeometry />
        <meshStandardMaterial />
      </mesh>
    </DevTransformWrapper>
  )
}

Usage

Mesh Requirements

• Each mesh must have a unique name prop
• Meshes without names will be ignored
• Duplicate names will trigger a warning

// Good
<mesh name="cube1">...</mesh>
<mesh name="cube2">...</mesh>

// Bad - Missing name
<mesh>...</mesh>

// Bad - Duplicate name
<mesh name="cube1">...</mesh>
<mesh name="cube1">...</mesh>

Transform Data Storage

Transformations are automatically saved to public/transform-data.json in the following format:

{
  "meshName1": {
    "position": [x, y, z],
    "rotation": [x, y, z],
    "scale": [x, y, z]
  },
  "meshName2": {
    "position": [x, y, z],
    "rotation": [x, y, z],
    "scale": [x, y, z]
  }
}

Controls

1. Click on a mesh to select it
2. Use the transform controls to modify:
   • Position
   • Rotation
   • Scale
3. Press Escape to deselect the current mesh

How It Works

1. The plugin creates a virtual module that provides the DevTransformWrapper component
2. When a mesh is clicked, transform controls appear
3. Changes are tracked and saved to transform-data.json
4. On scene load, saved transformations are applied to meshes based on their names

Limitations

1. Relies on mesh names for identification
2. Mesh names must be unique

Development

To modify or extend the plugin:

1. The plugin consists of two main parts:

   • Vite plugin configuration
   • DevTransformWrapper component

2. Key files:

   • vite-plugin-r3f-transform.js: Main plugin file
   • transform-data.json: Generated file storing transformations

Future Improvements

Potential areas for enhancement:

1. UUID-based identification system
2. Multi-selection support
3. Undo/redo functionality
4. Transform snapping
5. Custom keyboard shortcuts
6. Support for grouped transformations
7. Transform history
8. Export/import capabilities

Contributing

Feel free to submit issues and enhancement requests!

License

MIT License