Dynamic Textures

A dynamic texture works by creating a canvas onto which you can draw using all the facilities of the HTML5 Canvas.

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Creating and Applying

This is simply achieved using the dynamicTexture function with just three parameters:

import { DynamicTexture } from "@babylonjs/core/Materials/Textures/dynamicTexture";
const myDynamicTexture = new DynamicTexture(name, option, scene);

though the existing default values of mipmaps, sampling mode, and texture format can be overridden.

Whereas the name and scene parameters are obvious, the option parameter, which determines the width and height of the dynamic texture, can be one of three values:

1. An existing canvas, in which case canvas.width and canvas.height are used;
2. An object having the properties width and height;
3. A number, in which case both width and height are set to this number.

Once created, the dynamic texture is used as the diffuseTexture for a material in the usual way:

import { StandardMaterial } from "@babylonjs/core/Materials/standardMaterial";
const myMaterial = new StandardMaterial("Mat", scene);
myMaterial.diffuseTexture = myDynamicTexture;
mesh.material = myMaterial;

Attaching to a Canvas

An existing canvas can be used to define the size of a dynamicTexture when passed as an option parameter during creation, as seen above. In addition to referencing the size of the canvas, the created dynamicTexture will also attach itself to that referenced canvas. This means that the dynamicTexture will duplicate whatever is rendered to that referenced canvas when dynamicTexture.update() is called.

Writing Text

A drawText method is available so that text can be written directly onto the dynamic texture.

myDynamicTexture.drawText(text, x, y, font, color, canvas color, invertY, update);

Here are the parameters:

• text: string, the words to be written;
• x: number, distance from the left-hand edge;
• y: number, distance from the top or bottom edge, depending on invertY;
• font: string, font definition in the form font-style, font-size, font_name;
• invertY: boolean, true by default, in which case y is the distance from the top; when false, y is the distance from the bottom and the letters are reversed;
• update: boolean, true by default, the dynamic texture will immediately be updated.

Canvas Methods

You can obtain the canvas context using

const ctx = myDynamicTexture.getContext();

This exposes all the possibilities of the HTML5 canvas element, giving you full control over drawing, transforming, compositing, and other pixel manipulation to create or update your dynamic texture in real time.

Drawing Curves

As an example, drawing using a quadratic curve

ctx.beginPath();
ctx.moveTo(75, 25);
ctx.quadraticCurveTo(25, 25, 25, 62.5);
ctx.quadraticCurveTo(25, 100, 50, 100);
ctx.quadraticCurveTo(50, 120, 30, 125);
ctx.quadraticCurveTo(60, 120, 65, 100);
ctx.quadraticCurveTo(125, 100, 125, 62.5);
ctx.quadraticCurveTo(125, 25, 75, 25);
ctx.stroke();

To apply the drawing, the dynamic texture needs to be updated.

myDynamicTexture.update();

Note: use update(false) if you do not want to use invertY.

Images

Images can be added to fill part or the whole of the canvas using the drawImage method. Remember that you will have to wait for the image to load before assigning it to the canvas and update the dynamic texture afterwards.

For a whole image

const img = new Image();
img.src = 'PATH TO IMAGE';
img.onload = function() {
  ctx.drawImage(this, 0, 0);
  myDynamicTexture.update();
}

For part of the image scaled onto part of the canvas

const img = new Image();
img.src = 'PATH TO IMAGE';
img.onload = function() {
  ctx.drawImage(this, image start x, image start y, image width, image height, canvas to x, canvas to y, destination width, destination height);
  myDynamicTexture.update();
}

Transformations

Anything that is drawn to a canvas can be transformed using methods like scale, rotate, or translate. It is helpful to save the context before the transformation and then restore the context afterward to ensure the texture updates correctly.

const texSize = 512;

ctx.save();

// define position and size of rectangle
const left = texSize * 0.5 - (texSize * 0.125);
const top = texSize * 0.5 - (texSize * 0.125);
const width = 0.25 * texSize;
const height = 0.25 * texSize;

// translate context to center rotation of rectangle
const rotationCenterU = width * 0.5 + left;
const rotationCenterV = height * 0.5 + top;
ctx.translate(rotationCenterU, rotationCenterV);

// rotate context before drawing
ctx.rotate(Math.PI/4);

// draw rectangle
ctx.fillStyle = "Red";
ctx.fillRect(-width * 0.5, -height * 0.5, width, height);

ctx.restore();

Playground Combination

This playground combines all the above techniques.

Text and Area Matching

For a single line of text it is possible to fit the text into a specified area or to fit an area to a specified text.

Fit Text Into an Area

You have a plane with width and height, planeWidth and planeHeight. To form the width and height of the dynamic texture, multiply both the plane width and height by the same number to maintain the aspect ratio. The number you multiply by defines the sharpness of the text; low numbers produce blurred text. Now you can create the dynamic texture.

import { DynamicTexture } from "@babylonjs/core/Materials/Textures/dynamicTexture";
const DTWidth = planeWidth * 60;
const DTHeight = planeHeight * 60;
const dynamicTexture = new DynamicTexture("DynamicTexture", { width: DTWidth, height: DTHeight }, scene);

For the next stage, use any font size to write and measure the width of the text on the dynamic texture.

const ctx = dynamicTexture.getContext();
const size = 12; //any value will work
ctx.font = size + "px " + font_type;
const textWidth = ctx.measureText(text).width;

The ratio of text width to the applied font size can then be used with the dynamic texture width to determine the font size that will fit the plane.

const ratio = textWidth / size;

const font_size = Math.floor(DTWidth / ratio);

If you wish you can apply a multiplier to the ratio, the larger the multiplier the smaller the text and bigger margins.

const font_size = Math.floor(DTWidth / (ratio * 1.1));

Now set the font and draw the text.

const font = font_size + "px " + font_type;
dynamicTexture.drawText(text, null, null, font, "#000000", "#ffffff", true);

Finally set and apply the material for the plane.

import { StandardMaterial } from "@babylonjs/core/Materials/standardMaterial";
const mat = new StandardMaterial("mat", scene);
mat.diffuseTexture = dynamicTexture;
plane.material = mat;

Fit an Area to Text

Take a plane mesh of fixed height, planeHeight, and some text with a set font size. You can then calculate how wide the plane must be for the text to fit. To do this, you need to know the width the text will take up on a dynamic texture. This is calculated using a temporary dynamic texture and measuring the text.

import { DynamicTexture } from "@babylonjs/core/Materials/Textures/dynamicTexture";
const temp = new DynamicTexture("DynamicTexture", 64, scene);
const tmpctx = temp.getContext();
tmpctx.font = font;
const DTWidth = tmpctx.measureText(text).width;

Choose a height for the dynamic texture, DTHeight, and then maintain the aspect ratio of the plane to the dynamic texture:

1. calculate the ratio planeHeight:DTHeight;
2. use the ratio to calculate the width of the planeWidth = DTWidth * ratio;
3. create the dynamic texture to use as material with width and height, DTWidth and DTHeight;
4. draw text on dynamic texture;
5. create the plane with width and height planeWidth and planeHeight.

import { StandardMaterial } from "@babylonjs/core/Materials/standardMaterial";
import { DynamicTexture } from "@babylonjs/core/Materials/Textures/dynamicTexture";
import { MeshBuilder } from "@babylonjs/core/Meshes/meshBuilder";
const planeHeight = 3;
const DTHeight = 256; //or set as wished
const ratio = planeHeight / DTHeight;
const planeWidth = DTWidth * ratio;
const dynamicTexture = new DynamicTexture("DynamicTexture", { width: DTWidth, height: DTHeight }, scene, false);
const mat = new StandardMaterial("mat", scene);
mat.diffuseTexture = dynamicTexture;
dynamicTexture.drawText(text, null, null, font, "#000000", "#ffffff", true); //use of null, null centers the text
const plane = MeshBuilder.CreatePlane("plane", { width: planeWidth, height: planeHeight }, scene);
plane.material = mat;

Serialization

The dynamic texture can be serialized with the scene using SceneSerializer.Serialize() or a mesh using SceneSerializer.SerializeMesh().

Note: Be sure that the scene is ready before serialization.

This playground demonstrates serializing a dynamic texture associated with a material on a mesh:

Dynamic Texture Example

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This playground example incorporates a user-manipulated dynamic texture allowing the customization of an asset. This scene demonstrates many of the previous concepts and shows why dynamic textures are a great way to provide users with interactive scene materials.