Post-Processing Bloom

Bloom effects using UnrealBloomPass for luminance-based glow and selective object bloom.

Quick Start

npm install three @react-three/fiber @react-three/postprocessing

import { Canvas } from "@react-three/fiber";
import { EffectComposer, Bloom } from "@react-three/postprocessing";

function Scene() {
  return (
    <Canvas>
      <mesh>
        <sphereGeometry args={[1, 32, 32]} />
        <meshStandardMaterial emissive="#00F5FF" emissiveIntensity={2} />
      </mesh>

      <EffectComposer>
        <Bloom
          luminanceThreshold={0.2}
          luminanceSmoothing={0.9}
          intensity={1.5}
        />
      </EffectComposer>
    </Canvas>
  );
}

Core Concepts

How Bloom Works

1. Threshold — Pixels brighter than threshold are extracted
2. Blur — Extracted pixels are blurred in multiple passes
3. Composite — Blurred result is added back to original image

Key Parameters

Parameter	Range	Description
luminanceThreshold	0-1	Brightness cutoff for bloom (lower = more glow)
luminanceSmoothing	0-1	Softness of threshold transition
intensity	0-10	Bloom brightness multiplier
radius	0-1	Blur spread/size
levels	1-9	Blur quality/iterations

Patterns

Cosmic Glow Effect

import { EffectComposer, Bloom } from "@react-three/postprocessing";
import { KernelSize } from "postprocessing";

function CosmicBloom() {
  return (
    <EffectComposer>
      <Bloom
        luminanceThreshold={0.1}
        luminanceSmoothing={0.9}
        intensity={2.5}
        radius={0.8}
        kernelSize={KernelSize.LARGE}
        mipmapBlur
      />
    </EffectComposer>
  );
}

Neon Cyberpunk Bloom

// High-contrast neon with sharp falloff
function NeonBloom() {
  return (
    <EffectComposer>
      <Bloom
        luminanceThreshold={0.4}
        luminanceSmoothing={0.2}
        intensity={3.0}
        radius={0.4}
        mipmapBlur
      />
    </EffectComposer>
  );
}

// Emissive material for neon objects
function NeonTube({ color = "#FF00FF" }) {
  return (
    <mesh>
      <cylinderGeometry args={[0.05, 0.05, 2]} />
      <meshStandardMaterial
        emissive={color}
        emissiveIntensity={4}
        toneMapped={false}
      />
    </mesh>
  );
}

Selective Bloom with Layers

import { useRef } from "react";
import { useThree } from "@react-three/fiber";
import { EffectComposer, SelectiveBloom } from "@react-three/postprocessing";

function SelectiveGlow() {
  const glowRef = useRef();

  return (
    <>
      {/* Non-blooming object */}
      <mesh position={[-2, 0, 0]}>
        <boxGeometry />
        <meshStandardMaterial color="#333" />
      </mesh>

      {/* Blooming object */}
      <mesh ref={glowRef} position={[2, 0, 0]}>
        <sphereGeometry args={[0.5, 32, 32]} />
        <meshStandardMaterial emissive="#00F5FF" emissiveIntensity={3} />
      </mesh>

      <EffectComposer>
        <SelectiveBloom
          selection={glowRef}
          luminanceThreshold={0.1}
          intensity={2}
          mipmapBlur
        />
      </EffectComposer>
    </>
  );
}

Multi-Selection Bloom

import { Selection, Select, EffectComposer } from "@react-three/postprocessing";
import { SelectiveBloom } from "@react-three/postprocessing";

function MultiSelectBloom() {
  return (
    <Selection>
      {/* Non-blooming */}
      <mesh position={[-2, 0, 0]}>
        <boxGeometry />
        <meshStandardMaterial color="#333" />
      </mesh>

      {/* Blooming objects wrapped in Select */}
      <Select enabled>
        <mesh position={[0, 0, 0]}>
          <sphereGeometry args={[0.5]} />
          <meshStandardMaterial emissive="#00F5FF" emissiveIntensity={2} />
        </mesh>
      </Select>

      <Select enabled>
        <mesh position={[2, 0, 0]}>
          <octahedronGeometry args={[0.5]} />
          <meshStandardMaterial emissive="#FF00FF" emissiveIntensity={2} />
        </mesh>
      </Select>

      <EffectComposer>
        <SelectiveBloom luminanceThreshold={0.1} intensity={1.5} mipmapBlur />
      </EffectComposer>
    </Selection>
  );
}

Animated Bloom Intensity

import { useRef } from "react";
import { useFrame } from "@react-three/fiber";
import { EffectComposer, Bloom } from "@react-three/postprocessing";

function PulsingBloom() {
  const bloomRef = useRef();

  useFrame(({ clock }) => {
    if (bloomRef.current) {
      const pulse = Math.sin(clock.elapsedTime * 2) * 0.5 + 1.5;
      bloomRef.current.intensity = pulse;
    }
  });

  return (
    <EffectComposer>
      <Bloom
        ref={bloomRef}
        luminanceThreshold={0.2}
        intensity={1.5}
        mipmapBlur
      />
    </EffectComposer>
  );
}

Audio-Reactive Bloom

function AudioReactiveBloom({ audioData }) {
  const bloomRef = useRef();

  useFrame(() => {
    if (bloomRef.current && audioData) {
      // Map bass frequency (0-255) to bloom intensity (1-4)
      const bassLevel = audioData[0] / 255;
      bloomRef.current.intensity = 1 + bassLevel * 3;

      // Map mid frequencies to threshold
      const midLevel = audioData[4] / 255;
      bloomRef.current.luminanceThreshold = 0.1 + (1 - midLevel) * 0.3;
    }
  });

  return (
    <EffectComposer>
      <Bloom
        ref={bloomRef}
        luminanceThreshold={0.2}
        intensity={1.5}
        mipmapBlur
      />
    </EffectComposer>
  );
}

Emissive Materials

Standard Emissive Setup

// For bloom to work, objects need emissive materials
function GlowingSphere({ color = "#00F5FF", intensity = 2 }) {
  return (
    <mesh>
      <sphereGeometry args={[1, 32, 32]} />
      <meshStandardMaterial
        color="#000"
        emissive={color}
        emissiveIntensity={intensity}
        toneMapped={false} // Important: prevents HDR clamping
      />
    </mesh>
  );
}

Emissive with Texture

import { useTexture } from "@react-three/drei";

function EmissiveTextured() {
  const emissiveMap = useTexture("/glow-pattern.png");

  return (
    <mesh>
      <planeGeometry args={[2, 2]} />
      <meshStandardMaterial
        emissiveMap={emissiveMap}
        emissive="#FFFFFF"
        emissiveIntensity={3}
        toneMapped={false}
      />
    </mesh>
  );
}

Shader Material with Emissive

import { shaderMaterial } from "@react-three/drei";
import { extend } from "@react-three/fiber";

const GlowMaterial = shaderMaterial(
  { uTime: 0, uColor: [0, 0.96, 1], uIntensity: 2.0 },
  // Vertex shader
  `
    varying vec2 vUv;
    void main() {
      vUv = uv;
      gl_Position = projectionMatrix * modelViewMatrix * vec4(position, 1.0);
    }
  `,
  // Fragment shader - outputs HDR values for bloom
  `
    uniform float uTime;
    uniform vec3 uColor;
    uniform float uIntensity;
    varying vec2 vUv;

    void main() {
      float pulse = sin(uTime * 2.0) * 0.3 + 0.7;
      vec3 glow = uColor * uIntensity * pulse;
      gl_FragColor = vec4(glow, 1.0);
    }
  `,
);

extend({ GlowMaterial });

function PulsingGlowMesh() {
  const materialRef = useRef();

  useFrame(({ clock }) => {
    materialRef.current.uTime = clock.elapsedTime;
  });

  return (
    <mesh>
      <sphereGeometry args={[1, 32, 32]} />
      <glowMaterial ref={materialRef} toneMapped={false} />
    </mesh>
  );
}

Performance Optimization

Resolution Scaling

<EffectComposer
  multisampling={0} // Disable MSAA for performance
>
  <Bloom
    luminanceThreshold={0.2}
    intensity={1.5}
    mipmapBlur // More efficient blur method
    radius={0.8}
    levels={5} // Reduce for performance (default: 8)
  />
</EffectComposer>

Mobile-Optimized Bloom

import { useDetectGPU } from "@react-three/drei";

function AdaptiveBloom() {
  const { tier } = useDetectGPU();

  const config =
    tier < 2
      ? { levels: 3, radius: 0.5, intensity: 1.0 }
      : { levels: 5, radius: 0.8, intensity: 1.5 };

  return (
    <EffectComposer multisampling={tier < 2 ? 0 : 4}>
      <Bloom
        luminanceThreshold={0.2}
        luminanceSmoothing={0.9}
        mipmapBlur
        {...config}
      />
    </EffectComposer>
  );
}

Temporal Collapse Theme

Bloom configuration for the New Year countdown cosmic aesthetic:

// Cosmic void with cyan/magenta glow
function TemporalCollapseBloom() {
  return (
    <EffectComposer>
      <Bloom
        luminanceThreshold={0.15}
        luminanceSmoothing={0.9}
        intensity={2.0}
        radius={0.85}
        mipmapBlur
      />
    </EffectComposer>
  );
}

// Color palette for emissive materials
const TEMPORAL_COLORS = {
  cyan: "#00F5FF",
  magenta: "#FF00FF",
  gold: "#FFD700",
  void: "#050508",
};

// Time digit with glow
function GlowingDigit({ digit, color = TEMPORAL_COLORS.cyan }) {
  return (
    <Text3D font="/fonts/cosmic.json" size={2} height={0.2}>
      {digit}
      <meshStandardMaterial
        color="#111"
        emissive={color}
        emissiveIntensity={3}
        toneMapped={false}
      />
    </Text3D>
  );
}

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
No bloom visible	Ensure emissiveIntensity > 1 and toneMapped={false}
Bloom too subtle	Lower luminanceThreshold, increase intensity
Performance issues	Reduce levels, enable mipmapBlur, disable multisampling
Selective bloom not working	Verify ref is passed and object has emissive material
Bloom bleeding everywhere	Raise luminanceThreshold to isolate bright areas

Reference

• See postfx-composer for EffectComposer setup patterns
• See postfx-effects for combining bloom with other effects
• See shaders-glsl for custom emissive shader techniques