Fixing Whitish Texture Appearance in Three.js

You're correct that the default material color might be affecting your texture's appearance. When using a texture map with a material in Three.js, the texture color gets multiplied by the material's color property, which defaults to white (0xffffff).

Solution Options

1. Set the material color to a neutral value

You can explicitly set the color to a neutral value that won't affect your texture:

JAVASCRIPTCopied
var texture = new THREE.TextureLoader().load("img-path");
var bodyMat = new THREE.MeshBasicMaterial({
  map: texture,
  transparent: true,
  side: THREE.DoubleSide,
  color: 0xffffff // Explicitly set to white (default)
});

2. Adjust the material's color property

If the image still appears whitish, you might need to adjust the color to a slightly darker value:

JAVASCRIPTCopied
var bodyMat = new THREE.MeshBasicMaterial({
  map: texture,
  transparent: true,
  side: THREE.DoubleSide,
  color: 0xf0f0f0 // Slightly darker than pure white
});

3. Check texture encoding

Make sure your texture encoding matches your renderer's output encoding:

JAVASCRIPTCopied
texture.encoding = THREE.sRGBEncoding;
renderer.outputEncoding = THREE.sRGBEncoding;

4. Disable gamma correction

If you're using gamma correction, try disabling it:

JAVASCRIPTCopied
renderer.gammaFactor = 1.0;
renderer.gammaOutput = false;

5. Check lighting

If you're using a material that responds to lighting (unlike MeshBasicMaterial), ensure your lighting setup isn't washing out the texture.

For your specific case with an Earth texture, MeshBasicMaterial might not be the best choice since it doesn't respond to lighting. Consider using MeshStandardMaterial for more realistic rendering, especially for planetary objects.