Dealing with PerspectiveCamera Distortion in Three.js

The distortion you're experiencing with objects near the edges of your view is a common issue when working with perspective cameras in 3D rendering. This effect is actually a natural characteristic of perspective projection, similar to how wide-angle lenses work in photography.

Possible Causes and Solutions

Based on the information available about Three.js cameras, here are some approaches to minimize the distortion:

1. Adjust Field of View (FOV)

A high FOV value can cause significant distortion at the edges. Try reducing your camera's FOV:

JAVASCRIPTCopied
// Try a lower FOV value (default is often 75)
camera = new THREE.PerspectiveCamera(45, window.innerWidth / window.innerHeight, 0.1, 1000);

2. Increase Camera Distance

Moving the camera farther away from your scene while adjusting the zoom can help:

JAVASCRIPTCopied
// Position camera farther away
camera.position.z = 20; // Increase this value

3. Check Aspect Ratio

Ensure your camera's aspect ratio matches your rendering container:

JAVASCRIPTCopied
// Make sure this matches your container dimensions
camera.aspect = window.innerWidth / window.innerHeight;
camera.updateProjectionMatrix(); // Always call this after changing properties

4. Consider OrthographicCamera

If perspective distortion is undesirable for your application, you might want to consider using an OrthographicCamera instead, which doesn't have perspective distortion:

JAVASCRIPTCopied
// OrthographicCamera doesn't have perspective distortion
const camera = new THREE.OrthographicCamera(
  width / -2, width / 2,
  height / 2, height / -2,
  0.1, 1000
);

5. Update on Resize

Make sure you're updating the camera when the window resizes:

JAVASCRIPTCopied
window.addEventListener('resize', () => {
  camera.aspect = window.innerWidth / window.innerHeight;
  camera.updateProjectionMatrix();
  renderer.setSize(window.innerWidth, window.innerHeight);
});

Without seeing your specific camera setup code, these are general recommendations based on common issues with PerspectiveCamera distortion. The key parameters to experiment with are FOV, camera position, and near/far clipping planes.