HemisphereLight
Quick answer
HemisphereLight blends a sky color from above with a ground color from below, giving outdoor scenes a natural ambient gradient. Set skyColor and groundColor, then tune intensity so surfaces facing up pick up sky tint and downward faces pick up ground bounce.
new THREE.HemisphereLight ( skyColor , groundColor , intensity )
Key points
- The position vector only defines which way is up; it does not place a light source.
- skyColor is also exposed as color, and groundColor sets the lower hemisphere tint.
- Unlike AmbientLight, it varies shading by surface normal direction.
Example
const sky = new THREE.HemisphereLight(
0xbfd8ff,
0x6b6255,
1.4
);
sky.position.set(0, 60, 0);
scene.add(sky);
const sun = new THREE.DirectionalLight(0xfff4e0, 2.0);
sun.position.set(-120, 180, 90);
sun.castShadow = true;
sun.shadow.mapSize.set(2048, 2048);
sun.shadow.camera.left = -200;
sun.shadow.camera.right = 200;
sun.shadow.camera.top = 200;
sun.shadow.camera.bottom = -200;
scene.add(sun);Notes
- Setting position.y negative swaps sky and ground colors, inverting the outdoor look.
- It casts no shadows, so it cannot replace a DirectionalLight for sun shadows.
English edition written for Atlaslog. Code is taken from the original Chinese page and runs unchanged.
Atlaslog (2026). HemisphereLight. https://www.jingweizhi.com/en/three/api/hemisphere-light.html (accessed 2026-11-03).