3.1 KiB
Task: Parent-Child Hierarchy
Objective
The objective was to create a simple 3D scene with two objects in a parent-child hierarchy, then verify that transformations applied to the parent (such as position and scale) are correctly inherited by the child.
Vanilla three.js
-Possible: Yes
-Notes: Implemented by creating sunMesh and attaching an earthOrbit group to it (sunMesh.add(earthOrbit)), then adding earthMesh to that group. Parent transforms propagate correctly to child.
-Key concepts: Scene graph hierarchy, THREE.Group as orbit pivot, local vs world transforms, animation loop for orbit/spin.
-Complexity: Easy
R3F
-Possible: Yes
-Notes: Implemented by nesting Earth inside a <group ref={orbitRef}> inside the Sun <mesh>, making Earth a child in the same scene graph hierarchy.
-What R3F abstracted: Declarative JSX scene creation, automatic render lifecycle integration with React, and frame updates via useFrame instead of manual renderer/loop setup.
-Complexity: Easy
Thob Page Builder
-Possible: Yes -Notes: Implemented by putting the Earth mesh inside the Sun mesh (parent-child). Changing Sun position/scale also affects Earth as expected (Earth follows position and scale inheritance). However, when Earth position is changed directly, Earth shape appears to distort/stretch as it moves farther from Sun. -Builder steps: Create Sun mesh -> add Earth mesh as child of Sun -> test parent transform inheritance by changing Sun position/scale -> test child local transform by changing Earth position. -Complexity: Easy
Comparison Summary
-Possible in all 3? Yes -Main differences: Vanilla gives explicit low-level control; R3F gives cleaner declarative hierarchy; Thob gives fastest visual setup but less predictable child transform behavior in this case. Animation was not possible in Thob but was possible in vanilla and r3f. -Where Thob is better: Quick setup and visual parenting without writing code. -Where Thob is weaker: Child transform behavior is less transparent when editing child position under a transformed parent. -What feels awkward or unclear: Local vs inherited transforms are not obvious in the editor, and distortion behavior on child position change is unexpected.
Limitation Type (if any)
-[x] Editor UX limitation -[ ] Runtime limitation -[ ] Schema / data model limitation -[x] Component limitation -[ ] Event system limitation -[ ] Asset pipeline limitation -[ ] Unknown / needs investigation
Workaround
-Is there a workaround? NO -No, I tried a lot of different things, like many groupa and flex inside the parent mesh and different ways to place the components.
Suggested Improvement
-What should improve in Thob? Make transform inheritance behavior explicit and stable for nested meshes, especially when parent scale is applied and child position is edited. -Is it: -editor -component -UX
Difficulty Estimate
-Easy
Business Value
-High
Recommendation
Should Thob support this better? Why? Yes. Parent-child transform consistency is a core 3D workflow; reliable nested transforms reduce confusion, improve trust in the builder, and make more advanced scenes practical without code-level debugging.