R3f Performance

R3F Performance

Optimize render performance through draw call reduction, geometry optimization, smart loading, and profiling.

Quick Start

// Performance-optimized Canvas
<Canvas
  dpr={[1, 2]}                    // Limit pixel ratio
  performance={{ min: 0.5 }}      // Adaptive performance
  frameloop="demand"              // Only render on change
  gl={{ 
    powerPreference: 'high-performance',
    antialias: false              // Disable for mobile
  }}
>
  <Suspense fallback={null}>
    <Scene />
  </Suspense>
</Canvas>

Frame Budget

Target 60fps = 16.67ms per frame. Budget breakdown:

Draw Call Optimization

The Golden Rule

Fewer draw calls > fewer triangles

A scene with 100 meshes of 1000 triangles each is slower than 1 mesh of 100,000 triangles.

Reduction Techniques

Instancing (Best for Identical Meshes)

// 10,000 cubes = 1 draw call
<instancedMesh args={[undefined, undefined, 10000]}>
  <boxGeometry />
  <meshStandardMaterial />
</instancedMesh>

Geometry Merging (Static Scenes)

import { useMemo } from 'react';
import { mergeGeometries } from 'three/examples/jsm/utils/BufferGeometryUtils';
import * as THREE from 'three';

function MergedScene() {
  const mergedGeometry = useMemo(() => {
    const geometries: THREE.BufferGeometry[] = [];
    
    // Create many positioned geometries
    for (let i = 0; i < 100; i++) {
      const geo = new THREE.BoxGeometry(1, 1, 1);
      geo.translate(
        (Math.random() - 0.5) * 20,
        (Math.random() - 0.5) * 20,
        (Math.random() - 0.5) * 20
      );
      geometries.push(geo);
    }
    
    return mergeGeometries(geometries);
  }, []);
  
  return (
    <mesh geometry={mergedGeometry}>
      <meshStandardMaterial />
    </mesh>
  );
}

Level of Detail (LOD)

Swap geometry based on camera distance:

import { useMemo } from 'react';
import * as THREE from 'three';

function LODMesh() {
  const lod = useMemo(() => {
    const lodObject = new THREE.LOD();
    
    // High detail (close)
    const highGeo = new THREE.SphereGeometry(1, 64, 64);
    const highMesh = new THREE.Mesh(highGeo, new THREE.MeshStandardMaterial({ color: 'red' }));
    lodObject.addLevel(highMesh, 0);
    
    // Medium detail
    const medGeo = new THREE.SphereGeometry(1, 32, 32);
    const medMesh = new THREE.Mesh(medGeo, new THREE.MeshStandardMaterial({ color: 'orange' }));
    lodObject.addLevel(medMesh, 10);
    
    // Low detail (far)
    const lowGeo = new THREE.SphereGeometry(1, 8, 8);
    const lowMesh = new THREE.Mesh(lowGeo, new THREE.MeshStandardMaterial({ color: 'green' }));
    lodObject.addLevel(lowMesh, 30);
    
    return lodObject;
  }, []);
  
  return <primitive object={lod} />;
}

Drei LOD Helper

import { Detailed } from '@react-three/drei';

function AdaptiveSphere() {
  return (
    <Detailed distances={[0, 10, 30]}>
      {/* Close: high detail */}
      <mesh>
        <sphereGeometry args={[1, 64, 64]} />
        <meshStandardMaterial />
      </mesh>
      
      {/* Medium distance */}
      <mesh>
        <sphereGeometry args={[1, 32, 32]} />
        <meshStandardMaterial />
      </mesh>
      
      {/* Far: low detail */}
      <mesh>
        <sphereGeometry args={[1, 8, 8]} />
        <meshStandardMaterial />
      </mesh>
    </Detailed>
  );
}

Frustum Culling

Objects outside camera view are not rendered. Enabled by default, but:

// Disable for objects that animate into view unpredictably
<mesh frustumCulled={false}>
  <boxGeometry />
  <meshStandardMaterial />
</mesh>

// Force bounding sphere update for dynamic geometry
useEffect(() => {
  geometry.computeBoundingSphere();
}, [geometry]);

Adaptive Performance

R3F's adaptive performance system automatically adjusts DPR:

<Canvas
  performance={{
    min: 0.5,     // Minimum DPR under stress
    max: 1,       // Maximum DPR
    debounce: 200 // Debounce time for changes (ms)
  }}
/>

Manual Performance Control

import { useThree } from '@react-three/fiber';

function PerformanceMonitor() {
  const { performance } = useThree();
  
  useFrame(() => {
    // Check current performance
    if (performance.current < 1) {
      // System is under stress, reduce complexity
    }
  });
  
  // Trigger performance drop
  const triggerRegress = () => {
    performance.regress();  // Temporarily lower DPR
  };
}

Lazy Loading

Code Splitting with Suspense

import { Suspense, lazy } from 'react';

const HeavyModel = lazy(() => import('./HeavyModel'));

function Scene() {
  return (
    <Suspense fallback={<SimpleLoader />}>
      <HeavyModel />
    </Suspense>
  );
}

Progressive Loading

import { useGLTF } from '@react-three/drei';

function Model() {
  // Preload in background
  useGLTF.preload('/model.glb');
  
  const { scene } = useGLTF('/model.glb');
  return <primitive object={scene} />;
}

// Preload before component mounts
useEffect(() => {
  useGLTF.preload('/next-model.glb');
}, []);

View-Based Loading

import { useInView } from 'react-intersection-observer';

function LazySection() {
  const { ref, inView } = useInView({
    triggerOnce: true,
    rootMargin: '200px'  // Start loading 200px before visible
  });
  
  return (
    <group ref={ref}>
      {inView && <HeavyContent />}
    </group>
  );
}

Memory Management

Dispose Unused Resources

// Manual disposal
useEffect(() => {
  return () => {
    geometry.dispose();
    material.dispose();
    texture.dispose();
  };
}, []);

// Drei helper for GLTF
import { useGLTF } from '@react-three/drei';

useEffect(() => {
  return () => {
    useGLTF.clear('/model.glb');
  };
}, []);

Texture Optimization

import { useTexture } from '@react-three/drei';
import * as THREE from 'three';

// Compress and optimize
const texture = useTexture('/texture.jpg', (tex) => {
  tex.minFilter = THREE.LinearMipmapLinearFilter;
  tex.generateMipmaps = true;
  tex.anisotropy = 4;  // Lower = faster, higher = sharper
});

// Use compressed formats (KTX2)
import { useKTX2 } from '@react-three/drei';
const texture = useKTX2('/texture.ktx2');

Profiling

Stats Panel

import { Stats } from '@react-three/drei';

<Canvas>
  <Stats />  {/* FPS, MS, MB counters */}
  <Scene />
</Canvas>

Performance Panel

import { Perf } from 'r3f-perf';

<Canvas>
  <Perf 
    position="top-left"
    showGraph          // Show FPS graph
    minimal={false}    // Full or minimal view
  />
  <Scene />
</Canvas>

Manual Profiling

import { useThree } from '@react-three/fiber';

function ProfileInfo() {
  const { gl } = useThree();
  
  useEffect(() => {
    const info = gl.info;
    console.log({
      drawCalls: info.render.calls,
      triangles: info.render.triangles,
      points: info.render.points,
      lines: info.render.lines,
      textures: info.memory.textures,
      geometries: info.memory.geometries
    });
  });
  
  return null;
}

Frame Time Measurement

function FrameProfiler() {
  const frameTimeRef = useRef<number[]>([]);
  
  useFrame(() => {
    const start = performance.now();
    
    // ... your logic ...
    
    const elapsed = performance.now() - start;
    frameTimeRef.current.push(elapsed);
    
    if (frameTimeRef.current.length > 60) {
      const avg = frameTimeRef.current.reduce((a, b) => a + b) / 60;
      console.log(`Avg frame time: ${avg.toFixed(2)}ms`);
      frameTimeRef.current = [];
    }
  });
  
  return null;
}

Common Bottlenecks

Optimization Checklist

[ ] Draw calls < 100 for complex scenes
[ ] Instancing for repeated objects
[ ] LOD for large/distant objects
[ ] Geometry merged where possible
[ ] Textures compressed (KTX2/Basis)
[ ] DPR capped at 2
[ ] Lazy loading for heavy assets
[ ] Proper disposal on unmount
[ ] Frustum culling enabled
[ ] Shadows optimized or disabled

File Structure

r3f-performance/
├── SKILL.md
├── references/
│   ├── profiling-guide.md      # Deep profiling techniques
│   ├── mobile-optimization.md  # Mobile-specific tips
│   └── large-scenes.md         # Handling massive scenes
└── scripts/
    ├── utils/
    │   ├── lod-helper.ts       # LOD setup utilities
    │   ├── merge-helper.ts     # Geometry merging
    │   └── perf-monitor.ts     # Performance monitoring
    └── presets/
        ├── mobile.ts           # Mobile-optimized Canvas config
        └── desktop.ts          # Desktop-optimized Canvas config

Reference

• references/profiling-guide.md — Deep profiling with browser DevTools
• references/mobile-optimization.md — Mobile-specific optimization
• references/large-scenes.md — Handling 100k+ object scenes