threejs-syntax-materials

Quick Reference

Use Case	Material	Why
UI elements, unlit scenes	`MeshBasicMaterial`	Cheapest, no light computation
Matte diffuse (low-end devices)	`MeshLambertMaterial`	Fast diffuse, no specular
Legacy specular highlights	`MeshPhongMaterial`	Blinn-Phong model, not physically correct
General-purpose 3D (recommended)	`MeshStandardMaterial`	PBR metalness/roughness, industry standard
Glass, car paint, fabric, soap bubbles	`MeshPhysicalMaterial`	Advanced PBR (clearcoat, transmission, sheen, iridescence)
Cartoon/anime style	`MeshToonMaterial`	Discrete cel-shading steps
Sculpting previews, no lights	`MeshMatcapMaterial`	Matcap texture, zero light setup
Debug normals	`MeshNormalMaterial`	RGB = surface normal direction
Invisible shadow receiver	`ShadowMaterial`	Transparent shadow catcher
Solid lines	`LineBasicMaterial`	Simple colored lines
Dashed lines	`LineDashedMaterial`	Requires `line.computeLineDistances()`