Using Lookat in @react-three/fiber and @react-three/drei

Question

I am trying learn how to use three js with react.For this purpose I am using @react-three/fiber and @react-three/drei.

This project by chriscourses was what I used to learn three js and I hope to use it to learn using threejs with react.

The below code should show boxes sprouting out of the cordinates given however currently they are all skewed towards one direction. Using lookat should solve the problem, however I do not know how to use lookat in @react-three/fiber / @react-three/drei.

import React, { FC, useRef } from 'react';
import { Box as NativeBox } from '@react-three/drei'
import { Vector3 } from 'three';
import { useFrame } from '@react-three/fiber';


type Props = {
  country: any,
}
const lookAtCubePosition = new Vector3(0, 0, 0)
const Box: FC<Props> = (props) => {
  const mesh = useRef()
  
  const { country } = props;
  const scale = country.population / 1000000000
  const lat = country.latlng[0]
  const lng = country.latlng[1]
  const zScale = 0.8 * scale

  const latitude = (lat / 180) * Math.PI
  const longitude = (lng / 180) * Math.PI
  const radius = 5

  const x = radius * Math.cos(latitude) * Math.sin(longitude)
  const y = radius * Math.sin(latitude)
  const z = radius * Math.cos(latitude) * Math.cos(longitude)

  console.log('box');

  const lookAtFunc = (lookAt: Vector3) => {
    lookAt.x = 0;
    lookAt.y = 0;
    lookAt.z = 0;
  }

  useFrame((state) => {
    state.camera.lookAt(lookAtCubePosition)
  })


  return <NativeBox
    args={[
      Math.max(0.1, 0.2 * scale),
      Math.max(0.1, 0.2 * scale),
      Math.max(zScale, 0.4 * Math.random())
    ]}
    position={[
      x, y, z
    ]}
    lookAt={lookAtFunc}
    ref={mesh}
  >
    <meshBasicMaterial
      attach="material"
      color="#3BF7FF"
      opacity={0.6}
      transparent={true}
    />
  </NativeBox>;
};

export default Box;

Answer 1

If you are using OrbitControls, you must set the 'target' for OrbitControls rather than lookAt of the Camera since the lookAt of the camera is being overridden by OrbitControls