threejs rotate around pivot point

by mmalex

HTML

<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/three.js/91/three.js"></script>
<script src="https://threejs.org/examples/js/controls/OrbitControls.js"></script>
<script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.3.1.min.js"></script>
<button onclick="changePivot()">set random pivot</button>

CSS

body {
    overflow: hidden;
}

JavaScript

// example for https://stackoverflow.com/questions/55116131/how-can-we-change-the-rotation-origin-pivot-point-of-a-three-js-object-without

let renderer;
let camera;
let controls;

let scene = new THREE.Scene();
camera = new THREE.PerspectiveCamera(54, window.innerWidth / window.innerHeight, 0.1, 1000);

renderer = new THREE.WebGLRenderer({
    antialias: true
});
renderer.setSize(window.innerWidth, window.innerHeight);
renderer.setClearColor(new THREE.Color(0xfefefe));
document.body.appendChild(renderer.domElement);

camera.position.x = 4;
camera.position.y = 10;
camera.position.z = 4;
camera.lookAt(0, 0, 0);

controls = new THREE.OrbitControls(camera);

// white spotlight shining from the side, casting a shadow
let spotLight = new THREE.SpotLight(0xffffff, 2.5, 25, Math.PI / 6);
spotLight.position.set(9, 10, 1);
scene.add(spotLight);
var light = new THREE.AmbientLight(0x202020); // soft white light
scene.add(light);

// example starts here
let gridHelper = new THREE.GridHelper(4, 4);
scene.add(gridHelper);
var axesHelper = new THREE.AxesHelper(1);
axesHelper.applyMatrix(new THREE.Matrix4().makeTranslation(1.5, 0, -1.5));
axesHelper.updateMatrixWorld(true);
scene.add(axesHelper);

document.changePivot = function() {
	axesHelper.position.set(-2 + 4*Math.random(), -2 + 4*Math.random(), -2 + 4*Math.random());
	axesHelper.updateMatrixWorld(true);
}

const geometry = new THREE.BoxGeometry(0.5, 0.5, 0.5);
const material = new THREE.MeshStandardMaterial({
    color: 0xff0000
});
const topBox = new THREE.Mesh(geometry, material);
topBox.applyMatrix(new THREE.Matrix4().makeRotationX(Math.PI / 8));
topBox.applyMatrix(new THREE.Matrix4().makeTranslation(0.5, 1, -0.5));
scene.add(topBox);

let animate = function() {
    requestAnimationFrame(animate);

    // get world transforms from desired pivot
    var pivot_matrix = axesHelper.matrixWorld.clone();
    // inverse it to know how to move pivot to [0,0,0]
    let pivot_inv = new THREE.Matrix4().getInverse(pivot_matrix,...