ThreeJS: Remove object from scene

I think seeing your usage for addEntity and removeEntity code would be helpful, but my first thought is are you actually setting the object.name? Try in your loader just before scene.add(object); something like this:

object.name = "test_name";
scene.add(object);

What might be happening is the default "name" for an Object3D is "", so when you then call your removeEntity function it fails due to the scene objects name being ""

Also, I notice you pass in object.name to your loader? Is this where your storing the URL to the resource? If so, I would recommend using the Object3D's built in .userData method to store that information and keep the name field for scene identification purposes.

Edit: Response to newly added Code

First thing to note is it's not a great idea to have "/" in your object name, it seems to work fine but you never know if some algorithm will decide to escape that string and break your project.

Second item is now that I've seen your code, its actually straight forward whats going on. Your delete function is trying to delete by name, you need an Object3D to delete. Try this:

function removeEntity(object) {
    var selectedObject = scene.getObjectByName(object.name);
    scene.remove( selectedObject );
    animate();
}

Here you see I lookup your Object3D in the Three.js Scene by passing in your object tag's name attribute. Hope that helps

clearScene: function() {
    var objsToRemove = _.rest(scene.children, 1);
    _.each(objsToRemove, function( object ) {
          scene.remove(object);
    });
},

this uses undescore.js to iterrate over all children (except the first) in a scene (it's part of code I use to clear a scene). just make sure you render the scene at least once after deleting, because otherwise the canvas does not change! There is no need for a "special" obj flag or anything like this.

Also you don't delete the object by name, just by the object itself, so calling

scene.remove(object); 

instead of scene.remove(object.name); can be enough

PS: _.each is a function of underscore.js

If your element is not directly on you scene go back to Parent to remove it

  function removeEntity(object) {
        var selectedObject = scene.getObjectByName(object.name);
        selectedObject.parent.remove( selectedObject );
    }

THIS WORKS GREAT - I tested it so, please SET NAME for every object

give the name to the object upon creation

    mesh.name = 'nameMeshObject';

and use this if you have to delete an object

    delete3DOBJ('nameMeshObject');



    function delete3DOBJ(objName){
        var selectedObject = scene.getObjectByName(objName);
        scene.remove( selectedObject );
        animate();
    }

open a new scene , add object

delete an object and create new

I came in late but after reading the answers more clarification needs to be said.

The remove function you wrote

function removeEntity(object) {
    // scene.remove(); it expects as a parameter a THREE.Object3D and not a string
    scene.remove(object.name); // you are giving it a string => it will not remove the object
}

A good practice to remove 3D objects from Three.js scenes

function removeObject3D(object3D) {
    if (!(object3D instanceof THREE.Object3D)) return false;

    // for better memory management and performance
    object3D.geometry.dispose();
    if (object3D.material instanceof Array) {
        // for better memory management and performance
        object3D.material.forEach(material => material.dispose());
    } else {
        // for better memory management and performance
        object3D.material.dispose();
    }
    object3D.removeFromParent(); // the parent might be the scene or another Object3D, but it is sure to be removed this way
    return true;
}