Visual glossary

Motion

Every animation you can name, running live, with the sentence you paste into an agent to get it. App or web, any framework.

click any tile to replay · the toolbar below runs the whole page in slow motion

terms after Emil Kowalski's animation vocabulary · animations.dev/vocabulary
00 · the vocabulary, on itselfloops
◆

Compose a motion

set the knobs by ear, then hand the sentence to your agent

trigger
motion
distance
12px
curve
duration
420ms
delay
0ms
stagger
60ms
items
exit
loops
prompt

Fade in and rise 12px, 420ms, ease-out, staggered 60ms across 4 items. Honour the system's reduced-motion setting.

◆

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01

Entrances & Exits

how things arrive, and how they leave

loops
01.01

Fade in / Fade out

Appears and disappears through opacity alone. Nothing moves.

loops
01.02

Slide in

Slides in from the left, rests, then leaves to the right.

loops
01.03

Scale in

Grows from slightly smaller to full size while fading in.

loops
01.04

Pop in

Grows in, overshoots full size, then settles back.

loops
01.05

Reveal

The content holds still while an opening sweeps across it.

loops
01.06

Enter / Exit

The toast rises in, rests, then slips out in less time.

02

Sequencing & Timing

coordinating many things in time

loops
02.01

Keyframes

Three fixed stops; the travel between them is filled in.

loops
02.02

Interpolation / Tween

One glide between two ends; ticks mark it at equal time steps.

loops
02.03

Stagger

Five bars rise and fade in, each starting 60ms after the last.

loops
02.04

Orchestration

The panel lands first, rows wipe in at 120ms, the dot at 280ms.

loops
02.05

Delay

Two identical slides; the second starts 400ms after the first.

loops
02.06

Duration

The same 120px slide at 120ms, 320ms and 800ms.

loops
02.07

Fill mode

Two identical slides; one holds where it ends, one snaps back.

loops
02.08

Stepped animation

Six equal jumps along the ticks; the ghost glides the same path.

03

Movement & Transforms

position, size, angle

loops
03.01

Translate

Moves 112px to the right, pauses, then drops 48px.

loops
03.02

Scale

Grows from 0.6 to 1.4 and back; the outline marks full size.

loops
03.03

Rotate

Makes one full turn about its center, rests, then goes again.

loops
03.04

Skew

Leans 18 degrees, holds, straightens; the outline stays upright.

loops
03.05

3D tilt / Flip

Tilts in depth, then a half turn brings the back face around.

loops
03.06

Perspective

The same swing from two viewing distances, 1200px and 300px.

loops
03.07

Transform origin

The same growth twice: pinned at center, pinned at bottom left.

loops
03.08

Origin-aware animation

The menu grows out of the button that opened it, then slips away.

04

Transitions Between States

getting from A to B

loops
04.01

Crossfade

One view fades out while the other fades in over the same window.

loops
04.02

Continuity transition

One rectangle glides and reshapes from list row to detail, and back.

loops
04.03

Morph

The pill reshapes into a panel; the contents swap mid-move.

loops
04.04

Shared element transition

The thumbnail travels into the hero slot, growing on the way.

loops
04.05

Layout animation

One row fades out and the rows below glide up into the gap.

loops
04.06

Accordion / Collapse

The panel grows open first; the content fades in a beat behind.

press it
04.07

Direction-aware transition

Forward, the new pane enters from the right; back, from the left.

05

Scroll

motion tied to scroll position

scroll inside
05.01

Scroll reveal

Rows fade in and rise 12px as they enter view, once each.

scroll inside
05.02

Scroll-driven animation

Scroll position sets the progress; scrolling back runs it in reverse.

scroll inside
05.03

Parallax

The background moves at 0.4x the speed of the foreground.

loops
05.04

Screen transition

One view drops 8px and fades out as the next rises into place.

06

Feedback & Interaction

the interface answering back

hover
06.01

Hover effect

The card lifts 2px with a brighter border; it settles back slower.

press it
06.02

Press / Tap feedback

Shrinks to 0.96 the moment the pointer lands; back up on release.

press it
06.03

Hold to confirm

A fill sweeps across while you hold; released early, it retreats.

drag it
06.04

Drag

Follows the pointer 1:1, then springs home carrying its release speed.

drag it
06.05

Drag to reorder

One row rides the pointer while the others slide to their new slots.

drag it
06.06

Swipe to dismiss

Dragged past 40% it flies off and fades; short of that it snaps back.

drag it
06.07

Rubber-banding

Past the boundary, travel drops to a third; release eases it back.

press it
06.08

Shake / Wiggle

Three side-to-side shakes, each smaller, while the border flashes.

press it
06.09

Ripple

A circle grows from the exact press point, fading as it expands.

07

Easing

the shape of speed

loops
07.01

Easing

Same distance, same duration. The curve is the only difference.

loops
07.02

Ease-out

Full speed at frame one, then a long soft landing.

loops
07.03

Ease-in

Barely moves at first, then leaves at full speed.

loops
07.04

Ease-in-out

Accelerates, cruises, brakes. Both ends equally soft.

loops
07.05

Linear

The same speed from first frame to last.

loops
07.06

Cubic-bezier

The four numbers place two handles that bend the speed.

loops
07.07

Asymmetric easing

Launch and landing at different rates, beside an even split.

08

Spring Animations

physics instead of a stopwatch

loops
08.01

Spring

No duration. Stiffness, damping and mass decide when it stops.

loops
08.02

Stiffness / Tension

Higher tension pulls harder: same distance, earlier arrival.

loops
08.03

Damping

How fast energy leaves. Critical damping stops without overshoot.

loops
08.04

Mass

Heavier is slower to leave and harder to stop.

loops
08.05

Bounce

One overshoot past rest, then still. Entry velocity makes the pop.

loops
08.06

Perceptual duration

Looks done long before the math is. At ×20 the error still rings.

drag it
08.07

Momentum

A flick keeps its speed on release; friction drains it to a stop.

drag it
08.08

Velocity

The hand sets the starting speed; the spring inherits it.

press it
08.09

Interruptible animation

A new target mid-flight keeps position and velocity; the path bends.

09

Looping & Ambient Motion

motion that runs without being asked

loops
09.01

Marquee

One direction, constant speed, faded edges. The join passes unseen.

loops
09.02

Loop

The same trip twice: one stops after three runs, one repeats forever.

loops
09.03

Alternate (yoyo)

A plain loop snaps back to the start; alternate retraces the path.

loops
09.04

Orbit

Three dots circle at different rates and drift in and out of phase.

loops
09.05

Pulse

A hairline ring leaves the dot every 2s and fades before the next.

loops
09.06

Float

Six pixels of drift; the shadow breathes in step so it reads as lift.

hover
09.07

Idle animation

A faint sheen crosses every 3s. It stops the moment you hover.

10

Polish & Effects

effects layered on top of the move

loops
10.01

Blur

One fades in flat; the other arrives blurred and sharpens in.

loops
10.02

Hard wipe

A hard-edged wipe, straight or slanted, uncovers still content.

loops
10.03

Soft wipe / mask

The same wipe twice: one hard cut edge, one soft feathered edge.

drag it
10.04

Before / after slider

A divider splits before from after and follows the drag.

loops
10.05

Line drawing

The curve draws itself end to end; dots and marks follow after.

loops
10.06

Text morph

One word becomes another; only the letters that change move.

loops
10.07

Skeleton / Shimmer

A sheen sweeps the placeholder until content takes its place.

loops
10.08

Number ticker

Each digit sits on its own reel; only the changed ones roll.

loops
10.09

Tabular numbers

The top price jitters as digits flip; the bottom stands still.

loops
10.10

Typewriter

Characters land one by one; the caret blinks while it waits.

11

Frames

the same motion drawn in more or fewer frames

loops
11.01

Frame rate

The same travel at 60 frames a second and again at 12.

loops
11.02

Jank

Even pacing above; below it stalls, then lurches to catch up.

loops
11.03

Dropped frame

Eight beats, one missing: the marker holds, then jumps past it.

12

Weight & Character

motion that reads as physical

loops
12.01

Anticipation

One run leaves straight away; the other pulls back first, then goes.

loops
12.02

Follow-through

Both stop hard; one carries a tip that whips past, then settles.

loops
12.03

Squash & stretch

One drops rigid; the other stretches in the fall, squashes on impact.

loops
12.04

Reduced motion

The same arrival twice: one rises and grows in, one only fades.

◆

Recipes

the terms above, layered into finished moments

recipe 01 · hero entrance
loops
01

Hero entrance

blur-in 6px + rise 14px + stagger 90ms + 600ms ease-out

recipe 02 · toast
loops
02

Toast

spring-up 24px + hold 4s + exit 160ms ease-in + stack-settle 300ms

recipe 03 · modal
loops
03

Modal

overlay fade 250ms + scale 0.96→1 + rise 8px + exit 0.6×

recipe 04 · dropdown
loops
04

Dropdown

origin top-left + scale 0.95→1 + stagger 20ms + close fade 120ms

recipe 05 · tab switch
click tabs
05

Tab switch

directional slide 20px + underline travel 300ms + fade 250ms ease-out

recipe 06 · success confirm
loops
06

Success confirm

morph 300ms + draw-on 350ms + settle pop 1.05 + hold 1.5s

Sources

  • Emil KowalskiAnimation vocabulary — the terms on this page, and the way they are groupedanimations.dev/vocabulary
  • Frank Thomas & Ollie JohnstonThe Illusion of Life — anticipation, follow-through, squash and stretch
  • AppleHuman Interface Guidelines — Motiondeveloper.apple.com
  • GoogleMaterial Design — Motionm3.material.io