Superellipse Text Avoidance
The headline is real DOM on top of an instanced particle field, and the field is pushed out of a 6-norm superellipse fitted to the headline's measured rect. Interior particles are remapped into a band hugging the shape rather than clamped onto it, so the hole has a bright rim instead of a pile-up. The same avoidance function runs a second time at exponent 2 for the damped pointer, because a disc is a superellipse with a lower exponent.
Superellipse Text Avoidance
Live preview
The real component, running in this page.
Install
Copies the source into your project. Nothing is imported from us at runtime.
npx shadcn@latest add https://kinetic-seven-taupe.vercel.app/r/superellipse-text-avoidance.jsonAlso installs prng from this registry.
Prompt
The whole technique, written for an agent.
Build it with your agent
A single self-contained brief: the technique, the constants and why they hold, the pitfalls, and the definition of done. Paste it and the component gets written in your own conventions instead of copied in ours.
# Build: Superellipse Text Avoidance
The headline is real DOM on top of an instanced particle field, and the field is pushed out of a 6-norm superellipse fitted to the headline's measured rect. Interior particles are remapped into a band hugging the shape rather than clamped onto it, so the hole has a bright rim instead of a pile-up. The same avoidance function runs a second time at exponent 2 for the damped pointer, because a disc is a superellipse with a lower exponent.
Build this as a React component in my project. Match my existing conventions —
file layout, styling system, and naming — rather than the ones implied below.
Everything after this line is specification, not code to copy verbatim.
## What it does
A particle field that flows around the headline, held off by a 6-norm superellipse fitted to the measured text box.
- Category: webgl
- Runtime cost: webgl
- Dependencies: ogl@^1.0.11
## How it works
1. The avoidance region is `pow(pow(|nx|, e) + pow(|ny|, e), 1/e) < 1` in the rect's own normalised space. At e = 2 that is an ellipse, at e = 6 a squircle, at e = 20 effectively a box. Six is the useful one: a circle around a wide headline clears a large empty halo past the ends of the line, and a box has four corner discontinuities that crease the field along straight lines.
2. Interior radii are REMAPPED, not clamped. `mapped = 1 + whip * min(r, 1 + whip) / (1 + whip) + max(r - (1 + whip), 0)` compresses [0, 1 + whip] into [1, 1 + whip] and is the identity beyond it. Clamping instead maps a whole area onto a curve, so every interior particle lands on the outline and the shape is drawn as one infinitely dense line with an empty interior behind it.
3. The displacement is `half * (n / max(r, 1e-3)) * (mapped - r)` — divided by a floor rather than normalized. A particle at the exact centre has no direction and `normalize()` returns NaN there, which propagates into `gl_Position` and drops the whole instance rather than one component. A lattice puts particles exactly on both axes on the first frame, so this case is reached immediately, not never.
4. `pow()` is undefined for a negative base and for zero raised to a non-positive power, and a symmetric field hits both. The norm takes `abs()` first and adds 1e-5, which costs nothing and removes an entire class of driver-dependent black frames.
5. The rect is measured, never passed in. `getBoundingClientRect()` on the text node and on the host produce four uv numbers; a ResizeObserver on the text node plus `document.fonts.ready` keeps them in step through a rewrap, a font swap and a container resize. A hand-tuned rect is wrong on the first webfont load and wrong again on the first narrow viewport.
6. The text rect is deliberately NOT aspect-corrected, because it was measured in element space and has to stay there or it stops agreeing with the letters. The pointer disc IS aspect-corrected, because it is a shape in screen space and an uncorrected one is a visible ellipse on any non-square container. The two live in the same shader and want opposite treatment.
7. Displaced particles brighten and grow slightly, tinted toward a third colour. Without it the field is just a hole and the exponent is invisible; with it the squircle is legible as a rim, which is the only on-screen evidence that the shape is not a box.
8. The scatter is a jittered lattice, then shuffled. Uniform random has clumps and voids at this population, and once the avoidance opens a real hole the accidental voids read as more holes. The shuffle matters because the instanced count is a prefix of the buffers — in lattice order a smaller count would draw only the top rows.
## Constants — use these values
These are tuned. Each one has a reason; do not round them off or replace them
with values that "look cleaner".
- `exponent = 6`
The p-norm. Below ~4 the shape is round enough that the clear zone bulges past the ends of the line; above ~10 the corners are sharp enough to crease the field visibly, which is the axis-aligned-box failure the superellipse exists to avoid.
- `WHIP_DISC = 0.3`
Width of the band the interior is compressed into, in normalised units — the whole feel of the effect. Small values whip particles out hard and stack them into a bright outline; past ~0.6 the field bends around from so far away that the text no longer reads as the cause.
- `margin = 0.06`
Clear ring around the text, in units of container HEIGHT, divided by the aspect ratio for x so the gap is the same number of pixels on all four sides. Adding one uv figure to both halves pads a wide container far more at the ends of the line than above it.
- `pointerRadius / pointerWhip = 0.16 / 0.45`
The second field, at exponent 2. Softer than the text rect on purpose: the pointer is a passing influence and a hard-edged hole following the cursor competes with the headline it is supposed to frame.
- `smoothing = 0.0008`
Fraction of the pointer gap still remaining after one second — an ~90ms tail. The pointer hole has a visible edge, unlike a glow, so lag reads as broken rather than as smooth.
- `CELL_JITTER = 0.42`
Displacement inside a lattice cell, as a fraction of the cell. Zero is a visible grid; past ~0.5 neighbouring cells overlap and the stratification that made the scatter even in the first place is gone.
- `density = 900`
Particles per megapixel, so the same value reads right in a 320px card and a 2000px hero. Too sparse and the rim is a dotted line rather than a shape.
- `MAX_DPR = 1.5`
Additive fill is the whole cost and it scales with the square of the ratio. These are soft round dots with no fine detail, so a third sample per axis resolves nothing and costs 78% more fragments.
## API
```ts
function SuperellipseTextAvoidance(props: { children?: ReactNode; density?: number; maxCount?: number; sizeRange?: readonly [number, number]; exponent?: number; margin?: number; whip?: number; pointerRadius?: number; pointerWhip?: number; smoothing?: number; opacity?: number; colorA?: string; colorB?: string; glowColor?: string; background?: string; seed?: number | string; className?: string; textClassName?: string }): JSX.Element
```
- `children: ReactNode`
The headline. Rendered above the field and measured for the avoidance rect.
- `density: number` — default `900`
Particles per megapixel of container area.
- `maxCount: number` — default `1600`
Population ceiling, and the size the buffers are allocated at.
- `sizeRange: readonly [number, number]` — default `[1.4, 4.4]`
Particle size in CSS pixels, biased toward the small end.
- `exponent: number` — default `6`
Superellipse exponent. 2 is a circle, 6 a squircle, high values a box.
- `margin: number` — default `0.06`
Clear ring around the text, in units of container height.
- `whip: number` — default `0.3`
Width of the band the interior is compressed into.
- `pointerRadius: number` — default `0.16`
Pointer avoidance radius in container-height units. 0 disables it.
- `pointerWhip: number` — default `0.45`
Whip band for the pointer disc.
- `smoothing: number` — default `0.0008`
Fraction of the pointer gap still remaining after one second.
- `opacity: number` — default `0.92`
Overall alpha multiplier.
- `colorA: string` — default `'#9ec6ff'`
First tint. Any value ogl's Color accepts.
- `colorB: string` — default `'#eef2fb'`
Second tint; each particle mixes between the two.
- `glowColor: string` — default `'#ffd9a0'`
Tint for displaced particles, which is what makes the shape legible.
- `background: string` — default `'#07080d'`
Opaque clear colour the additive field is composited onto.
- `seed: number | string` — default `'superellipse-text-avoidance'`
Seeds the lattice jitter, sizes, phases and tints.
- `className: string`
Merged onto the root container via `cn`.
- `textClassName: string`
Merged onto the measured text layer.
## Reference implementation of the core
This is the part that is hard to get right. Adapt it; do not treat the rest of
the component as fixed.
```tsx
/** Floor on the population. Below this the field reads as a few stray specks. */
const MIN_COUNT = 260;
/**
* Width of the band interior particles are compressed into, in normalised
* superellipse units. The catalogue's WHIP_DISC. Small values throw particles
* out hard and stack them on the outline; large ones bend the field around from
* a distance and the text stops looking like the cause.
*/
const WHIP_DISC = 0.3;
/** Fraction of the presence gap left after a second. ~200ms in and out. */
const PRESENCE_SMOOTHING = 0.007;
/** Size distribution exponent. Above 1 crowds the population into small sizes. */
const SIZE_BIAS = 1.7;
/** Fill scales with dpr squared, and these are soft dots with no fine detail. */
const MAX_DPR = 1.5;
/** Lattice bounds. Wider than 0..1 so drift never bares the edges. */
const HOME_MIN = -0.05;
const HOME_MAX = 1.05;
/** Jitter as a fraction of a lattice cell. Past ~0.5 cells overlap and clump. */
const CELL_JITTER = 0.42;
/** The reduced-motion still: one frame with the pointer parked off to one side. */
const STILL_ELAPSED = 4.2;
const STILL_POINTER: readonly [number, number] = [0.3, 0.34];
export function SuperellipseTextAvoidance({
children,
density = 900,
maxCount = 1600,
sizeRange = [1.4, 4.4],
exponent = 6,
margin = 0.06,
whip = WHIP_DISC,
pointerRadius = 0.16,
pointerWhip = 0.45,
smoothing = 0.0008,
opacity = 0.92,
colorA = '#9ec6ff',
colorB = '#eef2fb',
glowColor = '#ffd9a0',
background = '#07080d',
seed = 'superellipse-text-avoidance',
className,
textClassName,
}: SuperellipseTextAvoidanceProps) {
const host = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
const text = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
const stage = useRef<Stage | null>(null);
const [unsupported, setUnsupported] = useState(false);
const { width, height } = useResizeObserver(host);
const textSize = useResizeObserver(text);
const size = useRef({ width, height });
size.current = { width, height };
const reduced = useReducedMotion();
const reducedRef = useRef(reduced);
reducedRef.current = reduced;
const visible = useVisibility();
const { inView } = useInView(host, { rootMargin: '10%' });
const ready = width > 1 && height > 1;
const [minSize = 1.4, maxSize = 4.4] = sizeRange;
/* Raw pointer target in field space, or null until a real move — which is not
the same as a pointer resting at the bottom-left corner. */
const target = useRef<{ x: number; y: number } | null>(null);
const inside = useRef(false);
const follow = useRef({ x: 0.5, y: 0.5 });
const presence = useRef(0);
/* Live numbers the loop reads. Changing one must not rebuild the renderer:
Chromium drops the OLDEST WebGL context past roughly 16 per process, so a
rebuild per prop change can blank an unrelated canvas on the same page. */
const live = useRef({ exponent, margin, whip, pointerRadius, pointerWhip, smoothing, opacity });
live.current = { exponent, margin, whip, pointerRadius, pointerWhip, smoothing, opacity };
/**
* Reads the text box out of the DOM and writes it into `uRect` as uv centre
* plus padded half-extents. No React state: a measurement that re-renders is
* a measurement that can re-measure itself in a loop.
*/
const measure = () => {
const s = stage.current;
const hostEl = host.current;
const textEl = text.current;
if (!s || !hostEl || !textEl) return;
const hostBox = hostEl.getBoundingClientRect();
if (hostBox.width < 1 || hostBox.height < 1) return;
const textBox = textEl.getBoundingClientRect();
if (textBox.width < 1 || textBox.height < 1) {
// No children, or the text has not laid out yet. Presence 0 rather than a
// zero-size rect, which would be a singularity at the centre of the field.
s.uniforms.uRectPresence.value = 0;
return;
}
const aspect = hostBox.width / hostBox.height;
/* The margin is specified in HEIGHT units and divided by the aspect ratio
for x, so the clear ring is the same number of pixels on all four sides.
Adding the same uv figure to both halves pads a wide container far more
at the ends of the line than above and below it. */
const padX = live.current.margin / Math.max(aspect, 0.0001);
const padY = live.current.margin;
s.uniforms.uRect.value[0] = (textBox.left - hostBox.left + textBox.width * 0.5) / hostBox.width;
// Flipped: field y is up, client y is down.
s.uniforms.uRect.value[1] =
1 - (textBox.top - hostBox.top + textBox.height * 0.5) / hostBox.height;
s.uniforms.uRect.value[2] = textBox.width * 0.5 / hostBox.width + padX;
s.uniforms.uRect.value[3] = textBox.height * 0.5 / hostBox.height + padY;
s.uniforms.uRectPresence.value = 1;
// The live loop picks this up next frame; a paused one has to be told.
if (reducedRef.current) s.draw(STILL_ELAPSED);
};
useEffect(() => {
const el = host.current;
if (!el || !ready) return;
if (!hasWebGL()) {
setUnsupported(true);
return;
}
/* ogl creates its own canvas, and it is appended and removed per effect
run. Reusing one React-owned canvas breaks under StrictMode: the first
cleanup force-loses the context, and `getContext` on that element
afterwards hands back the dead one rather than a fresh context — the
panel is then permanently blank in development and fine in production. */
const renderer = new Renderer({
dpr: pixelRatio(MAX_DPR),
// Opaque: the pass is additive, and additive onto a transparent canvas
// would have to brighten the page behind it, which the GPU cannot see.
alpha: false,
// Nothing occludes anything, so a depth buffer is memory plus a clear.
depth: false,
antialias: false,
powerPreference: 'low-power',
});
const gl = renderer.gl;
const canvas = gl.canvas;
const bg = new Color(background);
gl.clearColor(bg.r, bg.g, bg.b, 1);
const quad = new Float32Array([-0.5, -0.5, 0.5, -0.5, 0.5, 0.5, -0.5, 0.5]);
const index = new Uint16Array([0, 1, 2, 0, 2, 3]);
const total = Math.max(MIN_COUNT, Math.round(maxCount));
const homes = new Float32Array(total * 2);
const params = new Float32Array(total * 4);
const seeds = new Float32Array(total * 4);
const rng = createRng(seed);
/* A STRATIFIED scatter, not `rng()` twice. Uniform random has clumps and
voids at this population, and once the avoidance opens a real hole those
accidental voids read as more holes — the shape of the field stops being
legible. A jittered lattice is even everywhere and still looks organic.
Cells are then SHUFFLED, because the instanced count is a prefix of these
buffers: in lattice order a smaller count would draw the top rows only. */
const aspect = Math.max(size.current.width, 1) / Math.max(size.current.height, 1);
const cols = Math.max(2, Math.round(Math.sqrt(total * aspect)));
const rows = Math.max(2, Math.ceil(total / cols));
const cells: Array<[number, number]> = [];
for (let r = 0; r < rows; r += 1) {
for (let c = 0; c < cols; c += 1) {
cells.push([(c + 0.5) / cols, (r + 0.5) / rows]);
}
}
shuffle(rng, cells);
const spanX = HOME_MAX - HOME_MIN;
const spanY = HOME_MAX - HOME_MIN;
for (let i = 0; i < total; i += 1) {
const cell = cells[i % cells.length] ?? [0.5, 0.5];
const [cellX = 0.5, cellY = 0.5] = cell;
homes[i * 2] = HOME_MIN + (cellX + randRange(rng, -CELL_JITTER, CELL_JITTER) / cols) * spanX;
homes[i * 2 + 1] =
HOME_MIN + (cellY + randRange(rng, -CELL_JITTER, CELL_JITTER) / rows) * spanY;
// Biased small: a linear distribution puts a quarter of the population in
// the largest quarter of the range and the field reads as gravel.
const sizeT = Math.pow(rng(), SIZE_BIAS);
params[i * 4] = Math.max(0.5, minSize) + Math.max(maxSize - minSize, 0.25) * sizeT;
// Drift radius and rate. Small, because this field is a texture the text
// sits in — a fast one competes with the headline for attention.
params[i * 4 + 1] = randRange(rng, 0.002, 0.014);
params[i * 4 + 2] = (rng() < 0.5 ? -1 : 1) * randRange(rng, 0.08, 0.32);
// Bigger particles are dimmer, so total light stays roughly constant.
params[i * 4 + 3] = 0.32 + 0.5 * (1 - sizeT);
seeds[i * 4] = rng() * Math.PI * 2;
seeds[i * 4 + 1] = randRange(rng, 0.3, 1);
seeds[i * 4 + 2] = rng();
seeds[i * 4 + 3] = 0;
}
const geometry = new Geometry(gl, {
index: { data: index },
position: { size: 2, data: quad },
aHome: { size: 2, data: homes, instanced: 1 },
aParams: { size: 4, data: params, instanced: 1 },
aSeed: { size: 4, data: seeds, instanced: 1 },
});
const uniforms: Uniforms = {
uResolution: { value: [1, 1] },
uPixelRatio: { value: renderer.dpr },
uElapsed: { value: 0 },
uRect: { value: [0.5, 0.5, 0.001, 0.001] },
uRectPresence: { value: 0 },
uExponent: { value: clamp(exponent, 2, 16) },
uWhip: { value: Math.max(whip, 0.02) },
uPointer: { value: [0.5, 0.5] },
uPointerPresence: { value: 0 },
uPointerRadius: { value: Math.max(pointerRadius, 0) },
uPointerWhip: { value: Math.max(pointerWhip, 0.02) },
uColorA: { value: new Color(colorA) },
uColorB: { value: new Color(colorB) },
uGlowColor: { value: new Color(glowColor) },
uOpacity: { value: opacity },
};
const program = new Program(gl, {
vertex: SUPERELLIPSE_TEXT_AVOIDANCE_VERT,
fragment: SUPERELLIPSE_TEXT_AVOIDANCE_FRAG,
uniforms,
transparent: true,
depthTest: false,
depthWrite: false,
// ogl culls BACK faces by default and the quad's winding is not
// guaranteed to face the way the driver expects. A culled particle is not
// dim — it is absent.
cullFace: false,
});
// Additive, overriding the source-over that `transparent: true` selected.
// Order independent, so a thousand overlapping instances need no sort.
program.setBlendFunc(gl.ONE, gl.ONE);
const mesh = new Mesh(gl, { geometry, program });
el.insertBefore(canvas, el.firstChild);
canvas.style.display = 'block';
/* Listeners on the CANVAS, not the window. A document-level handler
outlives the renderer it was written for, and the rect it measures is not
the rect being drawn into — after a scroll the hole sits at an offset
from the cursor. Passive, because nothing here calls preventDefault and a
non-passive move handler makes the compositor wait for JS on every event. */
const onMove = (event: PointerEvent) => {
const rect = canvas.getBoundingClientRect();
if (rect.width === 0 || rect.height === 0) return;
target.current = {
x: (event.clientX - rect.left) / rect.width,
y: 1 - (event.clientY - rect.top) / rect.height,
};
inside.current = true;
};
const onLeave = () => {
// Position is left where it is. Tweening it back to the centre drags a
// visible furrow across the field on the way out.
inside.current = false;
};
canvas.addEventListener('pointermove', onMove, { passive: true });
canvas.addEventListener('pointerleave', onLeave, { passive: true });
canvas.addEventListener('pointercancel', onLeave, { passive: true });
const resize = (w: number, h: number) => {
renderer.setSize(w, h);
// `setSize` writes literal px into the canvas's inline style, which wins
// over any class. Re-asserting percentages keeps it fluid between resize
// notifications.
canvas.style.width = '100%';
canvas.style.height = '100%';
uniforms.uResolution.value = [gl.drawingBufferWidth, gl.drawingBufferHeight];
uniforms.uPixelRatio.value = renderer.dpr;
// Population from area, not a fixed number: the same density reads right
// in a 320px card and a 2000px hero. The buffers already hold `total`
// particles in shuffled order, so a prefix of them is still spatially
// even — no rebuild, no reallocation, no new GPU memory.
const megapixels = (w * h) / 1_000_000;
const count = clamp(Math.round(megapixels * density), MIN_COUNT, total);
geometry.setInstancedCount(count);
};
const draw = (elapsed: number) => {
uniforms.uElapsed.value = elapsed;
renderer.render({ scene: mesh });
};
resize(size.current.width, size.current.height);
stage.current = { renderer, geometry, program, mesh, uniforms, resize, draw };
measure();
draw(0);
/* A webfont swap changes the text box after the first measurement, and
nothing about a font swap resizes the element's border box on every
engine — so the ResizeObserver alone is not enough. */
let cancelled = false;
if (typeof document !== 'undefined' && 'fonts' in document) {
void document.fonts.ready.then(() => {
if (!cancelled) measure();
});
}
return () => {
cancelled = true;
stage.current = null;
canvas.removeEventListener('pointermove', onMove);
canvas.removeEventListener('pointerleave', onLeave);
canvas.removeEventListener('pointercancel', onLeave);
// ogl has no `dispose()`: `remove()` on the geometry deletes its VAOs and
// every buffer, `remove()` on the program deletes the shaders and the
// program, and only then is the context worth handing back. Dropping the
// context is the part that matters — the per-process budget is about
// sixteen, and exceeding it kills someone else's oldest context.
geometry.remove();
program.remove();
loseContext(gl);
canvas.width = 0;
canvas.height = 0;
canvas.remove();
};
// eslint-disable-next-line react-hooks/exhaustive-deps
}, [ready, density, maxCount, minSize, maxSize, seed]);
// Colours go into the live uniforms rather than being effect deps, so
// recolouring never costs a context.
useEffect(() => {
const s = stage.current;
if (!s) return;
s.uniforms.uColorA.value.set(colorA);
s.uniforms.uColorB.value.set(colorB);
s.uniforms.uGlowColor.value.set(glowColor);
const bg = new Color(background);
s.renderer.gl.clearColor(bg.r, bg.g, bg.b, 1);
}, [colorA, colorB, glowColor, background]);
// Resize is its own effect: a reflow costs a `setSize`, an instanced-count
// change and a re-measure, never a buffer rebuild.
useEffect(() => {
stage.current?.resize(width, height);
measure();
// eslint-disable-next-line react-hooks/exhaustive-deps
}, [width, height]);
// The text box changes on its own too — wrapping to a new line, a font swap,
// or different children entirely.
useEffect(() => {
measure();
// eslint-disable-next-line react-hooks/exhaustive-deps
}, [textSize.width, textSize.height, margin, children]);
useRaf(
(dt, elapsed) => {
const s = stage.current;
if (!s) return;
const cfg = live.current;
const aim = target.current;
if (aim) {
follow.current.x = damp(follow.current.x, aim.x, cfg.smoothing, dt);
follow.current.y = damp(follow.current.y, aim.y, cfg.smoothing, dt);
}
presence.current = damp(
presence.current,
inside.current && aim !== null ? 1 : 0,
PRESENCE_SMOOTHING,
dt,
);
const u = s.uniforms;
// Mutated in place. Assigning a fresh tuple allocates an array a frame and
// defeats ogl's redundant-uniform cache, which compares by length first
// and then element by element against the array it kept.
u.uPointer.value[0] = follow.current.x;
u.uPointer.value[1] = follow.current.y;
u.uPointerPresence.value = presence.current;
u.uPointerRadius.value = Math.max(cfg.pointerRadius, 0);
u.uPointerWhip.value = Math.max(cfg.pointerWhip, 0.02);
u.uExponent.value = clamp(cfg.exponent, 2, 16);
u.uWhip.value = Math.max(cfg.whip, 0.02);
u.uOpacity.value = cfg.opacity;
s.draw(elapsed);
},
ready && inView && visible && !reduced && !unsupported,
);
/* Reduced motion is a composed still, not an empty box: one frame with the
text rect fully avoided and the pointer parked off to one side, so the
shape of the field is exactly what a moving version would show. The
listeners stay attached and their target is never consumed. */
useEffect(() => {
const s = stage.current;
if (!s || !reduced || !ready) return;
const [px = 0.3, py = 0.34] = STILL_POINTER;
s.uniforms.uPointer.value[0] = px;
s.uniforms.uPointer.value[1] = py;
s.uniforms.uPointerPresence.value = 1;
s.draw(STILL_ELAPSED);
}, [reduced, ready, width, height]);
```
## Requirements
These are not optional. A version of this component that skips any of them is
not finished.
**Cleanup.** Removes the three pointer listeners from the canvas, cancels the pending `document.fonts.ready` callback with a flag, nulls the stage ref so an in-flight frame cannot touch a dead renderer, then `geometry.remove()` (deletes the VAOs and every buffer), `program.remove()` (deletes the shaders and the program), `loseContext(gl)`, zeroes the canvas dimensions and removes it from the DOM. ogl has no `dispose()`, and dropping the context is the part that matters — the per-process budget is about sixteen, and exceeding it kills the oldest, which belongs to someone else.
**Reduced motion.** The loop never starts. One frame is drawn with the text rect fully avoided and the pointer parked off to one side at full presence, so the still shows exactly the shape a moving version produces — the drift is the only thing lost. Re-measuring after a font swap redraws that single frame rather than starting a loop. The listeners stay attached but their target is never consumed.
**Frame-rate independence.** Any smoothing must be a function of delta time.
`x += (target - x) * 0.1` converges twice as fast at 120 Hz as at 60 Hz; use
`x = target + (x - target) * Math.pow(smoothing, dt)` instead, where
`smoothing` is the fraction of the gap remaining after one second.
**Strict mode.** Assume effects run twice in development. Setup must be
idempotent and teardown must fully undo it.
## Known pitfalls — avoid these specifically
- Using `normalize()` for the push direction. It is NaN at the origin, and NaN in `gl_Position` discards the entire primitive — so the bug looks like missing particles, not like a maths error.
- `pow()` with a negative base or a zero base. Both are undefined in GLSL, both are reached on the axes of a symmetric field, and the result is driver-dependent: fine on the machine it was written on, black on someone else's.
- Clamping interior particles onto the shell instead of remapping their radius. Every particle inside lands exactly on the outline, so the shape is one dense curve with a dead interior behind it — visibly a stencil rather than a field flowing around something.
- Hard-coding the text rect, or deriving it from a character count. It is wrong the moment a webfont swaps, the line rewraps, or the container narrows, and the hole drifts off the words while still looking deliberate.
- Relying on the ResizeObserver alone for the text box. A font swap does not necessarily change the element's border box on every engine, so the measurement has to be repeated after `document.fonts.ready` as well.
- Aspect-correcting the text rect. It was measured in element space; correcting it clears a region visibly narrower than the headline on a wide container, which is worse than not avoiding at all.
- Forgetting to aspect-correct the POINTER disc. Exactly the opposite case — a screen-space shape left uncorrected is an obvious ellipse on anything but a square container.
- Writing pointer events straight into `uPointer`. A high-rate trackpad delivers a staircase, and after a stalled frame it is a jump that drags the hole across the field in one step. The listener records a target; the loop damps toward it.
- Damping with a per-frame constant (`x += (t - x) * 0.1`) instead of `damp(..., dt)`. The follow is visibly tighter at 120Hz than at 60Hz, so the feel is tuned to whichever display it was authored on.
- Scattering with `rng()` twice. The clumps and voids of a uniform random field are indistinguishable from more avoidance holes once the real one exists. A jittered lattice, shuffled so the instanced-count prefix is still spatially even, costs the same.
- Leaving ogl's default BACK-face culling on. The quad winding is not guaranteed to face the way the driver expects, and a culled particle is not dim — it is absent, so the field renders empty on some machines and fine on others.
- Owning the canvas in React while calling `loseContext()` on cleanup. Under `reactStrictMode` the effect runs twice and the second `getContext` on that element returns the dead context: blank in development, fine in production.
- Letting the text layer swallow pointer events. It sits above the canvas, so without `pointer-events: none` the pointer hole disappears whenever the cursor crosses the headline — precisely where the effect is most visible.
- Re-measuring through React state. A measurement that triggers a render can trigger another measurement; the rect is written straight into the uniform instead.
## Notes
- `children` is the headline and is rendered as real DOM above the field, so it is selectable, searchable and styled with ordinary classes. The component only reads its box.
- The text layer is `pointer-events: none` so the canvas underneath keeps receiving moves. Anything interactive belongs outside it.
- The same `avoid()` function serves both fields; the pointer is just exponent 2 with a wider whip. Adding a third avoided region is one more call, not one more code path.
- Blending is additive with an opaque clear colour, so a thousand overlapping instances need no depth sort and the whole field is one draw call. The fragment output is premultiplied because the destination is only ever added to.
- Population is derived from container area and selected with `setInstancedCount` out of buffers allocated once at `maxCount`, so a resize changes the count without touching GPU memory.
- The scatter runs on `createRng(seed)`, never `Math.random()`, so the field is identical on every load and a visual regression is a real regression.
## Definition of done
The headline sits in a clear zone whose shape is a squircle, not a circle and not a rectangle: the gap above and below the line is the same as the gap at its ends, and the corners are rounded without being round. A brighter rim traces that shape. Resize the container until the headline rewraps to two lines — the clear zone re-fits within a frame, with no visible sweep from the old rect. Move the pointer in and a second, softer hole follows it with a short even lag that is identical on a 60Hz and a 120Hz display; the hole stays circular on a wide container and does not disappear when the pointer crosses the headline. No particle sits inside the clear zone and none pile into a single dense outline. Reload twice: the field is identical. With reduced motion the panel is one composed still with the same shape.
When you are finished, tell me which of the requirements above you implemented
and where, so I can check them.
Source
10 files, exactly as installed.
'use client';
import { useEffect, useRef, useState, type ReactNode } from 'react';
import { Color, Geometry, Mesh, Program, Renderer } from 'ogl';
import { cn } from '@/lib/utils';
import { useInView } from '@/hooks/use-in-view';
import { useRaf } from '@/hooks/use-raf';
import { useReducedMotion } from '@/hooks/use-reduced-motion';
import { useResizeObserver } from '@/hooks/use-resize-observer';
import { useVisibility } from '@/hooks/use-visibility';
import { clamp, damp } from '@/lib/damp';
import { createRng, randRange, shuffle } from '@/lib/prng';
import { hasWebGL, loseContext, pixelRatio } from '@/lib/webgl';
import {
SUPERELLIPSE_TEXT_AVOIDANCE_FRAG,
SUPERELLIPSE_TEXT_AVOIDANCE_VERT,
} from '@/components/motion/shaders/superellipse-text-avoidance';
/* ==========================================================================
Superellipse Text Avoidance
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
A particle field that flows around the headline rendered on top of it. The
avoidance region is a 6-norm superellipse fitted to the MEASURED DOM rect of
the text, so the hole in the field is the shape of the words and follows them
through a reflow, a font swap or a container resize.
Three things carry the effect.
1. THE EXPONENT. A circle around a wide headline clears far more than the
words occupy; an axis-aligned box creases the field along four straight
lines at its corners. A 6-norm is square enough to match a text block and
still differentiable everywhere.
2. THE REMAP, NOT A CLAMP. Interior particles are not pinned onto the shell —
that maps an area onto a curve and stacks everything into one dense line.
Radii inside the band are compressed into it, so the interior becomes a
rim and the field stays continuous where it meets the untouched lattice.
3. THE RECT IS MEASURED, NEVER PASSED. A hand-tuned rect is wrong on the
first font swap and wrong again on the first narrow viewport. The text is
real DOM, and a ResizeObserver plus `document.fonts.ready` keeps four
numbers in a uniform in step with it.
========================================================================== */
export interface SuperellipseTextAvoidanceProps {
/** The headline. Real DOM, rendered above the field and measured for the rect. */
children?: ReactNode;
/** Particles per megapixel of container area. The count is derived, not fixed. */
density?: number;
/** Hard ceiling on the population, and the size the buffers are allocated at. */
maxCount?: number;
/** Particle size range in CSS pixels, biased toward the small end. */
sizeRange?: readonly [number, number];
/** Superellipse exponent. 2 is a circle, 6 a squircle, high values a box. */
exponent?: number;
/** Clear margin around the text rect, in units of the container HEIGHT. */
margin?: number;
/** Width of the band the interior is compressed into. The whole feel. */
whip?: number;
/** Pointer avoidance radius, in units of the container height. 0 disables it. */
pointerRadius?: number;
/** Whip band for the pointer disc. */
pointerWhip?: number;
/** Fraction of the pointer gap still remaining after one second. */
smoothing?: number;
/** Overall alpha multiplier. */
opacity?: number;
/** First tint. Any value ogl's Color accepts. */
colorA?: string;
/** Second tint; each particle mixes between the two. */
colorB?: string;
/** Tint for displaced particles, which is what makes the shape legible. */
glowColor?: string;
/** Opaque clear colour the additive field is composited onto. */
background?: string;
/** Seed for the scatter. Same seed, same field on every reload. */
seed?: number | string;
className?: string;
/** Merged onto the text layer. */
textClassName?: string;
}
interface Uniforms {
/** ogl types `uniforms` as an open record; the index signature keeps it assignable. */
[name: string]: { value: unknown };
uResolution: { value: [number, number] };
uPixelRatio: { value: number };
uElapsed: { value: number };
/** Measured text box in uv space: cx, cy, halfX, halfY — already padded. */
uRect: { value: [number, number, number, number] };
uRectPresence: { value: number };
uExponent: { value: number };
uWhip: { value: number };
uPointer: { value: [number, number] };
uPointerPresence: { value: number };
uPointerRadius: { value: number };
uPointerWhip: { value: number };
uColorA: { value: Color };
uColorB: { value: Color };
uGlowColor: { value: Color };
uOpacity: { value: number };
}
interface Stage {
renderer: Renderer;
geometry: Geometry;
program: Program;
mesh: Mesh;
uniforms: Uniforms;
resize: (width: number, height: number) => void;
draw: (elapsed: number) => void;
}
// #region critical
/** Floor on the population. Below this the field reads as a few stray specks. */
const MIN_COUNT = 260;
/**
* Width of the band interior particles are compressed into, in normalised
* superellipse units. The catalogue's WHIP_DISC. Small values throw particles
* out hard and stack them on the outline; large ones bend the field around from
* a distance and the text stops looking like the cause.
*/
const WHIP_DISC = 0.3;
/** Fraction of the presence gap left after a second. ~200ms in and out. */
const PRESENCE_SMOOTHING = 0.007;
/** Size distribution exponent. Above 1 crowds the population into small sizes. */
const SIZE_BIAS = 1.7;
/** Fill scales with dpr squared, and these are soft dots with no fine detail. */
const MAX_DPR = 1.5;
/** Lattice bounds. Wider than 0..1 so drift never bares the edges. */
const HOME_MIN = -0.05;
const HOME_MAX = 1.05;
/** Jitter as a fraction of a lattice cell. Past ~0.5 cells overlap and clump. */
const CELL_JITTER = 0.42;
/** The reduced-motion still: one frame with the pointer parked off to one side. */
const STILL_ELAPSED = 4.2;
const STILL_POINTER: readonly [number, number] = [0.3, 0.34];
export function SuperellipseTextAvoidance({
children,
density = 900,
maxCount = 1600,
sizeRange = [1.4, 4.4],
exponent = 6,
margin = 0.06,
whip = WHIP_DISC,
pointerRadius = 0.16,
pointerWhip = 0.45,
smoothing = 0.0008,
opacity = 0.92,
colorA = '#9ec6ff',
colorB = '#eef2fb',
glowColor = '#ffd9a0',
background = '#07080d',
seed = 'superellipse-text-avoidance',
className,
textClassName,
}: SuperellipseTextAvoidanceProps) {
const host = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
const text = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
const stage = useRef<Stage | null>(null);
const [unsupported, setUnsupported] = useState(false);
const { width, height } = useResizeObserver(host);
const textSize = useResizeObserver(text);
const size = useRef({ width, height });
size.current = { width, height };
const reduced = useReducedMotion();
const reducedRef = useRef(reduced);
reducedRef.current = reduced;
const visible = useVisibility();
const { inView } = useInView(host, { rootMargin: '10%' });
const ready = width > 1 && height > 1;
const [minSize = 1.4, maxSize = 4.4] = sizeRange;
/* Raw pointer target in field space, or null until a real move — which is not
the same as a pointer resting at the bottom-left corner. */
const target = useRef<{ x: number; y: number } | null>(null);
const inside = useRef(false);
const follow = useRef({ x: 0.5, y: 0.5 });
const presence = useRef(0);
/* Live numbers the loop reads. Changing one must not rebuild the renderer:
Chromium drops the OLDEST WebGL context past roughly 16 per process, so a
rebuild per prop change can blank an unrelated canvas on the same page. */
const live = useRef({ exponent, margin, whip, pointerRadius, pointerWhip, smoothing, opacity });
live.current = { exponent, margin, whip, pointerRadius, pointerWhip, smoothing, opacity };
/**
* Reads the text box out of the DOM and writes it into `uRect` as uv centre
* plus padded half-extents. No React state: a measurement that re-renders is
* a measurement that can re-measure itself in a loop.
*/
const measure = () => {
const s = stage.current;
const hostEl = host.current;
const textEl = text.current;
if (!s || !hostEl || !textEl) return;
const hostBox = hostEl.getBoundingClientRect();
if (hostBox.width < 1 || hostBox.height < 1) return;
const textBox = textEl.getBoundingClientRect();
if (textBox.width < 1 || textBox.height < 1) {
// No children, or the text has not laid out yet. Presence 0 rather than a
// zero-size rect, which would be a singularity at the centre of the field.
s.uniforms.uRectPresence.value = 0;
return;
}
const aspect = hostBox.width / hostBox.height;
/* The margin is specified in HEIGHT units and divided by the aspect ratio
for x, so the clear ring is the same number of pixels on all four sides.
Adding the same uv figure to both halves pads a wide container far more
at the ends of the line than above and below it. */
const padX = live.current.margin / Math.max(aspect, 0.0001);
const padY = live.current.margin;
s.uniforms.uRect.value[0] = (textBox.left - hostBox.left + textBox.width * 0.5) / hostBox.width;
// Flipped: field y is up, client y is down.
s.uniforms.uRect.value[1] =
1 - (textBox.top - hostBox.top + textBox.height * 0.5) / hostBox.height;
s.uniforms.uRect.value[2] = textBox.width * 0.5 / hostBox.width + padX;
s.uniforms.uRect.value[3] = textBox.height * 0.5 / hostBox.height + padY;
s.uniforms.uRectPresence.value = 1;
// The live loop picks this up next frame; a paused one has to be told.
if (reducedRef.current) s.draw(STILL_ELAPSED);
};
useEffect(() => {
const el = host.current;
if (!el || !ready) return;
if (!hasWebGL()) {
setUnsupported(true);
return;
}
/* ogl creates its own canvas, and it is appended and removed per effect
run. Reusing one React-owned canvas breaks under StrictMode: the first
cleanup force-loses the context, and `getContext` on that element
afterwards hands back the dead one rather than a fresh context — the
panel is then permanently blank in development and fine in production. */
const renderer = new Renderer({
dpr: pixelRatio(MAX_DPR),
// Opaque: the pass is additive, and additive onto a transparent canvas
// would have to brighten the page behind it, which the GPU cannot see.
alpha: false,
// Nothing occludes anything, so a depth buffer is memory plus a clear.
depth: false,
antialias: false,
powerPreference: 'low-power',
});
const gl = renderer.gl;
const canvas = gl.canvas;
const bg = new Color(background);
gl.clearColor(bg.r, bg.g, bg.b, 1);
const quad = new Float32Array([-0.5, -0.5, 0.5, -0.5, 0.5, 0.5, -0.5, 0.5]);
const index = new Uint16Array([0, 1, 2, 0, 2, 3]);
const total = Math.max(MIN_COUNT, Math.round(maxCount));
const homes = new Float32Array(total * 2);
const params = new Float32Array(total * 4);
const seeds = new Float32Array(total * 4);
const rng = createRng(seed);
/* A STRATIFIED scatter, not `rng()` twice. Uniform random has clumps and
voids at this population, and once the avoidance opens a real hole those
accidental voids read as more holes — the shape of the field stops being
legible. A jittered lattice is even everywhere and still looks organic.
Cells are then SHUFFLED, because the instanced count is a prefix of these
buffers: in lattice order a smaller count would draw the top rows only. */
const aspect = Math.max(size.current.width, 1) / Math.max(size.current.height, 1);
const cols = Math.max(2, Math.round(Math.sqrt(total * aspect)));
const rows = Math.max(2, Math.ceil(total / cols));
const cells: Array<[number, number]> = [];
for (let r = 0; r < rows; r += 1) {
for (let c = 0; c < cols; c += 1) {
cells.push([(c + 0.5) / cols, (r + 0.5) / rows]);
}
}
shuffle(rng, cells);
const spanX = HOME_MAX - HOME_MIN;
const spanY = HOME_MAX - HOME_MIN;
for (let i = 0; i < total; i += 1) {
const cell = cells[i % cells.length] ?? [0.5, 0.5];
const [cellX = 0.5, cellY = 0.5] = cell;
homes[i * 2] = HOME_MIN + (cellX + randRange(rng, -CELL_JITTER, CELL_JITTER) / cols) * spanX;
homes[i * 2 + 1] =
HOME_MIN + (cellY + randRange(rng, -CELL_JITTER, CELL_JITTER) / rows) * spanY;
// Biased small: a linear distribution puts a quarter of the population in
// the largest quarter of the range and the field reads as gravel.
const sizeT = Math.pow(rng(), SIZE_BIAS);
params[i * 4] = Math.max(0.5, minSize) + Math.max(maxSize - minSize, 0.25) * sizeT;
// Drift radius and rate. Small, because this field is a texture the text
// sits in — a fast one competes with the headline for attention.
params[i * 4 + 1] = randRange(rng, 0.002, 0.014);
params[i * 4 + 2] = (rng() < 0.5 ? -1 : 1) * randRange(rng, 0.08, 0.32);
// Bigger particles are dimmer, so total light stays roughly constant.
params[i * 4 + 3] = 0.32 + 0.5 * (1 - sizeT);
seeds[i * 4] = rng() * Math.PI * 2;
seeds[i * 4 + 1] = randRange(rng, 0.3, 1);
seeds[i * 4 + 2] = rng();
seeds[i * 4 + 3] = 0;
}
const geometry = new Geometry(gl, {
index: { data: index },
position: { size: 2, data: quad },
aHome: { size: 2, data: homes, instanced: 1 },
aParams: { size: 4, data: params, instanced: 1 },
aSeed: { size: 4, data: seeds, instanced: 1 },
});
const uniforms: Uniforms = {
uResolution: { value: [1, 1] },
uPixelRatio: { value: renderer.dpr },
uElapsed: { value: 0 },
uRect: { value: [0.5, 0.5, 0.001, 0.001] },
uRectPresence: { value: 0 },
uExponent: { value: clamp(exponent, 2, 16) },
uWhip: { value: Math.max(whip, 0.02) },
uPointer: { value: [0.5, 0.5] },
uPointerPresence: { value: 0 },
uPointerRadius: { value: Math.max(pointerRadius, 0) },
uPointerWhip: { value: Math.max(pointerWhip, 0.02) },
uColorA: { value: new Color(colorA) },
uColorB: { value: new Color(colorB) },
uGlowColor: { value: new Color(glowColor) },
uOpacity: { value: opacity },
};
const program = new Program(gl, {
vertex: SUPERELLIPSE_TEXT_AVOIDANCE_VERT,
fragment: SUPERELLIPSE_TEXT_AVOIDANCE_FRAG,
uniforms,
transparent: true,
depthTest: false,
depthWrite: false,
// ogl culls BACK faces by default and the quad's winding is not
// guaranteed to face the way the driver expects. A culled particle is not
// dim — it is absent.
cullFace: false,
});
// Additive, overriding the source-over that `transparent: true` selected.
// Order independent, so a thousand overlapping instances need no sort.
program.setBlendFunc(gl.ONE, gl.ONE);
const mesh = new Mesh(gl, { geometry, program });
el.insertBefore(canvas, el.firstChild);
canvas.style.display = 'block';
/* Listeners on the CANVAS, not the window. A document-level handler
outlives the renderer it was written for, and the rect it measures is not
the rect being drawn into — after a scroll the hole sits at an offset
from the cursor. Passive, because nothing here calls preventDefault and a
non-passive move handler makes the compositor wait for JS on every event. */
const onMove = (event: PointerEvent) => {
const rect = canvas.getBoundingClientRect();
if (rect.width === 0 || rect.height === 0) return;
target.current = {
x: (event.clientX - rect.left) / rect.width,
y: 1 - (event.clientY - rect.top) / rect.height,
};
inside.current = true;
};
const onLeave = () => {
// Position is left where it is. Tweening it back to the centre drags a
// visible furrow across the field on the way out.
inside.current = false;
};
canvas.addEventListener('pointermove', onMove, { passive: true });
canvas.addEventListener('pointerleave', onLeave, { passive: true });
canvas.addEventListener('pointercancel', onLeave, { passive: true });
const resize = (w: number, h: number) => {
renderer.setSize(w, h);
// `setSize` writes literal px into the canvas's inline style, which wins
// over any class. Re-asserting percentages keeps it fluid between resize
// notifications.
canvas.style.width = '100%';
canvas.style.height = '100%';
uniforms.uResolution.value = [gl.drawingBufferWidth, gl.drawingBufferHeight];
uniforms.uPixelRatio.value = renderer.dpr;
// Population from area, not a fixed number: the same density reads right
// in a 320px card and a 2000px hero. The buffers already hold `total`
// particles in shuffled order, so a prefix of them is still spatially
// even — no rebuild, no reallocation, no new GPU memory.
const megapixels = (w * h) / 1_000_000;
const count = clamp(Math.round(megapixels * density), MIN_COUNT, total);
geometry.setInstancedCount(count);
};
const draw = (elapsed: number) => {
uniforms.uElapsed.value = elapsed;
renderer.render({ scene: mesh });
};
resize(size.current.width, size.current.height);
stage.current = { renderer, geometry, program, mesh, uniforms, resize, draw };
measure();
draw(0);
/* A webfont swap changes the text box after the first measurement, and
nothing about a font swap resizes the element's border box on every
engine — so the ResizeObserver alone is not enough. */
let cancelled = false;
if (typeof document !== 'undefined' && 'fonts' in document) {
void document.fonts.ready.then(() => {
if (!cancelled) measure();
});
}
return () => {
cancelled = true;
stage.current = null;
canvas.removeEventListener('pointermove', onMove);
canvas.removeEventListener('pointerleave', onLeave);
canvas.removeEventListener('pointercancel', onLeave);
// ogl has no `dispose()`: `remove()` on the geometry deletes its VAOs and
// every buffer, `remove()` on the program deletes the shaders and the
// program, and only then is the context worth handing back. Dropping the
// context is the part that matters — the per-process budget is about
// sixteen, and exceeding it kills someone else's oldest context.
geometry.remove();
program.remove();
loseContext(gl);
canvas.width = 0;
canvas.height = 0;
canvas.remove();
};
// eslint-disable-next-line react-hooks/exhaustive-deps
}, [ready, density, maxCount, minSize, maxSize, seed]);
// Colours go into the live uniforms rather than being effect deps, so
// recolouring never costs a context.
useEffect(() => {
const s = stage.current;
if (!s) return;
s.uniforms.uColorA.value.set(colorA);
s.uniforms.uColorB.value.set(colorB);
s.uniforms.uGlowColor.value.set(glowColor);
const bg = new Color(background);
s.renderer.gl.clearColor(bg.r, bg.g, bg.b, 1);
}, [colorA, colorB, glowColor, background]);
// Resize is its own effect: a reflow costs a `setSize`, an instanced-count
// change and a re-measure, never a buffer rebuild.
useEffect(() => {
stage.current?.resize(width, height);
measure();
// eslint-disable-next-line react-hooks/exhaustive-deps
}, [width, height]);
// The text box changes on its own too — wrapping to a new line, a font swap,
// or different children entirely.
useEffect(() => {
measure();
// eslint-disable-next-line react-hooks/exhaustive-deps
}, [textSize.width, textSize.height, margin, children]);
useRaf(
(dt, elapsed) => {
const s = stage.current;
if (!s) return;
const cfg = live.current;
const aim = target.current;
if (aim) {
follow.current.x = damp(follow.current.x, aim.x, cfg.smoothing, dt);
follow.current.y = damp(follow.current.y, aim.y, cfg.smoothing, dt);
}
presence.current = damp(
presence.current,
inside.current && aim !== null ? 1 : 0,
PRESENCE_SMOOTHING,
dt,
);
const u = s.uniforms;
// Mutated in place. Assigning a fresh tuple allocates an array a frame and
// defeats ogl's redundant-uniform cache, which compares by length first
// and then element by element against the array it kept.
u.uPointer.value[0] = follow.current.x;
u.uPointer.value[1] = follow.current.y;
u.uPointerPresence.value = presence.current;
u.uPointerRadius.value = Math.max(cfg.pointerRadius, 0);
u.uPointerWhip.value = Math.max(cfg.pointerWhip, 0.02);
u.uExponent.value = clamp(cfg.exponent, 2, 16);
u.uWhip.value = Math.max(cfg.whip, 0.02);
u.uOpacity.value = cfg.opacity;
s.draw(elapsed);
},
ready && inView && visible && !reduced && !unsupported,
);
/* Reduced motion is a composed still, not an empty box: one frame with the
text rect fully avoided and the pointer parked off to one side, so the
shape of the field is exactly what a moving version would show. The
listeners stay attached and their target is never consumed. */
useEffect(() => {
const s = stage.current;
if (!s || !reduced || !ready) return;
const [px = 0.3, py = 0.34] = STILL_POINTER;
s.uniforms.uPointer.value[0] = px;
s.uniforms.uPointer.value[1] = py;
s.uniforms.uPointerPresence.value = 1;
s.draw(STILL_ELAPSED);
}, [reduced, ready, width, height]);
// #endregion critical
return (
<div ref={host} className={cn('relative h-full w-full overflow-hidden bg-bg', className)}>
{unsupported ? (
<div
aria-hidden
className="absolute inset-0"
style={{
backgroundImage:
'radial-gradient(circle at 50% 50%, var(--k-line-strong) 1px, transparent 0)',
backgroundSize: '30px 30px',
}}
/>
) : null}
{/* Pointer-transparent, so the pointer listeners on the canvas underneath
still see moves across the headline. Anything interactive belongs
outside this layer. */}
<div className="pointer-events-none absolute inset-0 flex items-center justify-center p-8">
<div ref={text} className={cn('max-w-[22ch] text-center', textClassName)}>
{children}
</div>
</div>
</div>
);
}
/* ==========================================================================
Superellipse Text Avoidance — GLSL
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
A lattice of instanced quads that flows AROUND the headline instead of
through it. The avoidance region is a 6-norm superellipse — a squircle —
fitted to the measured DOM rect of the text.
Why a 6-norm. A circle around a wide headline clears far more space than the
words occupy and leaves an obvious empty halo at the ends of the line. An
axis-aligned box clears the right area but its corners are a discontinuity in
the field: particles turn a sharp corner and the lattice creases along four
straight lines. Raising the exponent past 2 squares the shape up while
keeping the corners differentiable, and 6 is close enough to a text block
that nothing reads as either halo or crease.
The remap. Everything inside the shell is not clamped ONTO it — that maps a
whole area onto a curve and piles every interior particle into one infinitely
dense line. It is remapped: radii in [0, 1 + whip] are compressed linearly
into [1, 1 + whip], so the interior turns into a band hugging the shape and
the field is continuous where it meets the undisturbed lattice outside.
WHIP_DISC is that band's width, and it is the whole feel of the effect: small
values whip particles out hard and stack them on the outline, large values
let the lattice bend around at a distance.
The same function runs twice per particle — once for the text rect at
exponent 6, once for the pointer at exponent 2 — because a disc is just a
superellipse with a lower exponent.
GLSL ES 1.00, so the same source compiles under a WebGL1 context.
========================================================================== */
/**
* position — the shared unit quad, -0.5..0.5 on both axes.
* aHome — lattice rest position in uv space, 0..1 across the container.
* aParams — x: size in CSS px, y: drift radius in uv, z: drift rate in rad/s,
* w: base alpha.
* aSeed — x: drift phase, y: edge softness, z: tint mix, w: unused spare.
*/
export const SUPERELLIPSE_TEXT_AVOIDANCE_VERT = /* glsl */ `
attribute vec2 position;
attribute vec2 aHome;
attribute vec4 aParams;
attribute vec4 aSeed;
uniform vec2 uResolution;
uniform float uPixelRatio;
uniform float uElapsed;
/** Measured text box in uv space: xy centre, zw half-extents, already padded. */
uniform vec4 uRect;
uniform float uRectPresence;
uniform float uExponent;
uniform float uWhip;
uniform vec2 uPointer;
uniform float uPointerPresence;
uniform float uPointerRadius;
uniform float uPointerWhip;
varying vec2 vQuad;
varying float vAlpha;
varying float vSoftness;
varying float vTint;
varying float vPush;
/**
* The p-norm of n. abs() first, and an epsilon, because pow() is undefined for
* a negative base and for 0 raised to a non-positive power — and a lattice has
* particles sitting exactly on both axes, so both cases are reached on the
* first frame rather than never.
*/
float snorm(vec2 n, float e) {
vec2 a = abs(n) + 1e-5;
return pow(pow(a.x, e) + pow(a.y, e), 1.0 / e);
}
/**
* Displacement that lifts p out of the superellipse centred on rectCenter with
* half-extents rectHalf. amount comes back as how much of the lift applied, for
* the brightness ramp.
*/
vec2 avoid(vec2 p, vec2 center, vec2 rectHalf, float e, float whip, out float amount) {
vec2 safeHalf = max(rectHalf, vec2(1e-4));
vec2 n = (p - center) / safeHalf;
float r = snorm(n, e);
/* The remap, branchless. Inside the band, r is compressed into
[1, 1 + whip]; outside it, mapped == r exactly, so the lattice beyond the
band is untouched and there is no seam where the influence ends. */
float span = 1.0 + whip;
float inner = 1.0 + whip * min(r, span) / span;
float mapped = inner + max(r - span, 0.0);
amount = clamp(mapped - r, 0.0, 1.0);
/* Divide by a floor rather than normalize(): a particle at the exact centre
has no direction, and normalize() there returns NaN, which propagates into
gl_Position and drops the entire instance rather than one component. */
vec2 dir = n / max(r, 1e-3);
return safeHalf * dir * (mapped - r);
}
void main() {
float aspect = uResolution.x / max(uResolution.y, 1.0);
/* Idle drift, so the lattice is alive before anything is avoided. Each
particle traces its own small ellipse on its own phase; a shared phase
turns the whole grid into one visible pulse. */
float phase = aSeed.x;
vec2 drift = vec2(
sin(uElapsed * aParams.z + phase),
cos(uElapsed * aParams.z * 0.83 + phase * 1.7)
) * aParams.y;
vec2 p = aHome + drift;
/* 1. THE TEXT RECT, at exponent 6. Deliberately NOT aspect-corrected: the
rect was measured from the DOM in element space, so the avoidance field has
to live in the same space or it stops agreeing with the letters — on a wide
container a "corrected" rect clears a region visibly narrower than the
headline it is supposed to be protecting. */
float textAmount = 0.0;
p += avoid(p, uRect.xy, uRect.zw, uExponent, uWhip, textAmount) * uRectPresence;
textAmount *= uRectPresence;
/* 2. THE POINTER, at exponent 2, which is a plain disc. This one IS
aspect-corrected — x scaled by the aspect ratio — because it is a shape in
screen space rather than a measured box, and an uncorrected disc is a
visible ellipse on anything but a square container. */
vec2 pointerHalf = vec2(uPointerRadius / max(aspect, 1e-4), uPointerRadius);
float pointerAmount = 0.0;
p += avoid(p, uPointer, pointerHalf, 2.0, uPointerWhip, pointerAmount) * uPointerPresence;
pointerAmount *= uPointerPresence;
float push = clamp(max(textAmount, pointerAmount) * 3.0, 0.0, 1.0);
vPush = push;
/* The quad is expanded in PIXELS and only then converted to clip space, so a
particle stays square in a container of any aspect ratio. */
float size = aParams.x * uPixelRatio * (1.0 + push * 0.5);
vec2 clip = p * 2.0 - 1.0;
vec2 offset = position * size / max(uResolution, vec2(1.0)) * 2.0;
vQuad = position;
vSoftness = aSeed.y;
vTint = aSeed.z;
/* Displaced particles brighten. Without it the lattice around the headline is
just a hole; with it the shape of the field is legible as a rim, which is
the only visual evidence that the avoidance is a squircle and not a box. */
vAlpha = aParams.w * (0.55 + 0.45 * push);
gl_Position = vec4(clip + offset, 0.0, 1.0);
}
`;
export const SUPERELLIPSE_TEXT_AVOIDANCE_FRAG = /* glsl */ `
precision mediump float;
uniform vec3 uColorA;
uniform vec3 uColorB;
uniform vec3 uGlowColor;
uniform float uOpacity;
varying vec2 vQuad;
varying float vAlpha;
varying float vSoftness;
varying float vTint;
varying float vPush;
void main() {
/* A disc with a variable core: the flat centre shrinks as softness rises, so
one material covers hard specks and soft motes. A fixed core with a
variable edge cannot reach the soft end — the particle keeps a hard middle
however far the edge is pushed out. */
float d = length(vQuad);
float core = mix(0.3, 0.02, clamp(vSoftness, 0.0, 1.0));
float falloff = 1.0 - smoothstep(core, 0.5, d);
if (falloff <= 0.0) discard;
vec3 col = mix(uColorA, uColorB, clamp(vTint, 0.0, 1.0));
col = mix(col, uGlowColor, vPush * 0.85);
/* Squared, because additive blending sums overlapping quads and a linear
falloff piles into visible bright polygons wherever several cross. */
float alpha = falloff * falloff * vAlpha * uOpacity;
/* Premultiplied for an additive pass: the destination is only ever added to,
so the colour has to arrive already scaled by its own coverage. */
gl_FragColor = vec4(col * alpha, alpha);
}
`;
/* ==========================================================================
Frame-rate-independent interpolation.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The everywhere-idiom `x += (target - x) * 0.1` is a bug: it converges twice
as fast on a 120 Hz display as on a 60 Hz one, so the same code feels
different on different hardware and visibly speeds up when the browser
drops frames. `damp` fixes it by raising the retention factor to the power
of elapsed time, which is the exact continuous form of the same curve.
========================================================================== */
/**
* Fraction of the remaining distance to close this frame.
*
* @param smoothing Fraction of the gap that REMAINS after one second.
* Smaller is snappier. 0.001 ≈ very fast, 0.01 ≈ fast, 0.1 ≈ soft,
* 0.5 ≈ slow drift.
* @param dt Seconds elapsed since the previous frame.
*/
export function dampFactor(smoothing: number, dt: number): number {
return 1 - Math.pow(smoothing, dt);
}
/** Move `current` toward `target` at a rate independent of frame rate. */
export function damp(
current: number,
target: number,
smoothing: number,
dt: number,
): number {
return current + (target - current) * dampFactor(smoothing, dt);
}
/**
* The per-frame lerp constant an author measured at 60fps, converted into the
* `smoothing` argument `damp` wants. Lets a source that says "0.1 per frame"
* be ported without re-tuning by eye:
*
* damp(x, t, perFrameToSmoothing(0.1), dt)
*/
export function perFrameToSmoothing(alpha: number, baseFps = 60): number {
return Math.pow(1 - alpha, baseFps);
}
export function lerp(a: number, b: number, t: number): number {
return a + (b - a) * t;
}
export function clamp(v: number, min: number, max: number): number {
return v < min ? min : v > max ? max : v;
}
export function inverseLerp(a: number, b: number, v: number): number {
return a === b ? 0 : (v - a) / (b - a);
}
export function mapRange(
v: number,
inMin: number,
inMax: number,
outMin: number,
outMax: number,
doClamp = true,
): number {
const t = inverseLerp(inMin, inMax, v);
const r = lerp(outMin, outMax, doClamp ? clamp(t, 0, 1) : t);
return r;
}
/** GLSL `smoothstep`, same semantics, for parity between JS and shader code. */
export function smoothstep(edge0: number, edge1: number, x: number): number {
const t = clamp(inverseLerp(edge0, edge1, x), 0, 1);
return t * t * (3 - 2 * t);
}
/**
* Gaussian falloff, `exp(-d²)`. Yields 1.000 / 0.368 / 0.018 / 0.0001 at
* distances 0 / 1 / 2 / 3 — a continuous focus scalar with no thresholds and
* no branches, which is why carousels that use it feel analogue rather than
* stepped.
*/
export function gaussian(distance: number, falloff = 1): number {
const d = distance * falloff;
return Math.exp(-(d * d));
}
/* ==========================================================================
Seeded randomness.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
`Math.random()` in a particle field means the server and the client
disagree, which React reports as a hydration mismatch, and it means the
layout is different on every reload so a visual regression is invisible.
Every component that scatters something uses a seeded generator instead.
========================================================================== */
export type Rng = () => number;
/**
* mulberry32 — 32-bit, fast, and good enough for visual scatter. Returns a
* function yielding floats in [0, 1).
*/
export function mulberry32(seed: number): Rng {
let a = seed >>> 0;
return function next() {
a = (a + 0x6d2b79f5) >>> 0;
let t = a;
t = Math.imul(t ^ (t >>> 15), t | 1);
t ^= t + Math.imul(t ^ (t >>> 7), t | 61);
return ((t ^ (t >>> 14)) >>> 0) / 4294967296;
};
}
/** Turn any string into a 32-bit seed, so `seed="hero"` is reproducible. */
export function hashSeed(input: string): number {
let h = 2166136261 >>> 0;
for (let i = 0; i < input.length; i++) {
h ^= input.charCodeAt(i);
h = Math.imul(h, 16777619);
}
return h >>> 0;
}
export function createRng(seed: number | string): Rng {
return mulberry32(typeof seed === 'string' ? hashSeed(seed) : seed);
}
export function randRange(rng: Rng, min: number, max: number): number {
return min + rng() * (max - min);
}
export function randInt(rng: Rng, min: number, maxExclusive: number): number {
return Math.floor(randRange(rng, min, maxExclusive));
}
/**
* Uniform point on a unit sphere. Naive angle-pairing clusters at the poles;
* this inverts the cosine so density is even.
*/
export function randOnSphere(rng: Rng): [number, number, number] {
const u = rng() * 2 - 1;
const theta = rng() * Math.PI * 2;
const r = Math.sqrt(1 - u * u);
return [r * Math.cos(theta), r * Math.sin(theta), u];
}
/** Uniform point in a unit disc — `sqrt` prevents crowding at the centre. */
export function randInDisc(rng: Rng): [number, number] {
const r = Math.sqrt(rng());
const theta = rng() * Math.PI * 2;
return [r * Math.cos(theta), r * Math.sin(theta)];
}
/** In-place Fisher-Yates using the supplied generator. */
export function shuffle<T>(rng: Rng, arr: T[]): T[] {
for (let i = arr.length - 1; i > 0; i--) {
const j = randInt(rng, 0, i + 1);
const a = arr[i] as T;
const b = arr[j] as T;
arr[i] = b;
arr[j] = a;
}
return arr;
}
'use client';
import { useEffect, useRef, useState, type RefObject } from 'react';
/* ==========================================================================
IntersectionObserver, sharing one observer per option set.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
A hundred cards each constructing their own observer is a hundred observers
the compositor has to service. Keying a shared observer by its options
collapses that to one per distinct configuration — in practice, two or
three for the whole site.
========================================================================== */
export interface InViewState {
inView: boolean;
/** 0-1. The preview slot allocator ranks candidates by this. */
ratio: number;
}
export interface UseInViewOptions {
root?: Element | null;
rootMargin?: string;
/** Single number or list, same meaning as the native option. */
threshold?: number | number[];
/** Stop observing after the first time it becomes visible. */
once?: boolean;
}
type Entry = {
observer: IntersectionObserver;
handlers: Map<Element, (e: IntersectionObserverEntry) => void>;
};
const pools = new Map<string, Entry>();
function poolFor(options: UseInViewOptions): Entry {
const key = JSON.stringify({
rootMargin: options.rootMargin ?? '0px',
threshold: options.threshold ?? 0,
});
const existing = pools.get(key);
if (existing) return existing;
const handlers = new Map<Element, (e: IntersectionObserverEntry) => void>();
const observer = new IntersectionObserver(
(entries) => {
for (const entry of entries) handlers.get(entry.target)?.(entry);
},
{
root: options.root ?? null,
rootMargin: options.rootMargin ?? '0px',
threshold: options.threshold ?? 0,
},
);
const created: Entry = { observer, handlers };
pools.set(key, created);
return created;
}
export function useInView(
ref: RefObject<Element | null>,
options: UseInViewOptions = {},
): InViewState {
const [state, setState] = useState<InViewState>({ inView: false, ratio: 0 });
const { root = null, rootMargin = '0px', once = false } = options;
const thresholdKey = JSON.stringify(options.threshold ?? 0);
const done = useRef(false);
useEffect(() => {
const el = ref.current;
if (!el || typeof IntersectionObserver === 'undefined') return;
if (once && done.current) return;
const pool = poolFor({
root,
rootMargin,
threshold: JSON.parse(thresholdKey) as number | number[],
});
const handle = (entry: IntersectionObserverEntry) => {
setState({ inView: entry.isIntersecting, ratio: entry.intersectionRatio });
if (once && entry.isIntersecting) {
done.current = true;
pool.handlers.delete(el);
pool.observer.unobserve(el);
}
};
pool.handlers.set(el, handle);
pool.observer.observe(el);
return () => {
pool.handlers.delete(el);
pool.observer.unobserve(el);
};
}, [ref, root, rootMargin, thresholdKey, once]);
return state;
}
'use client';
import { useEffect, useRef } from 'react';
/* ==========================================================================
One shared requestAnimationFrame loop.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Forty components each calling requestAnimationFrame means forty callbacks
the browser schedules separately and forty chances to read layout after a
write. One loop, one ordered pass, one place to clamp delta time.
Delta is clamped to 100 ms. Without that, returning to a backgrounded tab
delivers a multi-second dt and every physics integration in the page
explodes on the first frame back.
========================================================================== */
export type RafCallback = (dt: number, elapsed: number) => void;
const callbacks = new Set<RafCallback>();
let frame = 0;
let last = 0;
let start = 0;
const MAX_DT = 0.1;
const DEFAULT_DT = 1 / 60;
function tick(now: number) {
frame = requestAnimationFrame(tick);
const dt = last === 0 ? DEFAULT_DT : Math.min((now - last) / 1000, MAX_DT);
last = now;
const elapsed = (now - start) / 1000;
// Copy: a callback may unsubscribe itself (or another) mid-iteration.
for (const cb of Array.from(callbacks)) {
if (callbacks.has(cb)) cb(dt, elapsed);
}
}
function subscribe(cb: RafCallback) {
callbacks.add(cb);
if (frame === 0) {
start = performance.now();
last = 0;
frame = requestAnimationFrame(tick);
}
return () => {
callbacks.delete(cb);
if (callbacks.size === 0 && frame !== 0) {
cancelAnimationFrame(frame);
frame = 0;
last = 0;
}
};
}
/**
* Run `cb` every frame while `enabled`.
*
* The callback is held in a ref, so it does not need to be memoised and the
* subscription is never torn down just because the closure changed identity.
*/
export function useRaf(cb: RafCallback, enabled = true): void {
const ref = useRef(cb);
ref.current = cb;
useEffect(() => {
if (!enabled) return;
return subscribe((dt, elapsed) => ref.current(dt, elapsed));
}, [enabled]);
}
'use client';
import { useSyncExternalStore } from 'react';
/* ==========================================================================
prefers-reduced-motion, SSR-safe.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
useSyncExternalStore rather than useState + useEffect: the server snapshot
is an explicit `false`, so the markup React renders on the server and the
markup it hydrates with agree, and the real value lands in the same commit
as hydration instead of one frame later. A useEffect version flashes the
animated variant before removing it — the exact thing the user asked not to
see.
Reduced motion is not "duration: 0". For most components here it means a
different render: the final state, a static poster, or a paused frame.
========================================================================== */
const QUERY = '(prefers-reduced-motion: reduce)';
function subscribe(onChange: () => void) {
if (typeof window === 'undefined' || !window.matchMedia) return () => {};
const mql = window.matchMedia(QUERY);
mql.addEventListener('change', onChange);
return () => mql.removeEventListener('change', onChange);
}
function getSnapshot() {
if (typeof window === 'undefined' || !window.matchMedia) return false;
return window.matchMedia(QUERY).matches;
}
function getServerSnapshot() {
return false;
}
export function useReducedMotion(): boolean {
return useSyncExternalStore(subscribe, getSnapshot, getServerSnapshot);
}
/** Generic media-query hook, same SSR guarantees. */
export function useMediaQuery(query: string): boolean {
return useSyncExternalStore(
(onChange) => {
if (typeof window === 'undefined' || !window.matchMedia) return () => {};
const mql = window.matchMedia(query);
mql.addEventListener('change', onChange);
return () => mql.removeEventListener('change', onChange);
},
() => {
if (typeof window === 'undefined' || !window.matchMedia) return false;
return window.matchMedia(query).matches;
},
() => false,
);
}
'use client';
import { useEffect, useState, type RefObject } from 'react';
/* ==========================================================================
Element size, from one shared ResizeObserver.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sized from the element rather than the window because a preview in a grid
cell resizes when the grid reflows, not when the viewport does. Reading
`window.innerWidth` is the reason so many canvas components are correct on
load and wrong after a sidebar opens.
========================================================================== */
export interface Size {
width: number;
height: number;
}
type Handler = (size: Size) => void;
let observer: ResizeObserver | null = null;
const handlers = new Map<Element, Handler>();
function ensureObserver(): ResizeObserver | null {
if (typeof ResizeObserver === 'undefined') return null;
observer ??= new ResizeObserver((entries) => {
for (const entry of entries) {
const box = entry.contentBoxSize?.[0];
const size: Size = box
? { width: box.inlineSize, height: box.blockSize }
: { width: entry.contentRect.width, height: entry.contentRect.height };
handlers.get(entry.target)?.(size);
}
});
return observer;
}
export function useResizeObserver(ref: RefObject<Element | null>): Size {
const [size, setSize] = useState<Size>({ width: 0, height: 0 });
useEffect(() => {
const el = ref.current;
const ro = ensureObserver();
if (!el || !ro) return;
// Seed synchronously: waiting for the first observer callback leaves one
// frame where a canvas is sized 0x0, which some drivers log as an error.
const rect = el.getBoundingClientRect();
setSize({ width: rect.width, height: rect.height });
handlers.set(el, (next) =>
setSize((prev) =>
prev.width === next.width && prev.height === next.height ? prev : next,
),
);
ro.observe(el);
return () => {
handlers.delete(el);
ro.unobserve(el);
};
}, [ref]);
return size;
}
'use client';
import { useSyncExternalStore } from 'react';
/* ==========================================================================
Document visibility, shared.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
A backgrounded tab still runs `setInterval`, still holds WebGL contexts,
and — on some platforms — still gets throttled rAF ticks with multi-second
deltas. Anything expensive should stop when the tab is hidden and resume
when it comes back, rather than trying to catch up.
`useSyncExternalStore` with an explicit server snapshot so SSR markup and
the first client render agree.
========================================================================== */
function subscribe(onChange: () => void): () => void {
document.addEventListener('visibilitychange', onChange);
return () => document.removeEventListener('visibilitychange', onChange);
}
function getSnapshot(): boolean {
return document.visibilityState === 'visible';
}
/** Assume visible on the server: the alternative flashes a paused state. */
function getServerSnapshot(): boolean {
return true;
}
export function useVisibility(): boolean {
return useSyncExternalStore(subscribe, getSnapshot, getServerSnapshot);
}
import type * as THREE from 'three';
/* ==========================================================================
WebGL context lifecycle.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chromium allows roughly 16 live WebGL contexts per RENDERER PROCESS (8 on
low-end devices). Creating the 17th does not fail — it fires
`webglcontextlost` on the OLDEST one, so an unrelated component elsewhere
on the page goes black. Same-origin iframes share the renderer process, so
isolating previews in iframes does not raise the ceiling.
The only real fix is to release contexts on unmount, and `renderer.dispose()`
ALONE DOES NOT DO THAT. It frees GPU objects but leaves the context itself
alive until GC decides otherwise, which may be never. `forceContextLoss()`
is the call that actually hands it back.
========================================================================== */
/**
* Fully release a three.js renderer. Call this in the `useEffect` cleanup of
* any component that constructs a `WebGLRenderer` — the preview host drives
* unmount via `<Activity mode="hidden">`, so ordinary cleanup IS the disposal
* path and nothing component-specific is required.
*/
export function disposeRenderer(renderer: THREE.WebGLRenderer | null | undefined): void {
if (!renderer) return;
// Stop the loop first: a queued frame that renders into a lost context
// throws, and the throw escapes the cleanup function.
renderer.setAnimationLoop(null);
renderer.dispose();
renderer.forceContextLoss();
const canvas = renderer.domElement;
if (canvas) {
// Zeroing the backing store releases the drawing buffer immediately
// instead of holding width×height×4 bytes until the node is collected.
canvas.width = 0;
canvas.height = 0;
}
}
/**
* Release a raw WebGL context (ogl, or hand-written GL). The extension is the
* only portable way to do it; it is absent in some headless configurations,
* hence the optional call.
*/
export function loseContext(gl: WebGLRenderingContext | WebGL2RenderingContext | null | undefined): void {
if (!gl) return;
gl.getExtension('WEBGL_lose_context')?.loseContext();
}
/** Recursively dispose geometries, materials and textures under a root. */
export function disposeObject(root: THREE.Object3D | null | undefined): void {
if (!root) return;
root.traverse((obj) => {
const mesh = obj as THREE.Mesh;
mesh.geometry?.dispose?.();
const material = mesh.material;
if (!material) return;
const materials = Array.isArray(material) ? material : [material];
for (const m of materials) {
for (const value of Object.values(m as unknown as Record<string, unknown>)) {
if (value && typeof value === 'object' && 'isTexture' in value) {
(value as THREE.Texture).dispose();
}
}
m.dispose?.();
}
});
}
/**
* Device pixel ratio capped for fill-rate. Above 2 the visual gain is nil and
* the cost is quadratic; on a 3x phone an uncapped full-screen shader is the
* single most common cause of a janky first paint.
*/
export function pixelRatio(max = 2): number {
if (typeof window === 'undefined') return 1;
return Math.min(window.devicePixelRatio || 1, max);
}
/**
* Whether WebGL is actually available. Some browsers expose the constructor
* but fail to create a context (blocklisted GPU, no hardware acceleration);
* a component that assumes success renders a permanently blank box.
*/
export function hasWebGL(): boolean {
if (typeof document === 'undefined') return false;
try {
const canvas = document.createElement('canvas');
const gl =
canvas.getContext('webgl2') ??
canvas.getContext('webgl') ??
canvas.getContext('experimental-webgl');
if (!gl) return false;
(gl as WebGLRenderingContext).getExtension('WEBGL_lose_context')?.loseContext();
return true;
} catch {
return false;
}
}
API
Every parameter, its type and what happens when you change it.
function SuperellipseTextAvoidance(props: { children?: ReactNode; density?: number; maxCount?: number; sizeRange?: readonly [number, number]; exponent?: number; margin?: number; whip?: number; pointerRadius?: number; pointerWhip?: number; smoothing?: number; opacity?: number; colorA?: string; colorB?: string; glowColor?: string; background?: string; seed?: number | string; className?: string; textClassName?: string }): JSX.Element| Parameter | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| children | ReactNode | — | The headline. Rendered above the field and measured for the avoidance rect. |
| density | number | = 900 | Particles per megapixel of container area. |
| maxCount | number | = 1600 | Population ceiling, and the size the buffers are allocated at. |
| sizeRange | readonly [number, number] | = [1.4, 4.4] | Particle size in CSS pixels, biased toward the small end. |
| exponent | number | = 6 | Superellipse exponent. 2 is a circle, 6 a squircle, high values a box. |
| margin | number | = 0.06 | Clear ring around the text, in units of container height. |
| whip | number | = 0.3 | Width of the band the interior is compressed into. |
| pointerRadius | number | = 0.16 | Pointer avoidance radius in container-height units. 0 disables it. |
| pointerWhip | number | = 0.45 | Whip band for the pointer disc. |
| smoothing | number | = 0.0008 | Fraction of the pointer gap still remaining after one second. |
| opacity | number | = 0.92 | Overall alpha multiplier. |
| colorA | string | = '#9ec6ff' | First tint. Any value ogl's Color accepts. |
| colorB | string | = '#eef2fb' | Second tint; each particle mixes between the two. |
| glowColor | string | = '#ffd9a0' | Tint for displaced particles, which is what makes the shape legible. |
| background | string | = '#07080d' | Opaque clear colour the additive field is composited onto. |
| seed | number | string | = 'superellipse-text-avoidance' | Seeds the lattice jitter, sizes, phases and tints. |
| className | string | — | Merged onto the root container via cn. |
| textClassName | string | — | Merged onto the measured text layer. |
How it works
The technique in order, not the code in order.
- 01
The avoidance region is
pow(pow(|nx|, e) + pow(|ny|, e), 1/e) < 1in the rect's own normalised space. At e = 2 that is an ellipse, at e = 6 a squircle, at e = 20 effectively a box. Six is the useful one: a circle around a wide headline clears a large empty halo past the ends of the line, and a box has four corner discontinuities that crease the field along straight lines. - 02
Interior radii are REMAPPED, not clamped.
mapped = 1 + whip * min(r, 1 + whip) / (1 + whip) + max(r - (1 + whip), 0)compresses [0, 1 + whip] into [1, 1 + whip] and is the identity beyond it. Clamping instead maps a whole area onto a curve, so every interior particle lands on the outline and the shape is drawn as one infinitely dense line with an empty interior behind it. - 03
The displacement is
half * (n / max(r, 1e-3)) * (mapped - r)— divided by a floor rather than normalized. A particle at the exact centre has no direction andnormalize()returns NaN there, which propagates intogl_Positionand drops the whole instance rather than one component. A lattice puts particles exactly on both axes on the first frame, so this case is reached immediately, not never. - 04
pow()is undefined for a negative base and for zero raised to a non-positive power, and a symmetric field hits both. The norm takesabs()first and adds 1e-5, which costs nothing and removes an entire class of driver-dependent black frames. - 05
The rect is measured, never passed in.
getBoundingClientRect()on the text node and on the host produce four uv numbers; a ResizeObserver on the text node plusdocument.fonts.readykeeps them in step through a rewrap, a font swap and a container resize. A hand-tuned rect is wrong on the first webfont load and wrong again on the first narrow viewport. - 06
The text rect is deliberately NOT aspect-corrected, because it was measured in element space and has to stay there or it stops agreeing with the letters. The pointer disc IS aspect-corrected, because it is a shape in screen space and an uncorrected one is a visible ellipse on any non-square container. The two live in the same shader and want opposite treatment.
- 07
Displaced particles brighten and grow slightly, tinted toward a third colour. Without it the field is just a hole and the exponent is invisible; with it the squircle is legible as a rim, which is the only on-screen evidence that the shape is not a box.
- 08
The scatter is a jittered lattice, then shuffled. Uniform random has clumps and voids at this population, and once the avoidance opens a real hole the accidental voids read as more holes. The shuffle matters because the instanced count is a prefix of the buffers — in lattice order a smaller count would draw only the top rows.
Load-bearing constants
| Constant | Value | Why this number |
|---|---|---|
| exponent | = 6 | The p-norm. Below ~4 the shape is round enough that the clear zone bulges past the ends of the line; above ~10 the corners are sharp enough to crease the field visibly, which is the axis-aligned-box failure the superellipse exists to avoid. |
| WHIP_DISC | = 0.3 | Width of the band the interior is compressed into, in normalised units — the whole feel of the effect. Small values whip particles out hard and stack them into a bright outline; past ~0.6 the field bends around from so far away that the text no longer reads as the cause. |
| margin | = 0.06 | Clear ring around the text, in units of container HEIGHT, divided by the aspect ratio for x so the gap is the same number of pixels on all four sides. Adding one uv figure to both halves pads a wide container far more at the ends of the line than above it. |
| pointerRadius / pointerWhip | = 0.16 / 0.45 | The second field, at exponent 2. Softer than the text rect on purpose: the pointer is a passing influence and a hard-edged hole following the cursor competes with the headline it is supposed to frame. |
| smoothing | = 0.0008 | Fraction of the pointer gap still remaining after one second — an ~90ms tail. The pointer hole has a visible edge, unlike a glow, so lag reads as broken rather than as smooth. |
| CELL_JITTER | = 0.42 | Displacement inside a lattice cell, as a fraction of the cell. Zero is a visible grid; past ~0.5 neighbouring cells overlap and the stratification that made the scatter even in the first place is gone. |
| density | = 900 | Particles per megapixel, so the same value reads right in a 320px card and a 2000px hero. Too sparse and the rim is a dotted line rather than a shape. |
| MAX_DPR | = 1.5 | Additive fill is the whole cost and it scales with the square of the ratio. These are soft round dots with no fine detail, so a third sample per axis resolves nothing and costs 78% more fragments. |
Behaviour
What it does about motion sensitivity, teardown and being finished.
Reduced motion
The loop never starts. One frame is drawn with the text rect fully avoided and the pointer parked off to one side at full presence, so the still shows exactly the shape a moving version produces — the drift is the only thing lost. Re-measuring after a font swap redraws that single frame rather than starting a loop. The listeners stay attached but their target is never consumed.
Cleanup
Removes the three pointer listeners from the canvas, cancels the pending document.fonts.ready callback with a flag, nulls the stage ref so an in-flight frame cannot touch a dead renderer, then geometry.remove() (deletes the VAOs and every buffer), program.remove() (deletes the shaders and the program), loseContext(gl), zeroes the canvas dimensions and removes it from the DOM. ogl has no dispose(), and dropping the context is the part that matters — the per-process budget is about sixteen, and exceeding it kills the oldest, which belongs to someone else.
Definition of done
The headline sits in a clear zone whose shape is a squircle, not a circle and not a rectangle: the gap above and below the line is the same as the gap at its ends, and the corners are rounded without being round. A brighter rim traces that shape. Resize the container until the headline rewraps to two lines — the clear zone re-fits within a frame, with no visible sweep from the old rect. Move the pointer in and a second, softer hole follows it with a short even lag that is identical on a 60Hz and a 120Hz display; the hole stays circular on a wide container and does not disappear when the pointer crosses the headline. No particle sits inside the clear zone and none pile into a single dense outline. Reload twice: the field is identical. With reduced motion the panel is one composed still with the same shape.
Pitfalls
- Using
normalize()for the push direction. It is NaN at the origin, and NaN ingl_Positiondiscards the entire primitive — so the bug looks like missing particles, not like a maths error. pow()with a negative base or a zero base. Both are undefined in GLSL, both are reached on the axes of a symmetric field, and the result is driver-dependent: fine on the machine it was written on, black on someone else's.- Clamping interior particles onto the shell instead of remapping their radius. Every particle inside lands exactly on the outline, so the shape is one dense curve with a dead interior behind it — visibly a stencil rather than a field flowing around something.
- Hard-coding the text rect, or deriving it from a character count. It is wrong the moment a webfont swaps, the line rewraps, or the container narrows, and the hole drifts off the words while still looking deliberate.
- Relying on the ResizeObserver alone for the text box. A font swap does not necessarily change the element's border box on every engine, so the measurement has to be repeated after
document.fonts.readyas well. - Aspect-correcting the text rect. It was measured in element space; correcting it clears a region visibly narrower than the headline on a wide container, which is worse than not avoiding at all.
- Forgetting to aspect-correct the POINTER disc. Exactly the opposite case — a screen-space shape left uncorrected is an obvious ellipse on anything but a square container.
- Writing pointer events straight into
uPointer. A high-rate trackpad delivers a staircase, and after a stalled frame it is a jump that drags the hole across the field in one step. The listener records a target; the loop damps toward it. - Damping with a per-frame constant (
x += (t - x) * 0.1) instead ofdamp(..., dt). The follow is visibly tighter at 120Hz than at 60Hz, so the feel is tuned to whichever display it was authored on. - Scattering with
rng()twice. The clumps and voids of a uniform random field are indistinguishable from more avoidance holes once the real one exists. A jittered lattice, shuffled so the instanced-count prefix is still spatially even, costs the same. - Leaving ogl's default BACK-face culling on. The quad winding is not guaranteed to face the way the driver expects, and a culled particle is not dim — it is absent, so the field renders empty on some machines and fine on others.
- Owning the canvas in React while calling
loseContext()on cleanup. UnderreactStrictModethe effect runs twice and the secondgetContexton that element returns the dead context: blank in development, fine in production. - Letting the text layer swallow pointer events. It sits above the canvas, so without
pointer-events: nonethe pointer hole disappears whenever the cursor crosses the headline — precisely where the effect is most visible. - Re-measuring through React state. A measurement that triggers a render can trigger another measurement; the rect is written straight into the uniform instead.
Notes
childrenis the headline and is rendered as real DOM above the field, so it is selectable, searchable and styled with ordinary classes. The component only reads its box.- The text layer is
pointer-events: noneso the canvas underneath keeps receiving moves. Anything interactive belongs outside it. - The same
avoid()function serves both fields; the pointer is just exponent 2 with a wider whip. Adding a third avoided region is one more call, not one more code path. - Blending is additive with an opaque clear colour, so a thousand overlapping instances need no depth sort and the whole field is one draw call. The fragment output is premultiplied because the destination is only ever added to.
- Population is derived from container area and selected with
setInstancedCountout of buffers allocated once atmaxCount, so a resize changes the count without touching GPU memory. - The scatter runs on
createRng(seed), neverMath.random(), so the field is identical on every load and a visual regression is a real regression.