gsap

GSAP

When To Use

Use GSAP for:

• Scene choreography — multi-element sequences with precise timing
• Complex timelines — staggered animations, labels, nested sequences
• Text/card motion — captions, title cards, UI element entrances
• Audio-synced animation — beat-timed motion coordinated with voiceover
• Most scripted animation — GSAP is the default animation adapter for FrameVideo

Do NOT Use

Avoid GSAP for:

• Simple decorative loops — use css-animations (shimmer, pulse, glow)
• Designer-provided After Effects exports — use lottie
• 3D scenes and WebGL — use three
• GPU compute shaders — use typegpu
• Zero-dependency requirement — use waapi

When in doubt, use GSAP — it's the most versatile and the default choice.

---

Quick Start

Minimal GSAP animation in FrameVideo:

<div data-composition-id="main" data-width="1920" data-height="1080">
  <div class="clip" data-start="0" data-duration="3">
    <h1 class="title">Hello GSAP</h1>
  </div>
</div>

<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/gsap@3.14.2/dist/gsap.min.js"></script>
<script>
  window.__timelines = window.__timelines || {};
  const tl = gsap.timeline({ paused: true });
  
  // Fade in and slide up
  tl.from(".title", { 
    y: 48, 
    opacity: 0, 
    duration: 0.6, 
    ease: "power3.out" 
  }, 0);
  
  window.__timelines["main"] = tl;
</script>

Key points:

1. Load GSAP from CDN
2. Create paused timeline
3. Add tweens with timing
4. Register on window.__timelines with matching composition ID

---

FrameVideo Contract

FrameVideo controls GSAP through its gsap runtime adapter. Create a paused timeline synchronously, register it on window.__timelines with the exact data-composition-id, and let FrameVideo seek it.

<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/gsap@3.14.2/dist/gsap.min.js"></script>
<script>
  window.__timelines = window.__timelines || {};
  const tl = gsap.timeline({ paused: true });

  tl.from(".title", { y: 48, opacity: 0, duration: 0.6, ease: "power3.out" }, 0);
  tl.to(".accent", { scaleX: 1, duration: 0.5, ease: "power2.out" }, 0.25);

  window.__timelines["main"] = tl; // key must equal data-composition-id on the composition root
</script>

• The registry key must match the composition root's data-composition-id.
• Do not call tl.play() for render-critical motion.
• Do not build timelines inside async code, timers, or event handlers.
• Keep loops finite. FrameVideo renders finite video durations.

Core Tween Methods

• gsap.to(targets, vars) — animate from current state to vars. Most common.
• gsap.from(targets, vars) — animate from vars to current state (entrances).
• gsap.fromTo(targets, fromVars, toVars) — explicit start and end.
• gsap.set(targets, vars) — apply immediately (duration 0).

Always use camelCase property names (e.g. backgroundColor, rotationX).

Common vars

• duration — seconds (default 0.5).
• delay — seconds before start.
• ease — "power1.out" (default), "power3.inOut", "back.out(1.7)", "elastic.out(1, 0.3)", "none".
• stagger — number 0.1 or object: { amount: 0.3, from: "center" }, { each: 0.1, from: "random" }.
• overwrite — false (default), true, or "auto".
• repeat — finite number; never -1 in FrameVideo. Compute repeats from the visible duration. yoyo — alternates direction with repeat.
• onComplete, onStart, onUpdate — callbacks.
• immediateRender — default true for from()/fromTo(). Set false on later tweens targeting the same property+element to avoid overwrite.

Transforms and CSS

Prefer GSAP's transform aliases over raw transform string:

GSAP property	Equivalent
x, y, z	translateX/Y/Z (px)
xPercent, yPercent	translateX/Y in %
scale, scaleX, scaleY	scale
rotation	rotate (deg)
rotationX, rotationY	3D rotate
skewX, skewY	skew
transformOrigin	transform-origin

• autoAlpha — prefer over opacity. At 0: also sets visibility: hidden.
• CSS variables — "--hue": 180.
• svgOrigin (SVG only) — global SVG coordinate space origin. Don't combine with transformOrigin.
• Directional rotation — "360_cw", "-170_short", "90_ccw".
• clearProps — "all" or comma-separated; removes inline styles on complete.
• Relative values — "+=20", "-=10", "*=2".

Function-Based Values

gsap.to(".item", {
  x: (i, target, targets) => i * 50,
  stagger: 0.1,
});

Easing

Built-in eases: power1–power4, back, bounce, circ, elastic, expo, sine. Each has .in, .out, .inOut.

Defaults

gsap.defaults({ duration: 0.6, ease: "power2.out" });

Controlling Tweens

const tween = gsap.to(".box", { x: 100 });
tween.pause();
tween.play();
tween.reverse();
tween.kill();
tween.progress(0.5);
tween.time(0.2);

gsap.matchMedia() (Responsive + Accessibility)

Runs setup only when a media query matches; auto-reverts when it stops matching.

let mm = gsap.matchMedia();
mm.add(
  {
    isDesktop: "(min-width: 800px)",
    reduceMotion: "(prefers-reduced-motion: reduce)",
  },
  (context) => {
    const { isDesktop, reduceMotion } = context.conditions;
    gsap.to(".box", {
      rotation: isDesktop ? 360 : 180,
      duration: reduceMotion ? 0 : 2,
    });
  },
);

---

Timelines

Creating a Timeline

const tl = gsap.timeline({ defaults: { duration: 0.5, ease: "power2.out" } });
tl.to(".a", { x: 100 }).to(".b", { y: 50 }).to(".c", { opacity: 0 });

Position Parameter

Third argument controls placement:

• Absolute: 1 — at 1s
• Relative: "+=0.5" — after end; "-=0.2" — before end
• Label: "intro", "intro+=0.3"
• Alignment: "<" — same start as previous; ">" — after previous ends; "<0.2" — 0.2s after previous starts

tl.to(".a", { x: 100 }, 0);
tl.to(".b", { y: 50 }, "<"); // same start as .a
tl.to(".c", { opacity: 0 }, "<0.2"); // 0.2s after .b starts

Labels

tl.addLabel("intro", 0);
tl.to(".a", { x: 100 }, "intro");
tl.addLabel("outro", "+=0.5");
tl.play("outro");
tl.tweenFromTo("intro", "outro");

Timeline Options

• paused: true — create paused; call .play() to start.
• repeat, yoyo — apply to whole timeline.
• defaults — vars merged into every child tween.

Nesting Timelines

const master = gsap.timeline();
const child = gsap.timeline();
child.to(".a", { x: 100 }).to(".b", { y: 50 });
master.add(child, 0);

Playback Control

tl.play(), tl.pause(), tl.reverse(), tl.restart(), tl.time(2), tl.progress(0.5), tl.kill().

---

Performance

Prefer Transform and Opacity

Animating x, y, scale, rotation, opacity stays on the compositor. Avoid width, height, top, left when transforms achieve the same effect.

will-change

will-change: transform;

Only on elements that actually animate.

gsap.quickTo() for Frequent Updates

let xTo = gsap.quickTo("#id", "x", { duration: 0.4, ease: "power3" }),
  yTo = gsap.quickTo("#id", "y", { duration: 0.4, ease: "power3" });
container.addEventListener("mousemove", (e) => {
  xTo(e.pageX);
  yTo(e.pageY);
});

Stagger > Many Tweens

Use stagger instead of separate tweens with manual delays.

Cleanup

Pause or kill off-screen animations.

---

References (loaded on demand)

• references/effects.md — Drop-in effects: typewriter text, audio visualizer. Read when needing ready-made effect patterns for FrameVideo.

Best Practices

• Use camelCase property names; prefer transform aliases and autoAlpha.
• Prefer timelines over chaining with delay; use the position parameter.
• Add labels with addLabel() for readable sequencing.
• Pass defaults into timeline constructor.
• Store tween/timeline return value when controlling playback.

Do Not

• Animate layout properties (width/height/top/left) when transforms suffice.
• Use both svgOrigin and transformOrigin on the same SVG element.
• Chain animations with delay when a timeline can sequence them.
• Create tweens before the DOM exists.
• Skip cleanup — always kill tweens when no longer needed.
• Use infinite repeat values in FrameVideo compositions. Use finite repeat counts computed from the visible duration.

Validation

After writing GSAP animations:

npx framevideo lint      # Check timeline registration and timing
npx framevideo validate  # Check for runtime errors
npx framevideo preview   # Scrub timeline to verify seekability

Manual checks:

1. Timeline registration — verify window.__timelines["main"] matches data-composition-id
2. Pause state — timeline created with paused: true
3. Finite duration — no infinite loops or -1 repeat values
4. Seekability — scrub preview timeline, animation should hold at any frame
5. No async registration — timeline created synchronously before FrameVideo init

Credits And References

• FrameVideo adapter source: packages/core/src/runtime/adapters/gsap.ts.
• GSAP documentation: https://gsap.com/docs/v3/
• GSAP timeline pause and seek behavior: https://gsap.com/docs/v3/GSAP/Timeline/pause%28%29/