compositing

Compositing

Compare compositor-friendly properties, hardware-acceleration hints, and layout-triggering properties.

Preview

Compositing assembles painted layers into the final frame and can update transforms or opacity without repeating layout.

Compositing

Implement Compositing: Compare compositor-friendly properties, hardware-acceleration hints, and layout-triggering properties. Use Demo duration 520ms, Distance 80px, Compared property transform, Easing linear. Trigger it once when state changes and keep it replayable. Use semantic HTML, scope CSS to .motion-demo--compositing. Provide equivalent low-motion behavior for prefers-reduced-motion and .force-reduced-motion.

markup.html

<div class="motion-demo motion-demo--compositing" data-motion="compositing" aria-label="Compositing demo">
  <article class="motion-surface">
    <strong>Compositing</strong>
    <span class="motion-line"></span>
    <span class="motion-line"></span>
  </article>
</div>

motion.css

.motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing {
  box-sizing: border-box;
  position: relative;
  display: grid;
  place-items: center;
  width: min(100%, 34rem);
  min-height: 15rem;
  padding: 2rem;
  overflow: hidden;
  color: #18181b;
  background: #fafafa;
  border: 1px solid #e4e4e7;
  border-radius: 16px;
  isolation: isolate;
}

.motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing *, .motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing *::before, .motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing *::after {
  box-sizing: border-box;
}

.motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing .motion-surface {
  position: relative;
  display: grid;
  gap: 0.65rem;
  width: min(100%, 18rem);
  padding: 1.25rem;
  background: #ffffff;
  border: 1px solid #e4e4e7;
  border-radius: 16px;
  box-shadow: none;
}

.motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing .motion-surface strong { font-weight: 500; }

.motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing .motion-line {
  display: block;
  width: 100%;
  height: 0.5rem;
  background: #e4e4e7;
  border-radius: 999px;
}

.motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing .motion-line:last-child { width: 62%; }

.motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing .motion-button {
  position: relative;
  min-height: 2.75rem;
  padding: 0.75rem 1.1rem;
  color: white;
  font: inherit;
  font-weight: 700;
  background: #18181b;
  border: 0;
  border-radius: 999px;
  cursor: pointer;
}

.motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing .motion-button:focus-visible { outline: 3px solid rgb(37 99 235 / 32%); outline-offset: 3px; }

.motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing .motion-action-row {
  display: flex;
  justify-content: center;
  gap: 0.5rem;
  margin-top: 0.85rem;
}

.motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing .motion-replay-scene {
  width: min(100%, 22rem);
  display: grid;
  place-items: center;
}

.motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing .motion-pausable-scene {
  width: min(100%, 22rem);
  display: grid;
  place-items: center;
}

.motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing button.motion-surface {
  color: inherit;
  font: inherit;
  text-align: start;
  cursor: pointer;
}

.motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing .motion-replay-button,
.motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing .motion-undo-button,
.motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing .motion-dismiss-button,
.motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing .motion-pause-button {
  min-height: 2.75rem;
  padding: 0.65rem 0.9rem;
  color: #18181b;
  font: 650 0.78rem/1 ui-sans-serif, system-ui, sans-serif;
  background: #ffffff;
  border: 1px solid #d4d4d8;
  border-radius: 8px;
  cursor: pointer;
}

.motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing .motion-replay-button:focus-visible,
.motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing .motion-undo-button:focus-visible,
.motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing .motion-dismiss-button:focus-visible,
.motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing .motion-pause-button:focus-visible,
.motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing [data-reorder-item]:focus-visible,
.motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing [data-swipe-target]:focus-visible {
  outline: 3px solid rgb(37 99 235 / 32%);
  outline-offset: 3px;
}

.motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing .motion-status {
  position: absolute;
  width: 1px;
  height: 1px;
  padding: 0;
  margin: -1px;
  overflow: hidden;
  clip: rect(0, 0, 0, 0);
  white-space: nowrap;
  border: 0;
}

.motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing .motion-ripple-ink {
  position: absolute;
  width: 12px;
  height: 12px;
  pointer-events: none;
  background: rgb(255 255 255 / 72%);
  border-radius: 50%;
  transform: translate(-50%, -50%) scale(0.95);
  opacity: 0;
}

.motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing .motion-state-stack { position: relative; width: min(100%, 18rem); height: 9rem; }
.motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing .motion-state { position: absolute; inset: 0; display: grid; place-items: center; padding: 1rem; background: #ffffff; border: 1px solid #e4e4e7; border-radius: 16px; }
.motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing .motion-state--to { background: #18181b; color: white; }

.motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing .motion-scroll-track > span { color: #71717a; font: 600 0.72rem/1.2 ui-monospace, monospace; letter-spacing: 0.08em; text-transform: uppercase; }
.motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing .motion-orbit-item { display: grid; place-items: center; width: 2.5rem; height: 2.5rem; color: white; background: #2563eb; border-radius: 50%; }
.motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing .motion-text-stack { position: relative; width: min(100%, 18rem); min-height: 4rem; }
.motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing svg { width: min(100%, 20rem); height: auto; }

.motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing .motion-surface { position: relative; animation: motion-compositing 520ms linear infinite alternate; }
@keyframes motion-compositing { from { transform: translateX(-80px); } to { transform: translateX(80px); } }

@keyframes motion-compositing-reduced-fade {
  from { opacity: 0.84; }
  to { opacity: 1; }
}

.force-reduced-motion .motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing {
  animation: motion-compositing-reduced-fade 160ms cubic-bezier(0.23, 1, 0.32, 1) both !important;
}

.force-reduced-motion .motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing *,
.force-reduced-motion .motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing *::before,
.force-reduced-motion .motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing *::after {
  animation: none !important;
  animation-delay: 0ms !important;
  animation-iteration-count: 1 !important;
  transition-property: opacity, color, background-color, border-color !important;
  transition-duration: 160ms !important;
  transition-delay: 0ms !important;
  scroll-behavior: auto !important;
}

.force-reduced-motion .motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing .motion-button,
.force-reduced-motion .motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing [data-reorder-item],
.force-reduced-motion .motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing [data-swipe-target],
.force-reduced-motion .motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing [data-spring-target] {
  transform: none !important;
}

.force-reduced-motion .motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing .motion-path { stroke-dashoffset: 0 !important; }
.force-reduced-motion .motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing .motion-word--from { opacity: 0 !important; visibility: hidden; }
.force-reduced-motion .motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing .motion-word:not(.motion-word--from) { opacity: 1 !important; filter: none !important; transform: none !important; }

@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
  .motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing {
    animation: motion-compositing-reduced-fade 160ms cubic-bezier(0.23, 1, 0.32, 1) both !important;
  }

  .motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing *, .motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing *::before, .motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing *::after {
    animation: none !important;
    animation-delay: 0ms !important;
    animation-iteration-count: 1 !important;
    transition-property: opacity, color, background-color, border-color !important;
    transition-duration: 160ms !important;
    transition-delay: 0ms !important;
    scroll-behavior: auto !important;
  }

  .motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing .motion-button,
  .motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing [data-reorder-item],
  .motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing [data-swipe-target],
  .motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing [data-spring-target] {
    transform: none !important;
  }

  .motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing .motion-path { stroke-dashoffset: 0 !important; }
  .motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing .motion-word--from { opacity: 0 !important; visibility: hidden; }
  .motion-demo.motion-demo--compositing .motion-word:not(.motion-word--from) { opacity: 1 !important; filter: none !important; transform: none !important; }
}

Learn more

Before implementation

Purpose: Compare compositor-friendly properties with layout- or paint-triggering properties to choose a stable rendering path.
Frequency: Review during new motion implementation, performance regressions, and integration into complex pages.
Trigger: Trigger from property selection or a performance experiment while recording main-thread, layout, paint, and compositing activity.
Enter / exit: Switch property strategies directly and keep metric changes readable without extra transitions affecting results.
Interruptibility: Allow tests to stop and reset layer state, enabling will-change only shortly before it is needed.
Gesture and keyboard: Drive compared strategies with identical gesture distance and speed.
Reduced-motion strategy: Reduced-motion mode still favors transform and opacity while limiting persistent layer allocation.

Accessibility

Reduced motion

Reduced-motion mode still favors transform and opacity while limiting persistent layer allocation.

Parameter reference

Parameter	Range / options	Default	Purpose
`duration`	300ms–1200ms	520ms	Uses a longer demo duration so the full change stays observable; immediate production UI feedback should stay under 300ms.
`distance`	0px–180px	80px	Controls how far the element travels.
`property`	Transform / Left / Opacity	Transform	Selects compared property.
`ease`	Soft / Snap / Calm / Linear	Linear	Controls how velocity changes over time.