basicScroll

Standalone parallax scrolling for mobile and desktop with CSS variables.

basicScroll allows you to change CSS variables depending on the scroll position. Use the variables directly in your CSS to animate whatever you want. Highly inspired by skrollr and Reactive Animations with CSS Variables.

Contents

• Demos
• Tutorials
• Features
• Requirements
• Setup
• API
• Instance API
• Data
• Related
• Tips

Demos

Name	Description	Link	Author
Default	Includes most features	Try it on CodePen
Callback	Animate properties in JS via callbacks	Try it on CodePen
Parallax scene	A composition of multiple, moving layers	Try it on CodePen	@electerious
Rolling eyes	Custom element to track scrolling	Try it on CodePen	@electerious
Headline explosion	Animated letters	Try it on CodePen	@electerious
Scroll and morph	Morph text using CSS clip-path	Try it on CodePen	@mikaelainalem
Parallax with JS	Several examples and a debug mode	Try it on CodePen	AnimatiCSS

Tutorials

Name	Link
📃 Parallax scrolling with JS controlled CSS variables	Read it on Medium
🎬 Apple-like scroll animations	Watch it on YouTube
🎬 Parallax effect tutorial (🇪🇸)	Watch it on YouTube

Features

• Framework independent
• Insane performance
• Support for mobile and desktop
• CommonJS and AMD support
• Simple JS API

Requirements

basicScroll depends on the following browser features and APIs:

• CSS Custom Properties
• Object.assign
• window.requestAnimationFrame

Some of these APIs are capable of being polyfilled in older browsers. Check the linked resources above to determine if you must polyfill to achieve your desired level of browser support.

Setup

We recommend installing basicScroll using npm or yarn.

npm install basicscroll

yarn add basicscroll

Include the JS file at the end of your body tag…

<script src="dist/basicScroll.min.js"></script>

…or skip the JS file and use basicScroll as a module:

const basicScroll = require('basicscroll')

import * as basicScroll from 'basicscroll'

Usage

This demo shows how to to change the opacity of an element when the user scrolls. The element starts to fade as soon as the top of the element reaches the bottom of the viewport. A opacity of .99 is reached when the middle of the element is in the middle of the viewport.

Tip: Animating from .01 to .99 avoids the repaints that normally occur when the element changes from fully transparent to translucent and from translucent to fully visible.

const instance = basicScroll.create({
	elem: document.querySelector('.element'),
	from: 'top-bottom',
	to: 'middle-middle',
	props: {
		'--opacity': {
			from: .01,
			to: .99
		}
	}
})

instance.start()

.element {
	/*
	 * Use the same CSS variable as specified in our instance.
	 */
	opacity: var(--opacity);
	/*
	 * The will-change CSS property provides a way for authors to hint browsers about the kind of changes
	 * to be expected on an element, so that the browser can setup appropriate optimizations ahead of time
	 * before the element is actually changed.
	 */
	will-change: opacity;
}

API

.create(html, opts)

Creates a new basicScroll instance.

Be sure to assign your instance to a variable. Using your instance, you can…

• …start and stop the animation.
• …check if the instance is active.
• …get the current props.
• …recalculate the props when the window size changes.

Examples:

const instance = basicScroll.create({
	from: '0',
	to: '100px',
	props: {
		'--opacity': {
			from: 0,
			to: 1
		}
	}
})

const instance = basicScroll.create({
	elem: document.querySelector('.element'),
	from: 'top-bottom',
	to: 'bottom-top',
	props: {
		'--translateY': {
			from: '0',
			to: '100%',
			timing: 'elasticOut'
		}
	}
})

const instance = basicScroll.create({
	elem: document.querySelector('.element'),
	from: 'top-middle',
	to: 'bottom-middle',
	inside: (instance, percentage, props) => {
		console.log('viewport is inside from and to')
	},
	outside: (instance, percentage, props) => {
		console.log('viewport is outside from and to')
	}
})

Parameters:

• data {Object} An object of data.

Returns:

• {Object} The created instance.

Instance API

Each basicScroll instance has a handful of handy functions. Below are all of them along with a short description.

.start()

Starts to animate the instance. basicScroll will track the scroll position and adjust the props of the instance accordingly. An update will be performed only when the scroll position has changed.

Example:

instance.start()

.stop()

Stops to animate the instance. All props of the instance will keep their last value.

Example:

instance.stop()

.destroy()

Destroys the instance. Should be called when the instance is no longer needed. All props of the instance will keep their last value.

Example:

instance.destroy()

.update()

Triggers an update of an instance, even when the instance is currently stopped.

Example:

const props = instance.update()

Returns:

• {Object} Applied props.

.calculate()

Converts the start and stop position of the instance to absolute values. basicScroll relies on those values to start and stop the animation at the right position. It runs the calculation once during the instance creation. .calculate() should be called when elements have altered their position or when the size of the site/viewport has changed.

Example:

instance.calculate()

.isActive()

Returns true when the instance is started and false when the instance is stopped.

Example:

instance.isActive()

Returns:

• {Boolean}

.getData()

Returns calculated data. More or less a parsed version of the data used for the instance creation. The data might change when calling the calculate function.

Example:

instance.getData()

Returns:

• {Object} Parsed data.

Data

The data object can include the following properties:

{
	/*
	 * DOM element/node.
	 */
	elem: null,
	/*
	 * Start and stop position.
	 */
	from: null,
 	to: null,
	/*
	 * Direct mode.
	 */
	direct: false,
	/*
	 * Track window size changes.
	 */
	track: true,
	/*
	 * Callback functions.
	 */
	inside: (instance, percentage, props) => {},
	outside: (instance, percentage, props) => {},
	/*
	 * Props.
	 */
	props: {
		/*
		 * Property name / CSS Custom Properties.
		 */
		'--name': {
			/*
			 * Start and end values.
			 */
			from: null,
			to: null,
			/*
			 * Animation timing.
			 */
			timing: 'ease'
		}
	}
}

DOM element/node

Type: Node Default: null Optional: true

A DOM element/node.

The position and size of the element will be used to convert the start and stop position to absolute values. How else is basicScroll supposed to know when to start and stop an animation with relative values?

You can skip the property when using absolute values.

Example:

{
	elem: document.querySelector('.element')
	/* ... */
}

Start and stop position

Type: Integer|String Default: null Optional: false

basicScroll starts to animate the props when the scroll position is above from and below to. Absolute and relative values are allowed.

Relative values require a DOM element/node. The first part of the value describes the element position, the last part describes the viewport position: <element>-<viewport>. middle-bottom in from specifies that the animation starts when the middle of the element reaches the bottom of the viewport.

Known relative values: top-top, top-middle, top-bottom, middle-top, middle-middle, middle-bottom, bottom-top, bottom-middle, bottom-bottom

It’s possible to track a custom anchor when you want to animate for a specific viewport height or when you need to start and end with an offset.

Examples:

{
	/* ... */
	from: '0px',
	to: '100px',
	/* ... */
}

{
	/* ... */
	from: 0,
	to: 360,
	/* ... */
}

{
	/* ... */
	from: 'top-middle',
	to: 'bottom-middle',
	/* ... */
}

Direct mode

Type: Boolean|Node Default: false Optional: true

basicScroll applies all props globally by default. This way you can use variables everywhere in your CSS, even when the instance tracks just one element. Set direct to true or to a DOM element/node to apply all props directly to the DOM element/node or to the DOM element/node you have specified. This also allows you to animate CSS properties, not just CSS variables.

• false: Apply props globally (default)
• true: Apply props to the DOM element/node
• Node: Apply props to a DOM element/node of your choice

Examples:

<!-- direct: false -->
<html style="--name: 0;">
	<div class="trackedElem"></div>
	<div class="anotherElem"></div>
</html>

<!-- direct: true -->
<html>
	<div class="trackedElem" style="--name: 0;"></div>
	<div class="anotherElem"></div>
</html>

<!-- direct: document.querySelector('.anotherElem') -->
<html>
	<div class="trackedElem"></div>
	<div class="anotherElem" style="--name: 0;"></div>
</html>

Track window size changes

Type: Boolean Default: true Optional: true

basicScroll automatically recalculates and updates instances when the size of the window changes. You can disable the tracking for each instance individually when you want to take care of it by yourself.

Note: basicScroll only tracks the window size. You still must recalculate and update your instances manually when you modify your site. Each modification that changes the layout of the page should trigger such an update in your code.

Example:

const instance = basicScroll.create({
	elem: document.querySelector('.element'),
	from: 'top-bottom',
	to: 'bottom-top',
	track: false,
	props: {
		'--opacity': {
			from: 0,
			to: 1
		}
	}
})

// Recalculate and update your instance manually when the tracking is disabled.
// Debounce this function in production to avoid unnecessary calculations.
window.onresize = function() {

	instance.calculate()
	instance.update()

}

Callback functions

Type: Function Default: () => {} Optional: true

• The inside callback executes when the user scrolls and the viewport is within the given start and stop position.
• The outside callback executes when the user scrolls and the viewport is outside the given start and stop position.

Both callbacks receive the current instance, a percentage and the calculated properties:

• < 0% percent = Scroll position is below from
• = 0% percent = Scroll position is from
• = 100% percent = Scroll position is to
• > 100% percent = Scroll position is above from

Example:

{
	/* ... */
	inside: (instance, percentage, props) => {},
	outside: (instance, percentage, props) => {},
	/* ... */
}

Props

Type: Object Default: {} Optional: true

Values to animate when the scroll position changes.

Each prop of the object represents a CSS property or CSS Custom Property (CSS variables). Custom CSS properties always start with two dashes. A prop with the name --name is accessible with var(--name) in CSS.

More about CSS custom properties.

Example:

{
	/* ... */
	props: {
		'--one-variable': { /* ... */ },
		'--another-variable': { /* ... */ }
	}
}

Start and end values

Type: Integer|String Default: null Optional: false

Works with all kinds of units. basicScroll uses the unit of to when from has no unit.

Examples:

'--name': {
	/* ... */
	from: '0',
	to: '100px',
	/* ... */
}

'--name': {
	/* ... */
	from: '50%',
	to: '100%',
	/* ... */
}

'--name': {
	/* ... */
	from: '0',
	to: '1turn',
	/* ... */
}

Animation timing

Type: String|Function Default: linear Optional: true

A known timing or a custom function. Easing functions get just one argument, which is a value between 0 and 1 (the percentage of how much of the animation is done). The function should return a value between 0 and 1 as well, but for some timings a value less than 0 or greater than 1 is just fine.

Known timings: backInOut, backIn, backOut, bounceInOut, bounceIn, bounceOut, circInOut, circIn, circOut, cubicInOut, cubicIn, cubicOut, elasticInOut, elasticIn, elasticOut, expoInOut, expoIn, expoOut, linear, quadInOut, quadIn, quadOut, quartInOut, quartIn, quartOut, quintInOut, quintIn, quintOut, sineInOut, sineIn, sineOut

Examples:

'--name': {
	/* ... */
	timing: 'circInOut'
}

'--name': {
	/* ... */
	timing: (t) => t * t
}

Related

• ngx-basicscroll - Angular wrapper for basicScroll
• react-basic-scroll - React wrapper for basicScroll

Tips

• Only animate transform and opacity and use will-change to hint browsers about the kind of changes. This way the browser can setup appropriate optimizations ahead of time before the element is actually changed.
• Keep the amount of instances low. More instances means more checks, calculations and style changes.
• Don’t animate everything at once and don’t animate too many properties. Browsers don’t like this.
• Smooth animations by adding a short transition to the element: transform: translateY(var(--ty)); transition: transform .1s.
• basicScroll applies all props globally by default. Try to reuse variables across elements instead of creating more instances.