59 CSS 3D Transforms
Explore the fundamental mechanics of spatial design using CSS 3D Transforms. This section details how to establish a realistic 3D viewing context with the perspective property, which is essential for accurate depth perception. Crucially, you’ll master the use of transform-style: preserve-3d to ensure nested elements exist correctly within the same coordinate space. The demos showcase the practical application of core functions like rotate3d() and translate3d(), providing a strong foundation for any 3D web UI.
Last updated:
Blocky Digital Clock
A voxel-style 3D clock where digits morph physically via CSS transforms driven by sibling selectors, creating a floating, mechanical restructuring effect.
Original vs. Negative Card (Hover and Drag)
A tactile 3D comparison card where the slider reveals image states via blend modes, with smart label occlusion logic.
Uninvert Kitty
An interactive spotlight reveal where the cursor controls a negative mask and a physical 3D tilt effect.
Holographic Name Card with Hover Effects
An interactive 3D holographic card where JavaScript maps pointer coordinates to scoped CSS Custom Properties like --pointer-x. The physical lighting simulation relies on complex gradient layering, mask-image, and mix-blend-mode, all dynamically driven by these calculated values to create realistic depth and glare.
Entry Ticket
A detailed event ticket simulation constructed with CSS Grid, featuring authentic textures and typography (barcodes, holograms).
Floating Headers
Impressive, weighty 3D typography that reacts to scrolling with a natural shift in perspective, reminiscent of volumetric signage or cinematic titles.
Treasure Map
The map looks like a real sheet of paper that can be virtually “crumpled” or folded with a mouse/finger, complete with realistic shadows and physics.
Vertical Original vs. Negative Card (Hover and Drag)
An interactive card that reveals a negative version of the image on hover, with a draggable slider to compare the two versions, utilizing CSS blend modes and 3D transforms.
Music Player
The user receives a tactile, responsive interface that visually reacts to mouse “pressure,” simulating the operation of physical mechanical buttons, accompanied by seamless audio playback and album art transitions.
Inertial Scroll Gallery with 3D Transforms
A sophisticated scroll-hijacking gallery that emulates inertia using a virtual scroll container and requestAnimationFrame. JavaScript orchestrates complex 3D transforms - calculating rotation and translation based on intersection ratios - while the layout relies on a fixed CSS grid.
Turbulence Effect with Blend Modes
Live demo showcasing dynamic mix-blend-mode and background-blend-mode combinations. Interactive 3D tilt and SVG turbulence distortion trigger on hover.
3D Neon Toggle On/Off Switch
An advanced 3D toggle switch simulating a physical button with a neon glow. The effect is implemented in pure CSS using an <input type="checkbox">, and the state transition (ON/OFF) is achieved through a complex interplay of box-shadow and 3D transforms.
3D Toggle On/Off Switch v2
The use of gradients to create a realistic metallic effect and highlights on the button. Various types of linear-gradient and radial-gradient are applied to create a multi-layered background, and clip-path precisely clips the shapes of the pseudo-elements.
Interactive Card Glow Effect
A modular React card component where a single pointermove listener updates CSS variables, powering a customizable, multi-layer glow and spotlight effect.
Image Displacement with Three.js
A texture morphing effect with 3D rotation on hover, implemented using Three.js and shaders (GLSL). The fragment shader uses the snoise3 function (simplex noise) to create an organic mixing mask for blending two images.
3D Capsule Slider Button
A combination of the ‘checkbox hack’ and 3D transforms to create an interactive neumorphism-style switcher. JavaScript only adds classes, while the entire transform: rotateX() animation and complex box-shadow are controlled by CSS.
3D Text Spiral Animation with CSS
An elegant 3D scene where rotating text forms a spiral. The effect utilizes the perspective property for depth and HSL functions for procedurally generating the multi-layered color scheme.
CSS-Only Image Tilt Towards Cursor
A 3D image tilt effect that mimics cursor movement, achieved purely with CSS by combining multiple invisible overlay zones, the general sibling combinator, and the transform: rotate3d() function with perspective on the parent container.
Pure CSS 3D Animated Cat Model
Complex yet high-performance 3D rendering in the browser: the model is built on CSS Box Model Hacking principles, where each polygon is positioned in space using translate and rotate for continuous 360-degree animation.
Hot & Cold Swap Card
An advanced UI component demonstrating pure CSS capabilities to create a complex 3D flip effect, with the added use of animated SVG strokes and CSS variables for an instant change of color scheme and media content.
Marvel Snap Card Pseudo-3D Effect
A pseudo-3D card effect that mimics the “split parallax” technique using multiple image layers and the key transform-style: preserve-3d property; the card’s dynamic tilt (rotateY/rotateX) is driven by vanilla JavaScript based on cursor/touch position.
Cards with Parallax Tilt Effect
Dive into a stunning card effect utilizing CSS 3D transforms and precise mouse tracking to create a realistic, multi-layered depth and parallax illusion on hover.
GSAP Homepage Demo 4
An advanced interactive gallery showcasing the power of GreenSock: it utilizes custom Timelines to manage complex, multi-stage animations and x, y, scale transformations upon clicking the elements.
3D Page Fold Transition (FLIP Principle)
An elegant implementation of the FLIP animation principle to create a stunning shared element transition between two views, where JS calculates the positions and CSS performs the inverse transform for a smooth change.
Feedback Reactions (Pure CSS)
Pure CSS custom properties and SVG for a neat, interactive feedback rating; see how variable-driven styling creates smooth state transitions and subtle 3D transforms.
Playing Card 3D Preloader
An intricate infinite 3D stacking animation achieved purely with CSS transform-style: preserve-3d and complex @keyframes, leveraging translateZ for depth and precise animation-timing-function steps to smoothly cycle three cards in a continuous loop.
Scrolling 3D Card Carousel
An impressive, fully controlled 3D carousel effect where the entire animation sequence - card rotation, stacking, and perspective transition - is synchronized to the user’s scroll depth via GSAP ScrollTrigger, showcasing high-performance transform: rotateX manipulation for engaging visual depth.
GSAP 3 Animation Deck with 3D Transforms
A demo of multi-step animations using keyframes within GSAP, plus subtle work with CSS filters (brightness) to simulate 3D object lighting.