Motion Path Module Level 1

1. Introduction

This section is not normative.

Authors have possibilities to position objects like elements, boxes or containers relative to each other or absolutely in their own coordinate system. CSS Transforms extends these possibilities with a set of transform functions allowing authors to mutate the object’s local coordinate system. With CSS Animations and CSS Transitions, these static placements can change over a given period of time. Both kind of animations are powerful to express transitions in time but not suitable to describe transitions of location of an object over time.

This specification allows authors to specify a path. The object can be positioned, transitioned and animated along this path over a given period of time. The time may be static if no animation was specified.

In the following example, a schematic of an air plane is animated along a path. The plane faces in the direction of the path at each position on the path.

A black plane at different positions on a blue dotted path, rotated in the direction of the path.

A path may consist of an <angle> or <basic-shape> like <circle()>, <inset()> or <polygon()>. To allow authors to specify curves and sub-paths, this specification adds the <path()> function in addition to the existing <basic-shape> functions. The <path()> function takes an SVG Path string as input [SVG2]. As a third option, authors may reference an SVG shape element by <url> which is used as the path.

2. Module interactions

This specification defines a set of CSS properties that affect the visual rendering of elements to which those properties are applied. These effects are applied after elements have been sized and positioned according to the Visual formatting model from [CSS21]. Some values of these properties result in the creation of a stacking context.

Some CSS properties in this specification manipulate the user coordinate system of the element by transformations. These transformations are pre-multiplied to transformations specified by the transform property or deriving properties.

The term object bounding box follows the definition in SVG 1.1 [SVG11].

3. Values

This specification follows the CSS property definition conventions from [CSS21]. Basic shapes are defined in CSS Shapes Module Level 1 [CSS-SHAPES]. Value types not defined in these specifications are defined in CSS Values and Units Module Level 3 [CSS3VAL]. Basic shapes are extended by the <path()> basic shape function.

In addition to the property-specific values listed in their definitions, all properties defined in this specification also accept CSS-wide keywords such as inherit as their property value [CSS3VAL]. For readability it has not been repeated explicitly.

4. Motion Paths

Add more details and examples.

4.1. Define a path: The offset-path property

Specifies the offset path the element gets positioned on. An offset path is either a specified path with one or multiple sub-paths or the geometry of a not styled basic shape. Each shape or path must define an initial position for the computed value of "0" for offset-distance and an initial direction which specifies the rotation of the object on the initial position. The element’s exact position along the offset path is determined by the offset-distance property.

In this specification, a direction (or rotation) of 0 degree is equivalent to the direction of the negative y-axis in the object’s local coordinate system. E.g. A rotation of 0 degree points to the upper side of the UA if the object and its ancestors have no transformation applied.

Values have the following meanings:

ray( [ <angle> && <size>? && contain? ] )

<angle>

The offset path is a line segment that starts from the position of the element and proceeds in the direction defined by the specified <angle>. As with CSS gradients, <angle> values are interpreted as bearing angles, with 0deg pointing up and positive angles representing clockwise rotation.

Note: Defining an offset path with <angle>, the element can be positioned with the used of polar coordinates. The polar coordinate system is a two-dimensional coordinate system in which each point on a plane is determined by a distance from a fixed point and an angle from a fixed line. The fixed point which is similar to the origin of a Cartesian coordinate system is called the pole, and the fixed line which is a ray from the pole is the polar axis. This coordinate system specifies the position of a point with a certain distance from the pole and a certain angle measured from the polar axis to the segment connecting the pole. In mathematical theory, the polar axis is commonly defined as the positive direction of the x axis, but we consider the polar axis as the positive direction of the y axis for consistency with other CSS specifications such as [CSS3VAL], <angle> value. (as the preceding line doesn’t have "x axis position")

<size>

Decides the position of the end point of the path. When the offset of the element on the offset path is specified with <percentage>, it needs to guarantee the constant calculated value regardless of <angle>. To do that, <size> gives a distance between the start point and the end point of the offset path.

It is defined as

 <size> = [ closest-side | closest-corner | farthest-side | farthest-corner ]

If omitted it defaults to closest-side.

closest-side

The distance is measured between the initial position and the closest side of the box from it.

closest-corner

The distance is measured between the initial position and the closest corner of the box from it.

farthest-side

The distance is measured between the initial position and the farthest side of the box from it.

farthest-corner

The distance is measured between the initial position and the farthest corner of the box from it.

Note: When the initial position is on one of the edges of the containing block, the closest side takes the edge that the initial position is on. If the offset-distance as a <percentage> changes, the position of the element specified with closest-side remains unchanged.

contain

Makes the element don’t have clipped area by altering the length of the offset path when the part of the element on the offset path is outside the edge of the containing block. If the element is larger than the containing block, the element would be positioned where it has the smallest clipped area by modifying the offset path’s length with reducing the least amount.

Here are some examples. The first example shows that some parts of elements are outside of the offset path.

#redBox {
  background-color: red;
  width: 50px;
  height: 50px;
  offset-path: ray(45deg);
  offset-distance: 100%;
}
#blueBox {
  background-color: blue;
  width: 50px;
  height: 50px;
  offset-path: ray(180deg);
  offset-distance: 100%;
}

In the second example, contain is given to the offset-path value of each element to avoid overflowing.

#redBox {
  background-color: red;
  width: 50px;
  height: 50px;
  offset-path: ray(45deg contain);
  offset-distance: 100%;
}
#blueBox {
  background-color: blue;
  width: 50px;
  height: 50px;
  offset-path: ray(180deg contain);
}

<basic-shape> || <geometry-box>

The offset path is a basic shape as specified in CSS Shapes [CSS-SHAPES]. The initial position and the initial direction for basic shapes are defined as follows:

<circle()>

<ellipse()>

The initial position is defined by the point where a virtual tangent to the circle/ellipse would reach the top vertical position. The initial direction is 90 degrees.

<inset()>

The initial position is defined by the left top corner of the rectangle. The initial direction is 0 degree.

<polygon()>

The initial position is defined by the first coordinate pair of the polygon. The initial direction is defined by the vector connecting the initial position with the next following coordinate pair that isn’t equal to the initial position. If there is no such unequal coordinate pair, the initial direction is defined as 0 degrees.

If <geometry-box> is supplied without a <basic-shape>, the initial position is the left end of the top horizontal line, immediately to the right of any border-radius arc, and the initial direction is to the right.

This example shows how <geometry-box> offset path works in combination with border-radius.

<style>
  body{
    width: 500px;
    height: 300px;
    border-radius: 80px;
    border: dashed aqua;
    margin: 0;
  }
  #blueBox{
    width: 40px;
    height: 20px;
    background-color: blue;
    offset-path: margin-box;
  }
</style>
<body>
  <div id="blueBox"></div>
</body>

path() = path(<string>)

The <string> represents an SVG Path data string. The path data string must be conform to the grammar and parsing rules of SVG 1.1 [SVG11]. The initial position is defined by the first “move to” argument in the path string. For the initial direction follow SVG 1.1 [SVG11].

<url>

References an SVG shape element and uses its geometry as offset path. See SVG 1.1 for more information about the initial position and initial direction [SVG11].

none

No offset path gets created.

A computed value of other than none results in the creation of a stacking context [CSS21] the same way that CSS opacity [CSS3COLOR] does for values other than 1, unless the element is an SVG element without an associated CSS layout box.

A reference that fails to download, is not a reference to an SVG shape element element, or is non-existent, is treated as equivalent to path("m 0 0").

Note: This is a zero length path with directionality aligned with the positive x-axis.

See the section “Offset processing” for how to process an offset path.

For SVG elements without associated CSS layout box, the used value for content-box, padding-box, border-box and margin-box is fill-box.

For elements with associated CSS layout box, the used value for fill-box, stroke-box and view-box is border-box.

4.2. Position on the path: The offset-distance property

Specifies the position of the element as a distance along the offset path.

<length-percentage>

Specifies the distance from the initial position of the offset path to the position of the box’s anchor point.

Percentages are relative to the length of the offset path—that is, the distance between the initial position and the end position of the offset path.

4.2.1. Calculating the computed distance along a path

Processing the distance along an offset path operates differently depending upon the nature of the offset path:

• References to <angle> offset paths with contain are unclosed intervals.

• References to <angle> offset paths without contain are unbounded rays.

• All basic CSS shapes are closed loops.

• Offset paths (including references to SVG Paths) are closed loops only if the final command in the path list is a closepath command ("z" or "Z"), otherwise they are unclosed intervals.

• References to SVG circles, ellipses, images, polygons and rects are closed loops.

• References to SVG lines and polylines are unclosed intervals.

To determine the used offset distance for a given offset path and offset distance:

This example shows elements placed along an unclosed interval.

<style>
  .item {
    width: 100px;
    height: 40px;
    offset-position: 0% 0%;
    offset-path: path('m 0 0 h 200 v 150');
  }
  #box1 {
    background-color: red;
    offset-distance: -280%;
  }
  #box2 {
    background-color: green;
    offset-distance: 190%;
  }
</style>
<body>
  <div class="item" id="box1"></div>
  <div class="item" id="box2"></div>
</body>

This example shows elements placed along a closed interval.

<style>
  .item {
    width: 100px;
    height: 40px;
    offset-position: 0% 0%;
    offset-path: path('m 0 0 h 200 v 150 z');
  }
  #box1 {
    background-color: red;
    offset-distance: -280%;
  }
  #box2 {
    background-color: green;
    offset-distance: 190%;
  }
</style>
<body>
  <div class="item" id="box1"></div>
  <div class="item" id="box2"></div>
</body>

This example shows a way to align elements within the polar coordinate system using offset-path, offset-distance.

<style>
  body{
    width: 300px;
    height: 300px;
    border: dashed gray;
    border-radius: 50%;
  }
  .circleElement {
    width: 40px;
    height: 40px;
    background-color: red;
    border-radius: 50%;
  }
  #circle1 {
    offset-path: ray(0deg);
    offset-distance: 50%;
  }
  #circle2 {
    offset-path: ray(90deg);
    offset-distance: 20%;
  }
  #circle3 {
    offset-path: ray(225deg);
    offset-distance: 100%;
  }
</style>
<body>
  <div class="circleElement" id="circle1"></div>
  <div class="circleElement" id="circle2"></div>
  <div class="circleElement" id="circle3"></div>
</body>  

4.3. Define the starting point of the path: The offset-position property

Specifies the initial position of the path.

Values are defined as follows:

auto

Uses the position of the box’s anchor point as determined by the CSS visual formatting model prior to transforms or offsetting of the box.

<position>

Specifies the initial position using the <position> syntax used by background-position, with the the containing block as the positioning area and a dimensionless point (zero-sized box) as the object area.

A computed value of other than auto results in the creation of a stacking context [CSS21] the same way that CSS opacity [CSS3COLOR] does for values other than 1, unless the element is an SVG element without an associated CSS layout box.

4.4. Define an anchor point: The offset-anchor property

Defines an anchor point of the element positioned along the path. The anchor specifies the point of the element which is to be considered as the point that is moved along the path.

Values have the following meanings:

auto

Computes to the value from offset-position, provided offset-path is none and offset-position is not auto. Otherwise, computes to the value from transform-origin. When auto is given to offset-anchor, and offset-path is none, offset-position behaves similar to background-position.

<position>

<percentage>

A percentage for the horizontal offset is relative to width of content box area of the element. A percentage for the vertical offset is relative to the height of the content box area of the element. For example, with a value pair of '100%, 0%', an anchor point is on the upper right corner of the element.

<length>

A length value gives a length offset from the upper left corner of the element’s content area.

The following explains how to set the anchor point of the element.

#plane {
  offset-anchor: center;
}

The red dot in the middle of the shape indicates the anchor point of the shape.

This example shows an alignment of four elements with different anchor points.

<style>
  body {
    width: 300px;
    height: 300px;
    border: 2px solid gray;
    border-radius: 50%;
  }
  .box {
    width: 50px;
    height: 50px;
    background-color: orange;
  }
  #item1 {
    offset-path: ray(45deg);
    offset-distance: 100%;
    offset-rotate: 0deg;
    offset-anchor: right top;
  }
  #item2 {
    offset-path: ray(135deg);
    offset-distance: 100%;
    offset-rotate: 0deg;
    offset-anchor: right bottom;
    }
  #item3 {
    offset-path: ray(225deg);
    offset-distance: 100%;
    offset-rotate: 0deg;
    offset-anchor: left bottom;
  }
  #item4 {
    offset-path: ray(315deg);
    offset-distance: 100%;
    offset-rotate: 0deg;
    offset-anchor: left top;
  }
</style>
<body>
  <div class="box" id="item1"></div>
  <div class="box" id="item2"></div>
  <div class="box" id="item3"></div>
  <div class="box" id="item4"></div>
</body>

This example shows elements centered at their offset-position.

<style>
  body {
    width: 500px;
    height: 500px;
  }
  .box {
    background-color: mediumpurple;
    offset-path: none;
    offset-anchor: center;
  }
  #item1 {
    offset-position: 90% 20%;
    width: 60;
    height: 20;
  }
  #item2 {
    offset-position: 100% 100%;
    width: 30;
    height: 10;
  }
  #item3 {
    offset-position: 50% 100%;
    width: 20;
    height: 60;
  }
  #item4 {
    offset-position: 0% 100%;
    width: 30;
    height: 90;
  }
</style>
<body>
  <div class="box" id="item1"></div>
  <div class="box" id="item2"></div>
  <div class="box" id="item3"></div>
  <div class="box" id="item4"></div>
</body>

This example shows elements' offset-anchor computing to their offset-position.

<style>
  body {
    width: 500px;
    height: 500px;
  }
  .box {
    background-color: mediumpurple;
    offset-path: none;
    offset-anchor: auto;
  }
  #item1 {
    offset-position: 90% 20%;
    width: 60;
    height: 20;
  }
  #item2 {
    offset-position: 100% 100%;
    width: 30;
    height: 10;
  }
  #item3 {
    offset-position: 50% 100%;
    width: 20;
    height: 60;
  }
  #item4 {
    offset-position: 0% 100%;
    width: 30;
    height: 90;
  }
</style>
<body>
  <div class="box" id="item1"></div>
  <div class="box" id="item2"></div>
  <div class="box" id="item3"></div>
  <div class="box" id="item4"></div>
</body>

4.5. Rotation at point: The offset-rotate property

Defines the orientation of the box while positioning along the path.

Values have the following meanings:

auto

Indicates that the object is rotated (over time if offset-distance is animated) by the angle of the direction (i.e., directional tangent vector) of the path, relative to the positive x-axis. If specified in combination with <angle>, the computed value of <angle> is added to the computed value of auto.

Note: For ray paths, the rotation implied by auto is 90 degrees less than the ray’s bearing <angle>.

reverse

Indicates that the object is rotated (over time if offset-distance is animated) by the angle of the direction (i.e., directional tangent vector) of the path, relative to the positive x-axis, plus 180 degrees. If specified in combination with <angle>, the computed value of <angle> is added to the computed value of reverse.

This is the same as specifying auto 180deg.

<angle>

Indicates that the element has a constant clockwise rotation transformation applied to it by the specified rotation angle. See definitions of auto or reverse if specified in combination with either one of the keywords.

Note: The rotation described here does not override or replace any rotation defined by the transform property.

The following examples use the shape of a plane. The red dot in the middle of the shape indicates the anchor of the shape. When no offset properties are set, the shape is not translated or rotated along the path.

When the shape’s anchor is placed at different positions along the path and offset-rotate is 0deg, the shape is not rotated.

If the offset-rotate property is set to auto, and the shape’s anchor is placed at different positions along the path, the shape is rotated based on the gradient at the current position and faces the direction of the path at this position.

In this example, the offset-rotate property is set to reverse. The plane faces the opposite direction of the path at each position on the path.

The last example sets the offset-rotate property to -45deg. The shape is rotated anticlockwise by 45 degree once and keeps the rotation at each position on the path.

This example shows how auto or reverse work when specified in combination with <angle>. The computed value of <angle> is added to the computed value of auto or reverse.

<style>
  body {
    width: 300px;
    height: 300px;  
    border: solid gray;
    border-radius: 50%;
  }
  .circle {
    width: 50px;
    height: 50px;
    background-color: mediumpurple;
    border-radius: 50%;
  }
  #item1 {
    offset-path: ray(0deg);
    offset-distance: 90%;
    offset-rotate: auto 90deg;
  }
  #item2 {
    offset-path: ray(45deg);
    offset-distance: 90%;
    offset-rotate: auto 90deg;
  }
  #item3 {
    offset-path: ray(135deg);
    offset-distance: 90%;
    offset-rotate: auto -90deg;
  }
  #item4 {
    offset-path: ray(180deg);
    offset-distance: 90%;
    offset-rotate: auto -90deg;
  }
  #item5 {
    offset-path: ray(225deg);
    offset-distance: 90%;
    offset-rotate: reverse 90deg;
  }
  #item6 {
    offset-path: ray(-45deg);
    offset-distance: 90%;
    offset-rotate: reverse -90deg;
  }
</style>
<body>
  <div class="circle" id="item1">1</div>
  <div class="circle" id="item2">2</div>
  <div class="circle" id="item3">3</div>
  <div class="circle" id="item4">4</div>
  <div class="circle" id="item5">5</div>
  <div class="circle" id="item6">6</div>
</body>

More natural names requested for auto and reverse.

See the section “Offset processing” for how to process offset-rotate.

4.6. Offset shorthand: The offset property

This is a shorthand property for setting offset-position, offset-path, offset-distance, offset-rotate and offset-anchor. Omitted values are set to their initial values.

4.7. Offset processing

4.7.1. Calculating the path transform

Do we need to say how to get the position in more detail?

There needs to be a process for converting rotate to an angle.