A free-floating container morphs apparent size, corner radius, and surface treatment between two shots — the morph itself IS the transition; the viewer's eye tracks the persistent container. Distinct from anchored-layout-expand.md (an edge-pinned live layout participant that grows along one axis and reflows neighbors — here nothing is pushed) and theme-crossfade-morph.md (a whole-theme reskin under a fixed anchor — here a single container changes shape).
How It Works
Since width/height tweens are forbidden, substitute uniform scale for apparent size; the remaining morph channels are paint-only: borderRadius, background, boxShadow. All channels ride ONE tween (one ease, one duration) so the shape morphs in lockstep. Content choreography: old content fades out during the first ~40% of the morph, new content fades in during the last ~40% — the shape-only gap between is the natural "blink." Optionally the morph card itself fades at the very end, revealing the real next-shot element rendered behind it.
Recipe
<!-- inside a standard scene clip (hyperframes-core) --><!-- DOM order = stacking: the anchor renders BEFORE the card, so the card is on top --><divclass="next-shot-anchor"><imgsrc="{nextShotAnchor}"alt="anchor"/></div><divclass="morph-card"><divclass="content-old">{shotOneContent}</div><divclass="content-new">{shotTwoContent}</div></div>
.morph-card{width:SHOT_ONE_W;height:SHOT_ONE_H;/* shot-1 geometry; the morph is scale, never width/height */border-radius:SHOT_ONE_RADIUS;background:{surfaceShotOne};overflow:hidden;/* content must clip during the shape change */display:grid;place-items:center;will-change:transform;}.content-old,.content-new{position:absolute;inset:0;display:grid;place-items:center;}.content-new{opacity:0;/* author its inner sizes at apparent-size ÷ END_SCALE — it scales with the card */}.next-shot-anchor{position:absolute;opacity:0;/* fades in as the morph card fades out */}
constEND_SCALE=SHOT_TWO_W/SHOT_ONE_W;// uniform — keep the two shots aspect-matched
// Hold shot 1 for HOLD_BEAT first — an instant morph reads as glitchy.
// One tween, all channels: uniform scale + paint-only properties.
tl.to(".morph-card",{scale:END_SCALE,borderRadius:SHOT_TWO_RADIUS/END_SCALE,// borderRadius is pre-scale — divide to land the APPARENT radius
background:"{surfaceShotTwo}",boxShadow:"{shadowShotTwo}",duration:MORPH_DUR,ease:"power2.inOut",},MORPH_START,);tl.to(".content-old",{opacity:0,duration:MORPH_DUR*OLD_FADE_FRAC,ease:"power1.in"},MORPH_START,);tl.to(".content-new",{opacity:1,duration:MORPH_DUR*NEW_FADE_FRAC,ease:"power1.out"},MORPH_START+MORPH_DUR*(1-NEW_FADE_FRAC),);// Optional handoff — card fades out over the pixel-identical real anchor.
tl.to(".morph-card",{opacity:0,duration:MORPH_DUR*FINAL_FADE_FRAC,ease:"power1.in",immediateRender:false},MORPH_START+MORPH_DUR*(1-FINAL_FADE_FRAC),);tl.to(".next-shot-anchor",{opacity:1,duration:MORPH_DUR*FINAL_FADE_FRAC,ease:"power1.out"},MORPH_START+MORPH_DUR*(1-FINAL_FADE_FRAC),);
Morph channels
channel
how
apparent size
uniform scale — the substitution for the forbidden width/height tween; aspect preserved
borderRadius
paint-only; pre-scale units — tween to APPARENT_RADIUS / END_SCALE, ≤ half the smaller side
background
paint-only; gradients interpolate only with equal stop counts (solid→solid: backgroundColor)
boxShadow
paint-only; base shadow → accent glow shifts emphasis
Variations
Landing on a non-centered target (dock icon, sidebar slot): add x/y to the same tween, computed as the FLIP-style delta between the card's and the target's rects — getBoundingClientRect() both at build time (single-scene only, per the contract) and tween the difference. Don't hand-compute from CSS values: paddings, borders, and parent transforms compound, and center-vs-edge arithmetic is the classic off-by-half bug.
Aspect change between shots: uniform scale preserves aspect — morph to the nearest uniform fit and let the crossfade/handoff absorb the small delta, or drop the handoff and hold the card's final state.
Values
token
range
notes
HOLD_BEAT
0.6–1.5s
≥ shot 1's entry settle; the viewer must register shot 1 first
MORPH_DUR
0.6–1.2s
< 0.5s can't fit both content fades
END_SCALE
SHOT_TWO_W / SHOT_ONE_W
icon-sized handoffs typically land at 80–400px apparent width
SHOT_TWO_RADIUS
≤ min(W, H)/2 apparent
half the smaller side = perfect circle; beyond is clamped
OLD/NEW_FADE_FRAC
0.3–0.5 each, sum ≤ 1
the gap between is the shape-only "blink"
FINAL_FADE_FRAC
0 (no handoff) or 0.1–0.2
only when a pixel-identical anchor exists
ease
power2.inOut canonical
power3/expo.inOut OK; never back/elastic — overshoot fights the shape change
Critical Constraints
❗ Uniform-scale substitution — never tween width/height; scale + the paint-only channels (borderRadius, background, boxShadow) are the ONLY morph properties.
❗ Handoff anchor must be pixel-identical to the card's final state — same apparent size, radius, background, shadow, inner icon dimensions. Any delta = a visible pop during the crossfade. Can't match exactly? Drop the handoff and hold the morph card.
❗ Stacking by DOM order, never a z-index snap mid-fade — render the anchor before the card; a tl.set({ zIndex }) during an active opacity tween flips stacking before the fade finishes and flickers.
overflow: hidden on the card — content must clip as the radius changes.
Hold a beat before morphing; same ease family for shape and crossfade (mixed eases read unsynchronized).
See also
anchored-layout-expand (edge-pinned one-axis growth with reflow) · theme-crossfade-morph (whole-theme reskin under a fixed anchor) · scale-swap-transition (content swap without shape change) · sine-wave-loop (a breath on the final state).