Chrome Capture

The polished chrome bezel the process monitor and this index set their captures in — a conic-gradient bezel and a glint that follow the pointer, in CSS.

CSSconic-gradientmix-blend-modepointercustom propertiesCSS · 4 files · 536 lines
CSS

<ChromeCapture src="/images/projects/website-card.webp" size="md" sweep /> · useChromeReflection(on)

man chrome-capture

A line ref opens it in the source below

Name

chrome-capture — a capture set in polished chrome that turns toward the pointer.

How it works

  1. Silver from one angle. The bezel is a 5 px conic-gradient of nine silver stops, started at x × 360deg: moving across the capture turns the light around it.

  2. Two numbers from the pointer. useChromeReflection turns the pointer into x and y, each 0–1 across the surface it listens on, and writes them as two custom properties.

  3. The glint is a window on a gradient. A 115° streak of white and a hair of mint, sized 260 %, slides by background-position: x·100% y·100% and lights the capture through mix-blend-mode: screen. It shows only while data-chrome="on"; on touch it rests at 45 %.

  4. Glass, always. Over the capture the frame lays a faint top sheen and an inset shadow, so it sits behind glass even with the light still.

  5. One sweep per capture. A new capture is remounted (its key changes) and plays one 900 ms glint across it: the monitor does it on each project, this demo on Next and Sweep again.

Cost

  1. No render per move. The hook writes the two vars at most once per animation frame, straight to the element; React never renders while the pointer moves. Nothing is listened to for touch or under prefers-reduced-motion.

  2. Measured once. The surface's rectangle is read when the pointer enters and again only after a scroll, never on each move.

import { motion } from "@styles/motion.css";
import { vars } from "@styles/theme.css";
import { createVar, fallbackVar, globalStyle, style } from "@vanilla-extract/css";
import { chromeReflection } from "@/hooks/use-chrome-reflection.css";
import { weight } from "@styles/weight";

// Polished chrome: cool silvers, a hair of the brand mint in the glint. The pointer over the
// surface that runs use-chrome-reflection.hook.ts (the monitor, the Labs loupe) turns the bezel
// (`chromeReflection.x`) and moves the glint (both axes); without it the chrome rests at a
// fixed angle.
const silver = {
  light: "oklch(0.95 0.004 250)",
  bright: "oklch(0.995 0 0)",
  mid: "oklch(0.7 0.01 250)",
  deep: "oklch(0.42 0.012 250)",
};

const BEZEL = `conic-gradient(from calc(${fallbackVar(chromeReflection.x, "0.35")} * 360deg) at 50% 50%,
  ${silver.light}, ${silver.deep} 9%, ${silver.bright} 19%, ${silver.mid} 29%, ${silver.deep} 41%,
  ${silver.bright} 54%, ${silver.mid} 66%, ${silver.deep} 78%, ${silver.bright} 90%, ${silver.light})`;

const GLINT = `linear-gradient(115deg,
  transparent 34%,
  color-mix(in srgb, white 38%, transparent) 44%,
  color-mix(in srgb, ${vars.colors.secondary} 16%, transparent) 48%,
  color-mix(in srgb, white 30%, transparent) 52%,
  transparent 62%)`;

/**
 * The screen's own ground behind a `contain` capture (ink glass, lit paper), set by the
 * consumer's `screenClassName` through these vars: a class never has to out-rank the frame's.
 */
export const chromeScreen = {
  color: createVar(),
  image: createVar(),
};

// Glass over the screen: a faint sheen along the top edge, always there.
const GLASS = `linear-gradient(180deg, color-mix(in srgb, white 16%, transparent), transparent 38%)`;

export const captureStyle = style({
  position: "relative",
  display: "block",
  padding: "5px",
  borderRadius: "10px",
  background: BEZEL,
  boxShadow: `
    0 0 0 1px color-mix(in srgb, ${silver.deep} 55%, transparent),
    0 1px 2px color-mix(in srgb, ${vars.colors.foreground} 12%, transparent),
    0 10px 22px -12px color-mix(in srgb, ${vars.colors.foreground} 45%, transparent),
    inset 0 1px 0 color-mix(in srgb, white 70%, transparent)
  `,
  selectors: {
    '&[data-size="sm"]': {
      padding: "3px",
      borderRadius: "6px",
    },
  },
});

export const frameStyle = style({
  position: "relative",
  display: "block",
  overflow: "hidden",
  aspectRatio: "16 / 10",
  borderRadius: "6px",
  backgroundColor: fallbackVar(chromeScreen.color, vars.colors.cardBorder),
  backgroundImage: fallbackVar(chromeScreen.image, "none"),
  // Seated behind the bezel: a dark lip and the glass sheen over the capture.
  boxShadow: `0 0 0 1px color-mix(in srgb, ${silver.deep} 85%, transparent)`,
  selectors: {
    [`${captureStyle}[data-size="sm"] &`]: {
      borderRadius: "3px",
    },
  },
  "::after": {
    content: '""',
    position: "absolute",
    inset: 0,
    borderRadius: "inherit",
    pointerEvents: "none",
    backgroundImage: GLASS,
    boxShadow: `inset 0 1px 3px color-mix(in srgb, black 45%, transparent)`,
  },
});

export const imageStyle = style({
  display: "block",
  width: "100%",
  height: "100%",
  objectFit: "cover",
  selectors: {
    // A cut-out specimen (transparent WebP) sits whole on the screen's own ground.
    '&[data-fit="contain"]': {
      objectFit: "contain",
      padding: "6%",
      boxSizing: "border-box",
    },
  },
});

export const glintStyle = style({
  position: "absolute",
  inset: 0,
  pointerEvents: "none",
  mixBlendMode: "screen",
  backgroundImage: GLINT,
  backgroundSize: "260% 260%",
  backgroundPosition: `calc(${fallbackVar(chromeReflection.x, "0.5")} * 100%) calc(${fallbackVar(chromeReflection.y, "0.5")} * 100%)`,
  opacity: 0,
  transition: `opacity ${motion.duration.base} ${motion.easing.out}`,
  "@media": {
    // No pointer to follow: the glint rests, faint, where the light would sit.
    "(hover: none)": {
      opacity: 0.45,
      backgroundPosition: "30% 20%",
    },
  },
});

// A new capture: one glint crosses it (keyed remount, see the component).
export const sweepStyle = style({
  animation: `monitor-chrome-sweep 900ms ${motion.easing.signature}`,
  "@media": {
    "(prefers-reduced-motion: reduce)": {
      animation: "none",
    },
  },
});

globalStyle(`[data-chrome="on"] ${glintStyle}`, {
  opacity: 0.9,
});

/** Xray only: the depth between two layers of the stack (a length, set by the Lab). */
export const chromeLayerGap = createVar();
const gap = fallbackVar(chromeLayerGap, "0px");

// Xray (the Lab): the capture laid down and its four layers lifted apart — bezel, screen,
// glass, glint — so each reads alone. The frame stops clipping (clipping would flatten the
// stack into one plane). Nothing else sets `data-xray`.
const xray = `${captureStyle}[data-xray]`;
const settle = `transform 420ms ${motion.easing.signature}`;

globalStyle(xray, {
  transformStyle: "preserve-3d",
  transform: "rotateX(52deg) rotateZ(-30deg)",
  transition: settle,
});

globalStyle(`${xray} ${frameStyle}`, {
  overflow: "visible",
  transformStyle: "preserve-3d",
  transform: `translateZ(${gap})`,
  transition: settle,
});

globalStyle(`${xray} ${frameStyle}::after`, {
  transform: `translateZ(${gap})`,
  backgroundColor: "color-mix(in srgb, white 12%, transparent)",
  outline: `1px dashed color-mix(in srgb, ${vars.colors.foreground} 45%, transparent)`,
  transition: settle,
});

globalStyle(`${xray} ${glintStyle}`, {
  opacity: 0.9,
  transform: `translateZ(calc(2 * ${gap}))`,
  outline: `1px dashed ${vars.colors.secondary}`,
  transition: settle,
});

// Each layer names itself in its corner (the glass is the frame's own ::after: it has no room
// for a label, the Lab's panel names it).
const layerLabel = (text: string) =>
  ({
    content: `"${text}"`,
    position: "absolute",
    zIndex: 1,
    top: "-1.375rem",
    left: 0,
    padding: "1px 5px",
    borderRadius: "2px",
    fontFamily: vars.fontFamily.doto,
    ...weight(800),
    fontSize: "10px",
    lineHeight: 1.4,
    letterSpacing: "0.1em",
    textTransform: "uppercase",
    whiteSpace: "nowrap",
    color: vars.colors.foreground,
    backgroundColor: vars.colors.primary,
  }) as const;

globalStyle(`${xray}::before`, { ...layerLabel("0 · bezel"), top: "auto", bottom: "-1.375rem" });
globalStyle(`${xray} ${frameStyle}::before`, layerLabel("1 · screen"));
globalStyle(`${xray} ${glintStyle}::before`, {
  ...layerLabel("3 · glint"),
  left: "auto",
  right: 0,
});

globalStyle(`${xray}, ${xray} ${frameStyle}, ${xray} ${frameStyle}::after, ${xray} ${glintStyle}`, {
  "@media": { "(prefers-reduced-motion: reduce)": { transition: "none" } },
});
chrome-capture.css.ts · 204 lines · 6.5K · ts_Source_