Motion Canvas

Base Scene Template

import {makeScene2D} from '@motion-canvas/2d';

export default makeScene2D(function* (view) {

});

Generator Functions & Animation Flow

• function*

  defines a generator function

• yield

  pauses until next frame

• yield*

  delegates to another generator (composition)

export default makeScene2D(function* (view) {
  const circle = createRef<Circle>();
  view.add(<Circle ref={circle} width={100} height={100} fill={'red'} />);

  yield* circle().position.x(300, 1);
  yield* circle().position.x(-300, 1);
});

Reusable animation pattern:

function* flicker(circle: Circle, duration: number): ThreadGenerator {
  const colors = ['#e13238', '#e6a700', '#99C47A'];
  for (const color of colors) {
    circle.fill(color);
    yield* waitFor(duration);
  }
}
yield* flicker(myCircle(), 0.5);

Signals System

import {createSignal} from '@motion-canvas/core';

const radius = createSignal(3);

radius();            // Get → 3
radius(5);           // Set → 5
yield* radius(4, 2); // Tween to 4 over 2 seconds

Computed signals:

const area = createSignal(() => Math.PI * radius() * radius());

Signals in JSX:

<Circle width={() => radius() * 2} height={() => radius() * 2} />
yield* radius(200, 1); // Circle updates automatically

Vector signals:

const position = Vector2.createSignal(Vector2.up);
yield* position(Vector2.zero, 1);

Reset to default:

import {DEFAULT} from '@motion-canvas/core';
signal(DEFAULT);             // Instant reset
yield* signal(DEFAULT, 2);   // Tween to default

References (Refs)

createRef (single node):

const circle = createRef<Circle>();
<Circle ref={circle} width={100} height={100} fill={'red'} />
yield* circle().scale(2, 0.3);

makeRef (arrays):

const circles: Circle[] = [];
{range(10).map(index => (
  <Circle ref={makeRef(circles, index)} x={index * 50} width={40} height={40} />
))}
yield* all(...circles.map(c => c.scale(1.5, 0.5)));

createRefMap (keyed):

const labels = createRefMap<Txt>();
<Txt ref={labels.a} text="Label A" />
<Txt ref={labels.b} text="Label B" />
yield* labels.a().text('Updated A', 0.3);

Scene Hierarchy

view.add(<Circle />);               // Add to view
container().add(<Circle />);         // Add to node
container().insert(<Circle />, 0);   // Insert at index
circle().remove();                   // Remove
container().removeChildren();        // Remove all children
circle().reparent(newParent());      // Move to new parent

Z-order:

moveUp()

,

moveDown()

,

moveToTop()

,

moveToBottom()

,

moveTo(2)

Querying:

import {is} from '@motion-canvas/2d';
const textNodes = view.findAll(is(Txt));
const firstCircle = view.findFirst(is(Circle));

Save / Restore State

yield* circle().save();
yield* all(circle().position.x(300, 1), circle().scale(2, 1));
yield* circle().restore(1); // Animate back to saved state

Time Events & Waiting

import {waitFor, waitUntil, useDuration} from '@motion-canvas/core';

yield* waitFor(2);                    // Wait 2 seconds
yield* waitUntil('voice-line-2');     // Wait for named event
const dur = useDuration('segment');   // Get event duration

Utilities

Random:

useRandom(42)

→

.nextInt(10, 100)

,

.nextFloat(0, 1)

Logging:

useLogger()

→

.debug()

,

.info()

,

.warn()

,

.error()

; also

debug('msg')

Hooks:

useScene()

→

.getSize()

;

useTime()

Range:

range(5)

→

[0,1,2,3,4]

;

range(2,5)

→

[2,3,4]

Threads:

// Spawn a background thread (do NOT yield — spawn starts it automatically)
const task = spawn(function* () {
  yield* loop(Infinity, function* () {
    yield* circle().rotation(360, 2);
    circle().rotation(0);
  });
});

// Cancel a running thread
cancel(task);

// Wait for a thread to finish
yield* join(task);

Shape Components

Circle:

<Circle width={200} height={200} fill={'#e13238'} stroke={'#fff'} lineWidth={4}
  startAngle={0} endAngle={270} closed={false} />

Rect:

<Rect width={300} height={200} fill={'#68ABDF'} radius={10} smoothCorners cornerSharpness={0.6} />

Line:

<Line points={[[0,0],[100,100],[200,50]]} stroke={'#fff'} lineWidth={4}
  lineDash={[20,10]} lineCap={'round'} lineJoin={'round'} startArrow endArrow arrowSize={12} />

Polygon:

<Polygon sides={6} size={200} fill={'#99C47A'} />

Grid:

import {Grid} from '@motion-canvas/2d';

<Grid width={'100%'} height={'100%'} stroke={'#333'} lineWidth={1} spacing={80} start={0} end={1} />

Animate with

start

/

end

(0-1) for drawing/erasing effects.

Path (SVG path data):

import {Path} from '@motion-canvas/2d';

<Path data={'M 0 -100 L 29 -40 L 95 -31 Z'} stroke={'#e6a700'} lineWidth={3} />

Supports morphing:

yield* path().data(newPathData, 1);

Filters

import {blur, brightness, grayscale, sepia, contrast, saturate, hue, invert} from '@motion-canvas/2d';

<Rect filters={[blur(5), brightness(1.5)]} />
yield* rect().filters([blur(0), grayscale(1)], 1); // Animated

See Filters for full details.

Gradients

import {Gradient} from '@motion-canvas/2d';

const grad = new Gradient({
  type: 'linear',
  from: [-100, 0], to: [100, 0],
  stops: [{offset: 0, color: '#e13238'}, {offset: 1, color: '#68ABDF'}],
});
<Rect fill={grad} />

See Gradients for radial and conic types.

Path Components

Ray:

<Ray from={[0,0]} to={[300,200]} endArrow />

— animate with

start(1,1)

/

end(0,1)

CubicBezier:

<CubicBezier p0={..} p1={..} p2={..} p3={..} />

QuadBezier:

<QuadBezier p0={..} p1={..} p2={..} />

Spline:

<Spline points={[..]} />

— smooth curves Knot:

new Knot([x,y], sharpness)

— adjust curve sharpness within Spline

Text Rendering

See Txt for full details.

<Txt text={'Hello World'} fontSize={64} fontFamily={'Inter'} fill={'#ffffff'} wrap={true} />

Custom Components

export class Switch extends Node {
  @initial(false) @signal()
  public declare readonly initialState: SimpleSignal<boolean, this>;

  public constructor(props?: SwitchProps) {
    super({...props});
  }

  public *toggle(duration: number) { /* animation logic */ }
}

Decorators (import from

@motion-canvas/2d

):

@signal()

,

@initial(value)

,

@colorSignal()

,

@vector2Signal()

import {Node, NodeProps, initial, signal} from '@motion-canvas/2d';

Scene Transitions

import {slideTransition, fadeTransition, Direction} from '@motion-canvas/core';
yield* slideTransition(Direction.Left);

All transitions (from

@motion-canvas/core

):

• slideTransition(Direction.Left)

  — slide in from direction

• fadeTransition(duration?)

  — cross-fade

• zoomInTransition(area, duration?)

  — zoom into a BBox area

• zoomOutTransition(area, duration?)

  — zoom out from a BBox area

• waitTransition(duration?)

  — wait without visual transition

Directions: Top, Bottom, Left, Right, TopLeft, TopRight, BottomLeft, BottomRight

Custom:

import {useTransition} from '@motion-canvas/core';
const transition = useTransition(ctx => { /* current */ }, ctx => { /* previous */ });
yield* transition(1);

Advanced Patterns

Conditional:

if (cond()) yield* a(); else yield* b();

Reactive:

<Circle fill={() => val() > 150 ? 'red' : 'blue'} />

State machines:

while/switch

pattern with enum states

References

• Setup — Project creation, installation, troubleshooting
• Flow Control — all, any, chain, delay, sequence, loop
• Tweening — Property tweens, easing, interpolation
• Springs — Physics-based spring animations
• Transforms — Coordinates, positioning, matrix operations
• Presentation Mode — Slide-based playback
• Txt — Text rendering, dynamic text, multi-line
• Layout — Flexbox, cardinal directions, offset
• LaTeX — Mathematical equations
• Media — Images, icons, video
• SVG — Animatable SVG component
• Icons — Iconify icon usage and catalog
• Camera — Pan, zoom, follow
• Filters — blur, brightness, contrast, grayscale, sepia, hue, saturate, invert
• Gradients — Linear, radial, conic gradient fills
• Effects — createEffect, createDeferredEffect
• Rendering — Rendering settings and output configuration
• Sounds — Programmable sound playback (@alpha)