CSS Easing Functions Level 2

Editor’s Draft,

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This version:
https://drafts.csswg.org/css-easing/
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https://www.w3.org/TR/css-easing-2/
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Abstract

This CSS module describes a way for authors to define a transformation that controls the rate of change of some value. Applied to animations, such transformations can be used to produce animations that mimic physical phenomena such as momentum or to cause the animation to move in discrete steps producing robot-like movement. Level 2 adds more sophisticated functions for custom easing curves.

CSS is a language for describing the rendering of structured documents (such as HTML and XML) on screen, on paper, etc.

Status of this document

This is a public copy of the editors’ draft. It is provided for discussion only and may change at any moment. Its publication here does not imply endorsement of its contents by W3C. Don’t cite this document other than as work in progress.

Please send feedback by filing issues in GitHub (preferred), including the spec code “css-easing” in the title, like this: “[css-easing] …summary of comment…”. All issues and comments are archived. Alternately, feedback can be sent to the (archived) public mailing list www-style@w3.org.

This document is governed by the 2 November 2021 W3C Process Document.

1. Introduction

This section is not normative.

It is often desirable to control the rate at which some value changes. For example, gradually increasing the speed at which an element moves can give the element a sense of weight as it appears to gather momentum. This can be used to produce intuitive user interface elements or convincing cartoon props that behave like their physical counterparts. Alternatively, it is sometimes desirable for animation to move forwards in distinct steps such as a segmented wheel that rotates such that the segments always appear in the same position.

Similarly, controlling the rate of change of gradient interpolation can be used to produce different visual effects such as suggesting a concave or convex surface, or producing a striped effect.

Easing functions provide a means to transform such values by taking an input progress value and producing a corresponding transformed output progress value.

Example of an easing function that produces an ease-in effect.
Example of an easing function that produces an ease-in effect.
Given an input progress of 0.7, the easing function scales the value to produce an output progress of 0.52.
Applying this easing function to an animation would cause it to progress more slowly at first but then gradually progress more quickly.

1.1. Value Definitions

This specification uses the value definition syntax from [CSS-VALUES-3]. Value types not defined in this specification are defined in CSS Values & Units [CSS-VALUES-3]. Combination with other CSS modules may expand the definitions of these value types.

2. Easing functions

easing-function

In all current engines.

Firefox4+Safari3.1+Chrome4+
Opera10.5+Edge79+
Edge (Legacy)12+IE10+
Firefox for Android?iOS Safari?Chrome for Android?Android WebView4+Samsung Internet?Opera Mobile11+

An easing function takes an input progress value and produces an output progress value.

An easing function must be a pure function meaning that for a given set of inputs, it always produces the same output progress value.

The input progress value is a real number in the range [-∞, ∞]. Typically, the input progress value is in the range [0, 1] but this may not be the case when easing functions are chained together.

An example of when easing functions are chained together occurs in Web Animations [WEB-ANIMATIONS] where the output of the easing function specified on an animation effect may become the input to an easing function specified on one of the keyframes of a keyframe effect. In this scenario, the input to the easing function on the keyframe effect may be outside the range [0, 1].

The output progress value is a real number in the range [-∞, ∞].

Some types of easing functions also take an additional boolean before flag input which is defined subsequently.

This specification defines four types of easing functions whose definitions follow.

The syntax for specifying an easing function is as follows:

<easing-function> = linear | <linear-easing-function> | <cubic-bezier-easing-function> | <step-easing-function>

2.1. The linear easing function: linear()

A linear easing function is an easing function that interpolates linearly between its points.

A linear easing function has points, a list of linear easing points. Initially a new empty list.

A linear easing point is a struct that has:

input

A number or null

Note: This is only null during create a linear easing function.

output

A number

2.1.1. Syntax

A linear easing function has the following syntax:

<linear-easing-function> = linear(<linear-stop-list>)
<linear-stop-list> = [ <linear-stop> ]#
<linear-stop> = <number> && <linear-stop-length>?
<linear-stop-length> = <percentage>{1,2}

linear() is parsed into a linear easing function by calling create a linear easing function, passing in its <linear-stop-list> as a list of <linear-stop>s.

2.1.2. Parsing

To create a linear easing function given a list of <linear-stop>s stopList, perform the following. It returns a linear easing function or failure.

  1. Let function be a new linear easing function.

  2. Let largestInput be negative infinity.

  3. If there are less than two items in stopList, then return failure.

  4. For each stop in stopList:

    1. Let point be a new linear easing point with its output set to stop’s <number> as a number.

    2. Append point to function’s points.

    3. If stop has a <linear-stop-length>, then:

      1. Set point’s input to whichever is greater: stop’s <linear-stop-length>'s first <percentage> as a number, or largestInput.

      2. Set largestInput to point’s input.

      3. If stop’s <linear-stop-length> has a second <percentage>, then:

        1. Let extraPoint be a new linear easing point with its output set to stop’s <number> as a number.

        2. Append extraPoint to function’s points.

        3. Set extraPoint’s input to whichever is greater: stop’s <linear-stop-length>'s second <percentage> as a number, or largestInput.

        4. Set largestInput to extraPoint’s input.

    4. Otherwise, if stop is the first item in stopList, then:

      1. Set point’s input to 0.

      2. Set largestInput to 0.

    5. Otherwise, if stop is the last item in stopList, then set point’s input to whichever is greater: 1 or largestInput.

  5. For runs of items in function’s points that have a null input, assign a number to the input by linearly interpolating between the closest previous and next points that have a non-null input.

  6. Return function.

2.1.3. Serializing

The serialization of linear() includes input values for each point, and input values are never less than the input of the previous point.

For example:

To get a linear easing function's (linearEasingFunction) serialized computed value, perform the following. It returns a string.

  1. Let output be "linear(".

  2. For each point in linearEasingFunction’s points:

    1. If point is not the first item of linearEasingFunction’s points, append ", " to output.

    2. Append the computed value of point’s output, as a <number>, to output.

    3. Append " " to output.

    4. Append the computed value of point’s input, as a <percentage>, to output.

  3. Append ")" to output.

  4. Return output.

2.1.4. Output of a linear easing function

To calculate linear easing output progress for a given linear easing function linearEasingFunction, and an input progress value inputProgress, perform the following. It returns an output progress value.

  1. Let points be linearEasingFunction’s points.

  2. Let pointAIndex be index of the last item in points with an input less than or equal to inputProgress, or 0 if there is no match.

  3. If pointAIndex is equal to points size minus 1, decrement pointAIndex by 1.

    Note: This ensures we have a "next" point to compare to.

  4. Let pointA be points[pointAIndex].

  5. Let pointB be points[pointAIndex + 1].

  6. If pointA’s input is equal to pointB’s input, return pointB’s output.

  7. Let progressFromPointA be inputProgress minus pointA’s input.

  8. Let pointInputRange be pointB’s input minus pointA’s input.

  9. Let progressBetweenPoints be progressFromPointA divided by pointInputRange.

  10. Let pointOutputRange be pointB’s output minus pointA’s output.

  11. Let outputFromLastPoint be progressBetweenPoints multiplied by pointOutputRange.

  12. Return pointA’s output plus outputFromLastPoint.

2.1.5. Examples

linear() allows the definition of easing functions that interpolate linearly between a set of points.

For example, linear(0, 0.25, 1) produces an easing function that moves linearly from 0, to 0.25, then to 1:

linear(0, 0.25, 1) plotted on a graph
By default, values are spread evenly between entries that don’t have an explicit "input". Input values can be provided using a <percentage>.

For example, linear(0, 0.25 75%, 1) produces the following easing function, which spends 75% of the time transitioning from 0 to .25, then the last 25% transitioning from .25 to 1:

linear(0, 0.25 75%, 1) plotted on a graph.
        The graph has three points.
        The first is at 0,0.
        The second is at 0.75,0.25.
        The third is at 1,1.
If two input values are provided for a single output, it results in two points with the same output.

For example, linear(0, 0.25 25% 75%, 1) is equivalent to linear(0, 0.25 25%, 0.25 75%, 1), producing the following easing function:

linear(0, 0.25 75%, 1) plotted on a graph.
        The graph has four points.
        The first is at 0,0.
        The second is at 0.25,0.25.
        The third is at 0.75,0.25.
        The forth is at 1,1.
If the input is outside the range provided, the trajectory of the nearest two points is continued.

For example, here are the implicit values from the previous function:

linear(0, 0.25 75%, 1) plotted on a graph.
        The graph has four points.
        The first is at 0,0.
        The second is at 0.25,0.25.
        The third is at 0.75,0.25.
        The forth is at 1,1.
        The ends of the graph are extended at the angle of the nearest two lines.
A typical use of linear() is to provide many points to create the illusion of a curve.

For example, here’s how linear() could be used to create a reusable "bounce" easing function:

:root {
  --bounce: linear(
    /* Start to 1st bounce */
    0, 0.063, 0.25, 0.563, 1 36.4%,
    /* 1st to 2nd bounce */
    0.812, 0.75, 0.813, 1 72.7%,
    /* 2nd to 3rd bounce */
    0.953, 0.938, 0.953, 1 90.9%,
    /* 3rd bounce to end */
    0.984, 1 100% 100%
  );
}

.example {
  animation-timing-function: var(--bounce);
}

The definition ends 1 100% 100% to create two final points, so inputs greater than 1 always output 1.

The graph of a rough bounce easing.

More points could be used to create a smoother result, which may be needed for slower animations.

2.2. The linear easing keyword: linear

The linear keyword produces a linear easing function with two points:

  1. input

    0

    output

    0

  2. input

    1

    output

    1

Note: This results in an identity function, meaning that its output progress value is equal to the input progress value for all inputs.

Note: Although this produces a linear easing function, uses of the keyword linear always serialize as-is, to linear. Whereas the function equivalent linear(0, 1) will serialize to linear(0 0%, 1 100%). These rules are in Serialization.

2.3. Cubic Bézier easing functions: ease, ease-in, ease-out, ease-in-out, cubic-bezier()

A cubic Bézier easing function is a type of easing function defined by four real numbers that specify the two control points, P1 and P2, of a cubic Bézier curve whose end points P0 and P3 are fixed at (0, 0) and (1, 1) respectively. The x coordinates of P1 and P2 are restricted to the range [0, 1].

A cubic Bezier curve used as an easing function.
A cubic Bézier curve used as an easing function.
The shape of the curve is determined by the location of the control points P1 and P2.
Input progress values serve as x values of the curve, whilst the y values are the output progress values.

A cubic Bézier easing function has the following syntax (using notation from [CSS-VALUES-3]):

<cubic-bezier-easing-function> = ease | ease-in | ease-out | ease-in-out | cubic-bezier(<number [0,1]>, <number>, <number [0,1]>, <number>)

The meaning of each value is as follows:

ease

Equivalent to cubic-bezier(0.25, 0.1, 0.25, 1).

ease-in

Equivalent to cubic-bezier(0.42, 0, 1, 1).

ease-out

Equivalent to cubic-bezier(0, 0, 0.58, 1).

ease-in-out

Equivalent to cubic-bezier(0.42, 0, 0.58, 1).

cubic-bezier(<number [0,1]>, <number>, <number [0,1]>, <number>)

Specifies a cubic Bézier easing function. The four numbers specify points P1 and P2 of the curve as (x1, y1, x2, y2). Both x values must be in the range [0, 1] or the definition is invalid.

The keyword values listed above are illustrated below.

The easing functions produced by keyword values.
The easing functions produced by each of the cubic Bézier easing function keyword values.

2.3.1. Output of a cubic bézier easing function

The mapping from input progress to output progress is performed by determining the corresponding y value (output progress value) for a given x value (input progress value). The evaluation of this curve is covered in many sources such as [FUND-COMP-GRAPHICS].

For input progress values outside the range [0, 1], the curve is extended infinitely using tangent of the curve at the closest endpoint as follows:

2.4. Step easing functions: step-start, step-end, steps()

A step easing function is a type of easing function that divides the input time into a specified number of intervals that are equal in length. It is defined by a number of steps, and a step position. It has following syntax:

<step-easing-function> = step-start | step-end | steps(<integer>[, <step-position>]?)

<step-position> = jump-start | jump-end | jump-none | jump-both | start | end

The meaning of each value is as follows:

step-start

Computes to steps(1, start)

step-end

Computes to steps(1, end)

Example step easing keywords.
Example step easing function keyword values.
steps(<integer>[, <step-position> ]?)

The first parameter specifies the number of intervals in the function. It must be a positive integer greater than 0 unless the second parameter is jump-none in which case it must be a positive integer greater than 1.

The second parameter, which is optional, specifies the step position using one of the following values:

jump-start

The first rise occurs at input progress value of 0.

jump-end

The last rise occurs at input progress value of 1.

jump-none

All rises occur within the range (0, 1).

jump-both

The first rise occurs at input progress value of 0 and the last rise occurs at input progress value of 1.

start

Behaves as jump-start.

end

Behaves as jump-end.

If the second parameter is omitted, the value end is assumed.

These values are illustrated below:

Example step easing functions.
Example step easing functions.

2.4.1. Output of a step easing function

At the exact point where a step occurs, the result of the function is conceptually the top of the step. However, an additional before flag passed as input to the step easing function, if true, will cause the result of the function to correspond to the bottom of the step at the step point.

As an example of how the before flag affects the behavior of this function, consider an animation with a step easing function whose step position is start and which has a positive delay and backwards fill.

For example, using CSS animation:

animation: moveRight 5s 1s steps(5, start);

During the delay phase, the input progress value will be zero but if the before flag is set to indicate that the animation has yet to reach its animation interval, the easing function will produce zero as its output progress value, i.e. the bottom of the first step.

At the exact moment when the animation interval begins, the input progress value will still be zero, but the before flag will not be set and hence the result of the easing function will correspond to the top of the first step.

For the purposes of calculating the output progress value, the step position start is considered equivalent to jump-start. Likewise end is considered equivalent to jump-end. As a result, the following algorithm does not make explicit reference to start or end.

Note: User agents must still differentiate between jump-start and start for the purpose of serialization (see § 2.5 Serialization).

The output progress value is calculated from the input progress value and before flag as follows:

  1. Calculate the current step as floor(input progress value × steps).

  2. If the step position property is one of:

    increment current step by one.

  3. If both of the following conditions are true:

    decrement current step by one.

  4. If input progress value ≥ 0 and current step < 0, let current step be zero.

  5. Calculate jumps based on the step position as follows:

    jump-start or jump-end

    steps

    jump-none

    steps - 1

    jump-both

    steps + 1

  6. If input progress value ≤ 1 and current step > jumps, let current step be jumps.

    Steps 4 and 6 in this procedure ensure that given an input progress value in the range [0, 1], a step easing function does not produce an output progress value outside that range.

    For example, although mathematically we might expect that a step easing function with a step position of jump-start would step up (i.e. beyond 1) when the input progress value is 1, intuitively, when we apply such an easing function to a forwards-filling animation, we expect it to produce an output progress value of 1 as the animation fills forwards.

    A similar situation arises for a step easing function with a step position of jump-end when applied to an animation during its delay phase.

  7. The output progress value is current step / jumps.

2.5. Serialization

Easing functions are serialized using the common serialization patterns defined in [CSSOM] with the following additional requirements:

3. Privacy and Security Considerations

This specification does not directly introduce any new capabilities to the Web platform but rather provides common definitions that may be referenced by other specifications. As a result, it does not introduce any new privacy and security concerns.

Specifications referencing the features defined in this specification should consider that while easing functions most commonly take an input progress value in the range [0,1] and produce an output progress value in the range [0, 1], this is not always the case. Applications of easing functions should define the behavior for inputs and outputs outside this range to ensure they do not introduce new security considerations.

4. Changes

4.1. Additions Since Level 1

5. Acknowledgements

This specification is based on the CSS Transitions specification edited by L. David Baron, Dean Jackson, David Hyatt, and Chris Marrin. The editors would also like to thank Douglas Stockwell, Steve Block, Tab Atkins, Rachel Nabors, Martin Pitt, and the Animation at Work slack community for their feedback and contributions.

Conformance

Document conventions

Conformance requirements are expressed with a combination of descriptive assertions and RFC 2119 terminology. The key words “MUST”, “MUST NOT”, “REQUIRED”, “SHALL”, “SHALL NOT”, “SHOULD”, “SHOULD NOT”, “RECOMMENDED”, “MAY”, and “OPTIONAL” in the normative parts of this document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119. However, for readability, these words do not appear in all uppercase letters in this specification.

All of the text of this specification is normative except sections explicitly marked as non-normative, examples, and notes. [RFC2119]

Examples in this specification are introduced with the words “for example” or are set apart from the normative text with class="example", like this:

This is an example of an informative example.

Informative notes begin with the word “Note” and are set apart from the normative text with class="note", like this:

Note, this is an informative note.

Advisements are normative sections styled to evoke special attention and are set apart from other normative text with <strong class="advisement">, like this: UAs MUST provide an accessible alternative.

Tests

Tests relating to the content of this specification may be documented in “Tests” blocks like this one. Any such block is non-normative.


Conformance classes

Conformance to this specification is defined for three conformance classes:

style sheet
A CSS style sheet.
renderer
A UA that interprets the semantics of a style sheet and renders documents that use them.
authoring tool
A UA that writes a style sheet.

A style sheet is conformant to this specification if all of its statements that use syntax defined in this module are valid according to the generic CSS grammar and the individual grammars of each feature defined in this module.

A renderer is conformant to this specification if, in addition to interpreting the style sheet as defined by the appropriate specifications, it supports all the features defined by this specification by parsing them correctly and rendering the document accordingly. However, the inability of a UA to correctly render a document due to limitations of the device does not make the UA non-conformant. (For example, a UA is not required to render color on a monochrome monitor.)

An authoring tool is conformant to this specification if it writes style sheets that are syntactically correct according to the generic CSS grammar and the individual grammars of each feature in this module, and meet all other conformance requirements of style sheets as described in this module.

Partial implementations

So that authors can exploit the forward-compatible parsing rules to assign fallback values, CSS renderers must treat as invalid (and ignore as appropriate) any at-rules, properties, property values, keywords, and other syntactic constructs for which they have no usable level of support. In particular, user agents must not selectively ignore unsupported component values and honor supported values in a single multi-value property declaration: if any value is considered invalid (as unsupported values must be), CSS requires that the entire declaration be ignored.

Implementations of Unstable and Proprietary Features

To avoid clashes with future stable CSS features, the CSSWG recommends following best practices for the implementation of unstable features and proprietary extensions to CSS.

Non-experimental implementations

Once a specification reaches the Candidate Recommendation stage, non-experimental implementations are possible, and implementors should release an unprefixed implementation of any CR-level feature they can demonstrate to be correctly implemented according to spec.

To establish and maintain the interoperability of CSS across implementations, the CSS Working Group requests that non-experimental CSS renderers submit an implementation report (and, if necessary, the testcases used for that implementation report) to the W3C before releasing an unprefixed implementation of any CSS features. Testcases submitted to W3C are subject to review and correction by the CSS Working Group.

Further information on submitting testcases and implementation reports can be found from on the CSS Working Group’s website at http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/Test/. Questions should be directed to the public-css-testsuite@w3.org mailing list.

Index

Terms defined by this specification

Terms defined by reference

References

Normative References

[CSS-VALUES-3]
Tab Atkins Jr.; Elika Etemad. CSS Values and Units Module Level 3. URL: https://andreubotella.com/csswg-auto-build/test/css-values-3/
[CSS-VALUES-4]
Tab Atkins Jr.; Elika Etemad. CSS Values and Units Module Level 4. URL: https://andreubotella.com/csswg-auto-build/test/css-values-4/
[INFRA]
Anne van Kesteren; Domenic Denicola. Infra Standard. Living Standard. URL: https://infra.spec.whatwg.org/
[RFC2119]
S. Bradner. Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels. March 1997. Best Current Practice. URL: https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc2119

Informative References

[CSSOM]
Daniel Glazman; Emilio Cobos Álvarez. CSS Object Model (CSSOM). URL: https://andreubotella.com/csswg-auto-build/test/cssom/
[FUND-COMP-GRAPHICS]
Peter Shirley; Michael Ashikhmin; Steve Marschner. Fundamentals of Computer Graphics. 2009.
[WEB-ANIMATIONS]
Brian Birtles; et al. Web Animations. URL: https://andreubotella.com/csswg-auto-build/test/web-animations-1/