Custom cursor with Greensock

#html #codenewbie #javascript #webdev

Demo
Hi guys, in this short tutorial, you're going to learn how to create an animated custom cursor with GSAP and basic HTML and CSS. Ok, then, what's this GSAP called?

What is GSAP ?

Greensock Animation Platform(GSAP) is a JavaScript library for creating high-performance animations. Animate CSS, SVG, canvas, React, Vue, WebGL, colors, strings, motion paths, generic objects...anything JavaScript can touch!.GSAP has been tested across all major web browsers – including legacy fares such as Internet Explorer. All browser-related tweaks and fallbacks have already been integrated into the platform.

Why GSAP ?

Crazy fast
Freakishly robust
Compatible
Animate anything
Lightweight and expandable
No dependencies
Advanced sequencing

Detailed information

Ok.let's start the coding then.

index.html

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en" >
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <title>Custom Cursor</title>
  <link href="style.css" rel="stylesheet">
</head>
<body>

<div class="cursor"></div>
<div class="follower"></div>

<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/gsap/3.3.4/gsap.min.js"></script>
<script src="main.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The first thing you need to do is, add gsap.min.js to your index.html.To Install GSAP, you can use the following methods.

after that, import style.css and main.js to your index.html.

style.css


*{cursor: none;}

body{
  background-color:black;
  overflow: hidden;
}

.cursor{
    position: fixed;
    top: 0;
    left: 0;
    width: 20px;
    height: 20px;
    border-radius: 50%;
    background-color: #fff;
    z-index: 2000;
    user-select: none;
    pointer-events: none;
}

.follower{
    position: fixed;
    top: 0;
    left: 0;
    width: 100px;
    height: 100px;
    background-color: #6eff00;
    border-radius: 50%;
    opacity: 0.7;
    user-select: none;
    pointer-events: none;
}

main.js

gsap.set('.follower',{xPercent:-50,yPercent:-50});
gsap.set('.cursor',{xPercent:-50,yPercent:-50});

var follow = document.querySelector('.follower');
var cur = document.querySelector('.cursor');

window.addEventListener('mousemove',e => {
    gsap.to(cur,0.2,{x:e.clientX,y:e.clientY});
    gsap.to(follow,0.9,{x:e.clientX,y:e.clientY});
});

gsap.set('.follower',{xPercent:-50,yPercent:-50});
gsap.set('.cursor',{xPercent:-50,yPercent:-50});

Here, the gsap.set() methods always set the follower and the cursor centered on each other when we move the cursor.
Watch the Demo, then you can understand it clearly.

 gsap.to(cur,0.2,{x:e.clientX,y:e.clientY});

gsap.to() specifies the values to which the object is to be animated. Here,0.2 is the duration time of the cursor moves.

The 'clientX' property returns the horizontal mouse pointer coordinate when the mouse event is triggered.

The 'clientY' property returns the vertical mouse pointer coordinate when the mouse event is triggered.

Demo

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Use Google Fonts fonts to decorate the website
Simple HTML structure with 4 main divs
Use the :root CSS variable to define the default background color
Use JavaScript to listen to the input event of the color input and update the CSS variable value accordingly