Prismatic relief
Raised ultramarine facets catch a moving light, revealing sharp ridges and shifting glints.

Rotate the light or pause its orbit
Subframe Original · MIT
Add to your project
Component source
Standalone React component. Styles are included.
React only. No additional packages.
Render the default export inside a container with a defined height. Its optional active prop stops movement when false. This example works with React 19; Next.js projects can use it as a client component.
View source code
"use client"
/*
* Copyright (c) 2026 Subframe
*
* Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
* of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
* in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
* to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
* copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
* furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
* The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
* copies or substantial portions of the Software.
* THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
* IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
* FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
* AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
* LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
* OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
* SOFTWARE.
*/
import { useEffect, useRef, useState } from "react"
const FRAGMENT = `
precision highp float;
uniform vec2 u_resolution;
uniform float u_time,u_control;
float hash(vec2 p){return fract(sin(dot(p,vec2(127.1,311.7)))*43758.5453);}
// Each convex cell is intersected analytically: no depth-step edges.
vec4 cellHit(vec2 p,vec2 view,vec2 id){
if(id.x<0.||id.x>5.||id.y<0.||id.y>3.)return vec4(0.,0.,1.,-1.);
vec2 peak=vec2(.3+.4*hash(id+1.7),.3+.4*hash(id+9.2));
vec2 f=(p+vec2(.54,.31))/vec2(.18,.155)-id;
float h=.057+.041*hash(id+3.1);
vec4 slope=vec4(h/(.18*peak.x),-h/(.18*(1.-peak.x)),h/(.155*peak.y),-h/(.155*(1.-peak.y)));
vec4 zs=(vec4(.005)+h*vec4(f.x/peak.x,(1.-f.x)/(1.-peak.x),f.y/peak.y,(1.-f.y)/(1.-peak.y)))/(vec4(1.)-slope*view.xxyy);
float z=min(min(zs.x,zs.y),min(zs.z,zs.w));
if(z<.005)return vec4(0.,0.,1.,-1.);
vec3 n=zs.x==z?vec3(-slope.x,0.,1.):zs.y==z?vec3(-slope.y,0.,1.):zs.z==z?vec3(0.,-slope.z,1.):vec3(0.,-slope.w,1.);
return vec4(normalize(n),z);
}
void main(){
vec2 p=(gl_FragCoord.xy-.5*u_resolution)/u_resolution.y;
p.y-=.035;
vec3 bg=vec3(.035,.045,.08);
vec2 view=vec2(.38,-.32);
vec2 id=floor((p+vec2(.54,.31))/vec2(.18,.155));
vec4 surface=cellHit(p,view,id);
for(int i=1;i<4;i++){
vec2 offset=i==1?vec2(1.,0.):i==2?vec2(0.,-1.):vec2(1.,-1.);
vec4 candidate=cellHit(p,view,id+offset);
if(candidate.w>surface.w)surface=candidate;
}
float z=surface.w;
vec2 q=p+view*z;
vec3 color=bg;
if(z>=.005){
vec3 n=surface.xyz;
float angle=u_control*6.28318+u_time*.12;
vec3 pointLight=vec3(cos(angle)*.75,sin(angle)*.68,.46);
vec3 light=normalize(pointLight-vec3(q,z));
vec3 eye=normalize(vec3(-view,1.));
float diffuse=max(dot(n,light),0.);
float spec=pow(max(dot(n,normalize(light+eye)),0.),40.);
float ambient=.20+min(1.,z/.075)*.13;
vec3 cobalt=vec3(.055,.15,.48);
color=cobalt*(ambient+diffuse*1.45)+vec3(.58,.76,1.)*spec*.75;
vec2 tile=(q+vec2(.54,.31))/vec2(.18,.155),f=fract(tile);
float seam=min(min(f.x,f.y),min(1.-f.x,1.-f.y));
color*=.65+.35*smoothstep(.0,.025,seam);
float ribs=sin((q.x-q.y)*760.);
color+=ribs*.006*diffuse;
color+=(hash(gl_FragCoord.xy)-.5)*.008;
}else{
vec2 d=max(abs(p-vec2(.012,-.028))-vec2(.54,.31),0.);
color*=1.-.25*exp(-length(d)*45.);
}
gl_FragColor=vec4(color,1.);
}
`
export default function FoldedPaperLightExample({ active = true }: { active?: boolean }) {
const canvasRef = useRef<HTMLCanvasElement>(null)
const runningRef = useRef(active)
const syncRef = useRef<() => void>(() => {})
const timeRef = useRef(3)
const contextLeaseRef = useRef(0)
const controlRef = useRef(0.5)
const [control, setControl] = useState(0.5)
const [paused, setPaused] = useState(false)
const [available, setAvailable] = useState(false)
const [reduced, setReduced] = useState(false)
runningRef.current = active && !paused
useEffect(() => {
const canvas = canvasRef.current
if (!canvas) return
const gl = canvas.getContext("webgl", { alpha: false, antialias: false, powerPreference: "low-power" })
if (!gl) return
const lease = ++contextLeaseRef.current
let disposed = false
let frame = 0
let last = 0
let lost = false
const preference = window.matchMedia("(prefers-reduced-motion: reduce)")
let reduce = preference.matches
setReduced(reduce)
const shaders: WebGLShader[] = []
const compile = (type: number, code: string) => {
const shader = gl.createShader(type)
if (!shader) return null
shaders.push(shader)
gl.shaderSource(shader, code)
gl.compileShader(shader)
return gl.getShaderParameter(shader, gl.COMPILE_STATUS) ? shader : null
}
const vertex = compile(
gl.VERTEX_SHADER,
"attribute vec2 a_position; void main(){gl_Position=vec4(a_position,0.0,1.0);}",
)
const fragment = compile(gl.FRAGMENT_SHADER, FRAGMENT)
const program = gl.createProgram()
const buffer = gl.createBuffer()
if (!vertex || !fragment || !program || !buffer) {
shaders.forEach((shader) => gl.deleteShader(shader))
gl.deleteProgram(program)
gl.deleteBuffer(buffer)
gl.getExtension("WEBGL_lose_context")?.loseContext()
return
}
gl.attachShader(program, vertex)
gl.attachShader(program, fragment)
gl.linkProgram(program)
if (!gl.getProgramParameter(program, gl.LINK_STATUS)) {
shaders.forEach((shader) => gl.deleteShader(shader))
gl.deleteProgram(program)
gl.deleteBuffer(buffer)
gl.getExtension("WEBGL_lose_context")?.loseContext()
return
}
gl.useProgram(program)
gl.bindBuffer(gl.ARRAY_BUFFER, buffer)
gl.bufferData(gl.ARRAY_BUFFER, new Float32Array([-1, -1, 1, -1, -1, 1, -1, 1, 1, -1, 1, 1]), gl.STATIC_DRAW)
const position = gl.getAttribLocation(program, "a_position")
gl.enableVertexAttribArray(position)
gl.vertexAttribPointer(position, 2, gl.FLOAT, false, 0, 0)
const resolution = gl.getUniformLocation(program, "u_resolution")
const time = gl.getUniformLocation(program, "u_time")
const adjustment = gl.getUniformLocation(program, "u_control")
const draw = () => {
if (disposed || lost) return
gl.uniform2f(resolution, canvas.width, canvas.height)
gl.uniform1f(time, reduce ? 3 : timeRef.current)
gl.uniform1f(adjustment, controlRef.current)
gl.drawArrays(gl.TRIANGLES, 0, 6)
}
const tick = (now: number) => {
if (disposed || lost || reduce || !runningRef.current || document.hidden) {
frame = 0
last = 0
return
}
if (last) timeRef.current += Math.min((now - last) / 1000, 0.05)
last = now
draw()
frame = requestAnimationFrame(tick)
}
const sync = () => {
cancelAnimationFrame(frame)
frame = 0
last = 0
if (disposed || lost) return
draw()
if (runningRef.current && !reduce && !document.hidden) frame = requestAnimationFrame(tick)
}
const resize = () => {
const { width, height } = canvas.getBoundingClientRect()
if (!width || !height) return
// Size the drawing buffer from displayed pixels, including ancestor scale.
const ratio = Math.min(window.devicePixelRatio || 1, 2, Math.sqrt(3600000 / (width * height)))
const nextWidth = Math.max(1, Math.round(width * ratio))
const nextHeight = Math.max(1, Math.round(height * ratio))
if (canvas.width === nextWidth && canvas.height === nextHeight) return
canvas.width = nextWidth
canvas.height = nextHeight
gl.viewport(0, 0, canvas.width, canvas.height)
draw()
}
const updatePreference = () => {
reduce = preference.matches
setReduced(reduce)
sync()
}
const contextLost = (event: Event) => {
event.preventDefault()
lost = true
cancelAnimationFrame(frame)
setAvailable(false)
}
// Keep the static artwork after context loss. Remount to create fresh GPU resources.
canvas.addEventListener("webglcontextlost", contextLost)
preference.addEventListener("change", updatePreference)
document.addEventListener("visibilitychange", sync)
const observer = new ResizeObserver(resize)
// ResizeObserver alone cannot see a transform on the preview composition.
const transforms = new MutationObserver(resize)
for (let node: HTMLElement | null = canvas; node; node = node.parentElement) {
observer.observe(node)
transforms.observe(node, { attributes: true, attributeFilter: ["style", "class"] })
}
window.addEventListener("resize", resize)
syncRef.current = sync
resize()
setAvailable(true)
sync()
const releaseContext = () => {
if (contextLeaseRef.current === lease) gl.getExtension("WEBGL_lose_context")?.loseContext()
}
return () => {
disposed = true
cancelAnimationFrame(frame)
syncRef.current = () => {}
observer.disconnect()
transforms.disconnect()
window.removeEventListener("resize", resize)
canvas.removeEventListener("webglcontextlost", contextLost)
preference.removeEventListener("change", updatePreference)
document.removeEventListener("visibilitychange", sync)
gl.deleteBuffer(buffer)
gl.deleteProgram(program)
shaders.forEach((shader) => gl.deleteShader(shader))
// Defer context release so React Strict Mode can reacquire this canvas.
queueMicrotask(releaseContext)
}
}, [])
useEffect(() => {
syncRef.current()
}, [active, paused, control])
return (
<div
className="sg-folded-paper-light"
style={{
position: "relative",
isolation: "isolate",
width: "100%",
height: "100%",
minHeight: 240,
overflow: "hidden",
background: "#cfcbc3",
}}
>
<div className="sg-folded-paper-light-fallback" aria-hidden="true" />
<canvas
ref={canvasRef}
role="img"
aria-label="Raised ultramarine facets catch a moving light."
style={{ position: "absolute", inset: 0, width: "100%", height: "100%", opacity: available ? 1 : 0 }}
/>
{available && (
<label className="sg-folded-paper-light-control">
<span>Light</span>
<input
type="range"
disabled={!active}
min="0"
max="1"
step="0.01"
value={control}
onChange={(event) => {
const value = Number(event.currentTarget.value)
controlRef.current = value
setControl(value)
}}
/>
</label>
)}
{available && !reduced && (
<button
className="sg-folded-paper-light-pause"
type="button"
disabled={!active}
aria-label={paused ? "Play animation" : "Pause animation"}
onClick={() => setPaused((value) => !value)}
>
<svg viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="14" height="14" aria-hidden="true">
{paused ? (
<path fill="currentColor" d="M4 2.5 13 8 4 13.5Z" />
) : (
<path fill="currentColor" d="M4 3h3v10H4zm5 0h3v10H9z" />
)}
</svg>
</button>
)}
<style>{`
.sg-folded-paper-light *{box-sizing:border-box}
.sg-folded-paper-light-fallback{position:absolute;inset:0;background:radial-gradient(ellipse at 38% 35%,#f3f0e055,transparent 55%),linear-gradient(145deg,#cfcbc3,#27313b)}
.sg-folded-paper-light-control{position:absolute;bottom:14px;left:14px;display:flex;align-items:center;gap:10px;padding:0 12px;min-height:44px;border-radius:22px;background:#101c40;color:#d1deff;font:11px/1.2 Arial,sans-serif;box-shadow:0 2px 8px #0002}
.sg-folded-paper-light-control input{width:164px;max-width:35vw;height:44px;margin:0;accent-color:#a3bafa;cursor:pointer}
.sg-folded-paper-light-pause{position:absolute;right:14px;bottom:14px;display:grid;place-items:center;width:44px;height:44px;padding:0;border:0;border-radius:50%;color:#d1deff;background:#101c40;box-shadow:0 2px 8px #0002;cursor:pointer}
.sg-folded-paper-light-pause:focus-visible,.sg-folded-paper-light-control input:focus-visible{outline:2px solid #386bd8;outline-offset:3px}
.sg-folded-paper-light-pause:disabled{opacity:.5;cursor:default}
`}</style>
</div>
)
}
Where it works well
Art-direct an abstract material study or sculptural brand texture.
Reduced motion
Automatic light orbit stops. The light-angle control still redraws immediately.
Things to know
Analytically projected height-field relief, not paper deformation or a full 3D mesh. Native WebGL1 with no 3D dependency; static fallback after context loss until remount.