Dynamics.js, a JavaScript library to create physics-based animations • Hacker News Board

Re: Dynamics.js, a JavaScript library to create physics-based animations

#11

Post by zecho » Mon, Jun 15, 2015, 6:28 PM UTC

ask5 wrote: post #9

zecho wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. I agree. I too feel this kind of animation library should not be used where animation libraries make little or no sense to use them. In fact, I'd go a step further and agree that no animation libraries should be used when animation libraries are not needed, not even this one, which looks pretty neat. Where should animation libraries be used? I'd think they should be used where a user would appreciate an animatio…

websites for Kids is one of the places where animated UI can be used.

yes, I agree. kids love animations. adults don't like animations, except for creepy adults who watch cartoons and college kids that still watch The Simpsons.

Re: Dynamics.js, a JavaScript library to create physics-based animations

#12

Post by BFay » Mon, Jun 15, 2015, 6:30 PM UTC

shogun21 wrote: post #10

zecho wrote: post #8

As a hacker on Hacker News I'd have to agree with the others that animations are a Very Bad Thing. They are distracting to me, an easily distracted person, who is currently avoiding work by reading Hacker News this afternoon.

How do you feel about the animations used in material design? Animations for the sake of having animation is really distracting. But if used subtly and with purpose, they could help enhance the user experience.

Since I'm aware of material design, I find myself constantly looking for the animations and trying to evaluate how they work on me, which kind of defeats the purpose. I keep seeing those circles everywhere!

I think it's the right direction, though; animating to subtly direct user attention to the right place.

Re: Dynamics.js, a JavaScript library to create physics-based animations

#13

Post by zecho » Mon, Jun 15, 2015, 6:31 PM UTC

shogun21 wrote: post #10

zecho wrote: post #8

As a hacker on Hacker News I'd have to agree with the others that animations are a Very Bad Thing. They are distracting to me, an easily distracted person, who is currently avoiding work by reading Hacker News this afternoon.

How do you feel about the animations used in material design? Animations for the sake of having animation is really distracting. But if used subtly and with purpose, they could help enhance the user experience.

Animation for the sake of animation is sometimes called "art." I'm fine with that.

Re: Dynamics.js, a JavaScript library to create physics-based animations

#14

Post by agumonkey » Mon, Jun 15, 2015, 6:31 PM UTC

zecho wrote: post #6

agumonkey wrote: post #4

Anybody feeling this kind of animations aren't bringing a lot to the table ? I was thrilled to watch lollipop material design (and even kitkat project butter), but it quickly faded (sic). Instant, simple interfaces are needed in many tasks where I don't enjoy or even have the luxury to waste time on distracting animations.

Yes. I agree. I too feel this kind of animation library should not be used where animation libraries make little or no sense to use them. In fact, I'd go a step further and agree that no animation libraries should be used when animation libraries are not needed, not even this one, which looks pretty neat. Where should animation libraries be used? I'd think they should be used where a user would appreciate an animatio…

Anything not time constrained, where thinking and subtle communication can take place. Otherwise the amount of animation can be reduced to a tiny bit without losing much. Or maybe for first times, so people can understand the flow of data through transitions between pages / frames / etc and when familiar, they can navigate through parts of the GUI without animation-helpers.

Re: Dynamics.js, a JavaScript library to create physics-based animations

#15

Post by untog » Mon, Jun 15, 2015, 6:34 PM UTC

zecho wrote: post #8

As a hacker on Hacker News I'd have to agree with the others that animations are a Very Bad Thing. They are distracting to me, an easily distracted person, who is currently avoiding work by reading Hacker News this afternoon.

As a hacker on Hacker News you're not a typical user.

Don't get me wrong, I feel like a lot of animation is unnecessary but if you did what Hacker News advised every webpage would look the same in Lynx as it does in Chrome. Animations can serve a purpose - to focus the user's eye, to give them a sense of where something is going to and from, etc. etc.

They're not universally bad, and this is a fascinating library - it deserves more credit than "animations are bad".

Re: Dynamics.js, a JavaScript library to create physics-based animations

#16

Post by talmand » Mon, Jun 15, 2015, 6:35 PM UTC

It's a nice library but I'm failing to understand the "physics-based" part.

I'm not seeing anything "physics" in the traditional sense; just manipulating the matrix3d in a transform property of an element in real-time to provide difficult or impossible effects with CSS alone.

Re: Dynamics.js, a JavaScript library to create physics-based animations

#17

Post by pimlottc » Mon, Jun 15, 2015, 6:35 PM UTC

Neat. Couldn't this be implemented as a generator of easing functions, allowing the animation code to be handled by another project?

http://easings.net/

Re: Dynamics.js, a JavaScript library to create physics-based animations

#18

Post by zecho » Mon, Jun 15, 2015, 6:39 PM UTC

untog wrote: post #15

zecho wrote: post #8

As a hacker on Hacker News I'd have to agree with the others that animations are a Very Bad Thing. They are distracting to me, an easily distracted person, who is currently avoiding work by reading Hacker News this afternoon.

As a hacker on Hacker News you're not a typical user. Don't get me wrong, I feel like a lot of animation is unnecessary but if you did what Hacker News advised every webpage would look the same in Lynx as it does in Chrome. Animations can serve a purpose - to focus the user's eye, to give them a sense of where something is going to and from, etc. etc. They're not universally bad, and this is a fascinating library - i…

Yes. I agree. Not all animations are bad. I think animated GIFs can also be an entertaining distraction from hacking on my business.

Re: Dynamics.js, a JavaScript library to create physics-based animations

#19

Post by z3t4 » Mon, Jun 15, 2015, 6:40 PM UTC

For anyone wanting to do graphics in web pages I would recommend looking into the canvas tag. Example code:

  with (context) {
    beginPath();
    moveTo(100, 100);
    lineTo(100, 300);
    lineTo(300, 300);
    closePath();
    stroke();
  }

Re: Dynamics.js, a JavaScript library to create physics-based animations

#20

Post by mhd » Mon, Jun 15, 2015, 6:41 PM UTC

agumonkey wrote: post #4

Anybody feeling this kind of animations aren't bringing a lot to the table ? I was thrilled to watch lollipop material design (and even kitkat project butter), but it quickly faded (sic). Instant, simple interfaces are needed in many tasks where I don't enjoy or even have the luxury to waste time on distracting animations.

That's a bit of the problem with showcases, they tend to look like 90s flash animations, but that doesn't mean that the intention is recreating the exact same effect on regular web pages. But once you build a generic tool, showing off every feature isn't necessarily a bad idea, even if spuriously using it would be.

But generally I agree, animations are easily overused. They're quite useful for showing (and sometimes hiding) UI elements, as this leads to a interface devoid of shock and surprise. Heck, I think I read something about that in a paper that predates the web…