oversized-cursor

# Oversized Cursor — the eye-carrier A deliberately oversized macOS-style pointer that travels the frame as a _visible protagonist_: it enters from off-screen, walks the viewer's eye to the next point of interest, clicks to cause the next thing that happens, and leaves. Production-proven across multiple launch films. **Why it exists.** Big cursor movement is one of the cheapest high-yield motion sources in a launch video: one element, transform-only tweens, and it (1) brings the eye across the screen on scenes that would otherwise read as dead, (2) gives causal ignition to morphs/transitions ("the click did that"), and (3) segments the eye out of a stale state when kicking off a new scene or a complex animation sequence. Bigger is better — an actual-size cursor disappears at video scale. ## Size & look (house convention) - **Full-frame scenes: `7cqw`** (≈134px at 1920). In-mock / small-frame variants: `4.6–5.5cqw`. Never smaller. - One SVG arrow geometry everywhere. Two proven fills — white body + black stroke, or black body (`#1c1c1c`) + white stroke (1.4px). Pick per scene contrast, keep it constant per film. - **Brand-motif cursors (the power play).** The macOS arrow is the DEFAULT, not a mandate. When the subject brand has a recognizable cursor identity — a collaborative design tool's colored multiplayer arrow with a name tag (Figma-style), a creative suite's precision crosshair, a distinctive product pointer — use THAT cursor instead: instantly legible brand language for anyone who knows the product. Same laws apply unchanged (oversized scale, physical entry/exit, tip-targeting, click-ignition), and a name-tag variant travels as one rigid unit (tag trailing the arrow). Reach for it only when the motif is genuinely referenceable; a cursor nobody recognizes is just a weird arrow — default back to macOS. - `filter: drop-shadow(0 4px 6px rgba(0,0,0,.3))`, `pointer-events: none`, `z-index` above all scene content, `will-change: transform`. ```css #root .cursor { position: absolute; left: 48%; top: 115%; /* off-screen below — the resting pose IS off-screen */ width: 7cqw; height: 7cqw; z-index: 20; filter: drop-shadow(0 4px 6px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.3)); pointer-events: none; will-change: transform; } ``` ## Entry law — physical, never revealed The cursor **always enters from off-screen** (canonical: from below, `top:115–120%`) and travels to its first target in one decelerating glide. It must _feel like it entered the room_. Never opacity-fade it in at a resting position, never mask-reveal it — that reads as a glitch (a real, repeatedly observed failure mode). - Default path: **straight up the y-axis** to the target — no fragmented diagonals. A diagonal is fine when it IS the story (entering toward an off-axis target), but it is one continuous vector either way. - `duration: 0.4–0.92s`, `ease: power3.out`, `immediateRender: false` on the fromTo. ```js tl.fromTo( cursor, { left: "48.6%", top: "115%" }, { left: "48.6%", top: "55%", duration: 0.85, ease: "power3.out", immediateRender: false }, 0.25, ); ``` ## Tip-targeting & the click tap The hot-spot is the arrow TIP, not the box center. Land the **tip** on the target's center, and pivot all press scaling on the tip: `transformOrigin: '21% 14%'` (for the house arrow path in a 24-unit viewBox). Click = asymmetric compress/expand (1:2 ratio reads as a real tap): ```js tl.to(cursor, { scale: 0.84, duration: 0.1, ease: "power2.in", transformOrigin: "21% 14%" }, t); tl.to( cursor, { scale: 1, duration: 0.22, ease: "power2.out", transformOrigin: "21% 14%" }, t + 0.1, ); ``` **The target's reaction is a separate, parallel tween** (button: `scale: 0.94` + press color/shadow, starting at the same `t`). Cursor-only taps (e.g. focusing a text input) get NO target reaction. Pair with `cursor-click-ripple` / `press-release-spring` for the target side. ## The click IGNITES the next beat Never let a morph, typing run, window transform, or scene-defining animation simply _start_. Park the cursor on the trigger and let the click cause it, same-frame: - click ▸ menu/submenu cascade, toggle flip - click ▸ typing kickoff into an input - click ▸ composer morph-down / window shrink - click ▸ logo ignition / flight launch - click ▸ play-state flip + UI-life wake in a product mock During long beats it doesn't own (typing, narration), the cursor **drifts aside** (0.5–0.9s, `power2.out`) — never sits frozen on top of the action, never wobbles idly. ## Exit law & cross-scene handoff Two sanctioned exits — both physical, **never an opacity fade in place**: 1. **Leave the frame**: accelerate off the nearest edge with `power2.in` (`left:'118%'`, `left:'-12%'`, or `top:'116%'`), 0.5–0.7s. 2. **Cut-the-curve handoff**: in the final ~0.3s before a hard cut, the cursor starts accelerating (`power2.in`) toward the NEXT scene's first click point, covering the first ~1/3 of that path; the next composition `gsap.set`s the cursor at the handoff pose and continues with `power2.out` at matched velocity. The cursor itself becomes the carrier element that stitches the seam: ```js // scene A, last 0.3s — start the journey: tl.to(cursor, { left: "40.7%", top: "63.7%", duration: 0.3, ease: "power2.in" }, CUT - 0.3); // scene B, t=0 — finish it at matched velocity: gsap.set(cursorB, { left: "40.7%", top: "63.7%" }); tl.to(cursorB, { left: "22%", top: "45%", duration: 0.6, ease: "power2.out" }, 0); ``` ## Checklist - [ ] ≥ 7cqw full-frame (4.6–5.5cqw inside a mock) — when unsure, bigger - [ ] enters from off-screen on one continuous vector (no fade/mask reveal) - [ ] tip lands on the target center; press pivots on `transformOrigin: '21% 14%'` - [ ] every click causes something, same-frame - [ ] drifts aside during beats it doesn't own; zero idle wobble - [ ] exits physically (off-frame or cut-the-curve handoff) — no fade-in-place