# animation-principles

Calculates timing, cubic-bezier curves, and stagger offsets for UI transitions. Solves stiff or robotic movement with physics-based motion rules.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 3000 installs · ★ 161
- Author: iart-ai
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/iart-ai/motion-design-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/animation-principles/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-06-22
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/animation-principles

## What it does

The skill diagnoses stiff or robotic movement across user interfaces. It remains independent of any specific framework. Instead of vague advice, it outputs concrete numbers: millisecond durations, `cubic-bezier` curves, and stagger delays ready for production code.

Motion structure relies on three distinct layers: primary hero movement, secondary reactions, and ambient texture. Timing scales directly with screen travel. Micro-interactions take 100 to 200 ms, while modal transitions take 200 to 400 ms. Relying on default symmetric 33% easing makes motion feel sluggish, so the skill enforces asymmetric curves with deceleration influence pushed to 80–90%.

Group reveals follow strict pacing limits. Sequential list items stagger by 40–80 ms, and total reveal time stays under 800 ms to prevent dragging tails. Under the one-third rule, no more than one third of screen elements may move simultaneously.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add iart-ai/motion-design-skills --skill animation-principles -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/animation-principles/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/animation-principles/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add iart-ai/motion-design-skills --skill animation-principles -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/animation-principles/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add iart-ai/motion-design-skills --skill animation-principles -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/animation-principles/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install iart-ai/motion-design-skills animation-principles
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/animation-principles/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add iart-ai/motion-design-skills --skill animation-principles -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/iart-ai/motion-design-skills --path skills/animation-principles
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/animation-principles/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add iart-ai/motion-design-skills --skill animation-principles -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/iart-ai/motion-design-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/animation-principles/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- calculate cubic-bezier easing curves for UI enters and exits
- determine stagger offsets and total duration caps for list reveals
- eliminate robotic movement using anticipation and follow-through
- quantize animation keyframes to musical tempo grids

## Example prompts
- My list stagger animation looks robotic, what delays and curves should I use?
- Pick a duration and cubic-bezier curve for a full-screen modal entrance
- Review this button tap transition and make it feel snappier

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: 57812d907abc8c1c.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE 57812d907abc8c1c
```text
---
name: animation-principles
description: This skill should be used when the user asks to "make this animation feel natural", "fix motion that feels stiff/floaty/cheap", "my animation looks robotic", "choose an easing curve", "how do I use the Graph Editor", "add overshoot or bounce", "Easy Ease isn't enough", "make snappy motion", "pick a duration for this transition", "stagger a list animation", "sync animation to a beat", or "review motion for good timing". It is the tech-agnostic foundation for deciding how something should move.
version: 0.1.0
---

# Motion Principles

Decide how something should move so it feels right — independent of the tool used to build it. This skill answers timing, easing, spacing, weight, and rhythm. It does not pick a tech stack; it produces concrete numbers (durations, cubic-bezier curves, stagger offsets, spring configs) ready to hand to any implementation.

## When to use

- Motion feels stiff, floaty, mechanical, robotic, or cheap and needs diagnosis.
- Choosing a clip or transition's duration, easing curve, and stagger offset.
- Reviewing whether motion respects physics intuition (weight, follow-through, arcs).
- Synchronizing keyframes to a musical beat or edit accent.

## Three pillars — settle these before any number

Every piece of motion should answer three questions *before* you pick a duration or curve. Skip them and you get technically-correct motion that feels like nothing. These are the shared vocabulary the rest of the collection refers back to.

| Pillar | The question | What it drives |
|---|---|---|
| **Emotional intent** | What should the viewer *feel*? (joy, calm, urgency, trust, elegance) | Easing, duration, amplitude/overshoot |
| **Visual narrative** | What's the micro-story? Setup → action → resolution | Sequencing, staging, what enters when |
| **Motion craft** | How do we make it believable? | Physics, secondary motion, arcs, follow-through |

## Three motion layers — depth, not flatness

Flat motion = only the main thing moves. Believable motion runs three layers at once:

- **Primary** — the main action the eye follows (the hero move).
- **Secondary** — supporting richness reacting to the primary (a shadow shifting, an icon nudging, a label settling late).
- **Ambient** — background life that never demands attention (slow gradient drift, a low-contrast pulse).

> The judgment layer (`motion-art-direction`) calls these **Hero / Support / Texture** — same three layers, ranked for *what earns motion*. Primary≈Hero, Secondary≈Support, Ambient≈Texture.

## Core principles

### Easing is the single biggest lever
```
END THIRD-PARTY FILE 57812d907abc8c1c

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