> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: /llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Weight Wave

> A crest of thickness travels along a headline: each character swells from light to black and leans forward as the wave passes, driven by the wght and slnt variable-font axes rather than by transforms.

# Weight Wave

A crest of thickness travels along a headline: each character swells from light to black and leans forward as the wave passes, driven by the wght and slnt variable-font axes rather than by transforms.

**Weight Wave**

```html weight-wave.html
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=1920, height=1080" />
    <title>Weight Wave</title>
    <style>
      /*
        Real variable font, bundled locally — a CDN fetch would be a render-time
        network dependency, and a STATIC font would silently render every
        character at one weight (the whole effect vanishes while nothing errors).
        Subset of Recursive (SIL OFL 1.1) with every axis pinned except the two
        this block drives. Ranges below are the font's REAL fvar records, read
        out of the binary: wght 300..1000 (not 100..900) and slnt -15..0. The
        pinned three are MONO 0 (proportional sans, not the monospace face),
        CASL 0 (linear/neutral, not casual) and CRSV 0 (roman letterforms —
        Recursive's 0.5 default swaps in cursive singlestorey forms as soon as
        slnt goes negative, which would pop mid-wave instead of interpolating).
      */
      @font-face {
        font-family: "Recursive Wave";
        font-style: normal;
        font-weight: 300 1000;
        font-display: block;
        src: url("assets/fonts/Recursive-wght-slnt-latin.woff2") format("woff2");
      }
    </style>
    <script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/gsap@3.14.2/dist/gsap.min.js"></script>
    <style>
      *,
      *::before,
      *::after {
        margin: 0;
        padding: 0;
        box-sizing: border-box;
      }
      html,
      body {
        background: transparent;
        overflow: hidden;
      }
      body {
        width: 1920px;
        height: 1080px;
      }

      #ww-root {
        position: relative;
        width: 1920px;
        height: 1080px;
        overflow: hidden;
      }

      /* Full-bleed fill lives on a CHILD: the producer can drop a background
         painted on the composition root itself (frame renders black). */
      #ww-bg {
        position: absolute;
        inset: 0;
        background: var(--background, #0b0b0d);
      }

      #ww-stage {
        position: absolute;
        inset: 0;
        display: flex;
        align-items: center;
        justify-content: center;
      }

      #ww-line {
        display: block;
        width: 1760px;
        text-align: center;
        white-space: pre;
        font-family: "Recursive Wave", sans-serif;
        font-size: 132px;
        line-height: 1.15;
        letter-spacing: 0.005em;
        color: var(--color, #f5f5f7);
        /* Default instance: the resting end of the wave. If the variable font
           fails to load, every glyph stays here and the probe below shouts. */
        font-variation-settings:
          "wght" 400,
          "slnt" 0;
      }

      /* Per-character axis stamping target: no transform, no opacity — the
         letterforms themselves change. */
      .ww-ch {
        display: inline-block;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <div
      id="ww-root"
      data-composition-id="weight-wave"
      data-start="0"
      data-duration="6"
      data-width="1920"
      data-height="1080"
      data-composition-variables='[
        {"id":"text","type":"string","label":"Headline","default":"PRESSURE MOVES THROUGH TYPE","maxLength":64},
        {"id":"color","type":"color","label":"Text color","default":"#f5f5f7"},
        {"id":"background","type":"color","label":"Background","default":"#0b0b0d"},
        {"id":"weightFrom","type":"number","label":"Weight (rest)","default":400,"min":300,"max":1000,"step":10},
        {"id":"weightTo","type":"number","label":"Weight (crest)","default":1000,"min":300,"max":1000,"step":10},
        {"id":"crestWidth","type":"number","label":"Crest width","default":4,"min":1,"max":24,"step":0.5,"unit":"chars"},
        {"id":"sweepSpeed","type":"number","label":"Sweep speed","default":0.5,"min":0.05,"max":3,"step":0.05,"unit":"passes/s"},
        {"id":"slant","type":"number","label":"Slant at crest","default":-12,"min":-15,"max":0,"step":0.5,"unit":"deg"},
        {"id":"direction","type":"enum","label":"Direction","default":"ltr","options":[{"value":"ltr","label":"Left to right"},{"value":"rtl","label":"Right to left"}]}
      ]'
    >
      <div id="ww-bg"></div>

      <div id="ww-stage" class="clip" data-start="0" data-duration="6" data-track-index="0">
        <div id="ww-line"></div>
      </div>

      <script>
        (function () {
          window.__timelines = window.__timelines || {};

          var FONT_FAMILY = '"Recursive Wave", sans-serif';
          /* The bundled font's real fvar bounds — declared once here, and
             mirrored in the variable min/max above. A slider must not offer a
             weight the font cannot render. */
          var WGHT_MIN = 300;
          var WGHT_MAX = 1000;
          var SLNT_MIN = -15;
          var LINE_MAX_WIDTH = 1760;
          var BASE_FONT_SIZE = 132;
          var MIN_FONT_SIZE = 40;

          var root = document.getElementById("ww-root");
          var line = document.getElementById("ww-line");
          var duration = Number(root.getAttribute("data-duration")) || 6;

          var vars =
            window.__hyperframes && window.__hyperframes.getVariables
              ? window.__hyperframes.getVariables()
              : {};

          function num(value, fallback, min, max) {
            var n = Number(value);
            if (!Number.isFinite(n)) n = fallback;
            return Math.min(max, Math.max(min, n));
          }

          var TEXT =
            typeof vars.text === "string" && vars.text.length
              ? vars.text
              : "PRESSURE MOVES THROUGH TYPE";
          var W_FROM = num(vars.weightFrom, 400, WGHT_MIN, WGHT_MAX);
          var W_TO = num(vars.weightTo, 1000, WGHT_MIN, WGHT_MAX);
          var CREST = num(vars.crestWidth, 4, 1, 24);
          var SPEED = num(vars.sweepSpeed, 0.5, 0.05, 3);
          var SLANT = num(vars.slant, -12, SLNT_MIN, 0);
          var RTL = vars.direction === "rtl";

          /* ── Build one span per character ─────────────────────────────────
             Spaces get a span too, so the crest travels at a constant rate in
             index space and the visual gap between words is honoured. */
          var chars = Array.prototype.slice.call(TEXT);
          var spans = chars.map(function (ch) {
            var el = document.createElement("span");
            el.className = "ww-ch";
            el.textContent = ch;
            line.appendChild(el);
            return el;
          });
          var N = spans.length;

          /* Fit at the HEAVIEST instance so the line never overflows mid-sweep;
             the crest widens glyphs as it passes. */
          var fitCanvas = document.createElement("canvas").getContext("2d");
          var heaviest = Math.max(W_FROM, W_TO);
          var fontSize = BASE_FONT_SIZE;
          while (fontSize > MIN_FONT_SIZE) {
            fitCanvas.font = heaviest + " " + fontSize + "px " + FONT_FAMILY;
            if (fitCanvas.measureText(TEXT).width <= LINE_MAX_WIDTH) break;
            fontSize -= 2;
          }
          line.style.fontSize = fontSize + "px";

          /* ── The wave ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
             Closed form, no accumulators: every frame's state is a pure
             function of the timeline position p, so a direct seek to frame N
             and playing through to frame N produce identical pixels.

               crest(p) = -CREST + wrap(p * duration * SPEED) * (N - 1 + 2*CREST)
               f_i      = clamp(0, 1, 1 - |i - crest| / CREST)
               wght_i   = round(lerp(W_FROM, W_TO, f_i))
               slnt_i   = lerp(0, SLANT, f_i)

             Per-character stagger is not a separate mechanism — it falls out of
             the crest's distance to each index. */
          var state = { p: 0 };
          var travel = N - 1 + 2 * CREST;

          function paint() {
            var pass = state.p * duration * SPEED;
            var phase = pass - Math.floor(pass); // wraps cleanly: f_i == 0 at both ends
            var crest = -CREST + phase * travel;
            if (RTL) crest = N - 1 - crest;
            for (var i = 0; i < N; i++) {
              var f = 1 - Math.abs(i - crest) / CREST;
              if (f < 0) f = 0;
              else if (f > 1) f = 1;
              var wght = Math.round(W_FROM + (W_TO - W_FROM) * f);
              var slnt = SLANT * f;
              spans[i].style.fontVariationSettings =
                '"wght" ' + wght + ', "slnt" ' + slnt.toFixed(2);
            }
          }

          var tl = gsap.timeline({ paused: true });
          tl.to(state, { p: 1, duration: duration, ease: "none", onUpdate: paint }, 0);
          paint();
          window.__timelines["weight-wave"] = tl;

          /* ── The trap, made loud ──────────────────────────────────────────
             A static font (or a failed load) renders every character at one
             weight: the effect is invisible and nothing throws.

             Measuring advance width does NOT detect that here. Recursive is
             DUPLEXED — "HAMBURGEFONSTIV" measures exactly 925px at wght 300 and
             at wght 1000, and identically at slnt 0 and -15. (Nice for layout:
             the headline never reflows as the crest passes. Fatal for a
             width-delta probe, which reads every weight as identical and cries
             wolf on a perfectly healthy font.)

             So rasterize and count ink, which cannot be duplexed away, AND ask
             the font-loading API whether the family is actually there. Both are
             needed: ink alone gives a false PASS when the family is missing,
             because the fallback varies its ink with weight too. */
          function probeAxes() {
            var family = "Recursive Wave";
            var loaded = !!(document.fonts && document.fonts.check('100px "' + family + '"'));
            var c = document.createElement("canvas");
            c.width = 1000;
            c.height = 160;
            var ctx = c.getContext("2d", { willReadFrequently: true });
            function ink(weight) {
              ctx.clearRect(0, 0, c.width, c.height);
              ctx.font = weight + ' 100px "' + family + '"';
              ctx.fillStyle = "#fff";
              ctx.fillText("HAMBURGEFONSTIV", 10, 120);
              var data = ctx.getImageData(0, 0, c.width, c.height).data;
              var n = 0;
              for (var i = 3; i < data.length; i += 4) if (data[i] > 8) n++;
              return n;
            }
            var light = ink(WGHT_MIN);
            var black = ink(WGHT_MAX);
            // Only wght is probed: it is the axis whose absence is measurable
            // from JS, and both axes ship in the same file — if wght is live,
            // the variable font loaded. slnt is verified visually.
            return {
              fontLoaded: loaded,
              wghtLive: black > light * 1.2,
              inkAtMinWeight: light,
              inkAtMaxWeight: black,
            };
          }

          function publishProbe() {
            var status = probeAxes();
            status.ok = status.fontLoaded && status.wghtLive;
            window.__WW_FONT_STATUS = status;
            root.setAttribute("data-ww-font", status.ok ? "ok" : "missing-axes");
            if (!status.ok) {
              console.error(
                "weight-wave: the variable font is not usable (loaded=" +
                  status.fontLoaded +
                  ", ink at wght " +
                  WGHT_MIN +
                  "=" +
                  status.inkAtMinWeight +
                  " vs " +
                  WGHT_MAX +
                  "=" +
                  status.inkAtMaxWeight +
                  "). assets/fonts/Recursive-wght-slnt-latin.woff2 did not load, or was " +
                  "replaced with a static font — every character will render at one weight.",
              );
            }
          }

          if (document.fonts && document.fonts.ready) {
            document.fonts.ready.then(publishProbe);
          } else {
            publishProbe();
          }
        })();
      </script>
    </div>
  </body>
</html>
```

Copy npx hyperframes add weight-wave to the clipboard

That writes `compositions/weight-wave.html`, plus 2 supporting files under `compositions/assets/fonts/`.

## Add it to your video

It runs for 6 seconds at 1920×1080. Paste this into your composition:

```html index.html
<div
  data-composition-id="weight-wave"
  data-composition-src="compositions/weight-wave.html"
  data-start="0"
  data-duration="6"
  data-track-index="1"
  data-width="1920"
  data-height="1080"
></div>
```

Move it in time with `data-start`. Put it on a different timeline row with
`data-track-index`. See [data attributes](/concepts/data-attributes.md) for the rest.

## Variables

Every one of these has a default, so the piece works untouched. Set the ones you
want to change on the element:

| Variable | Default | Accepts | What it does |
| - | - | - | - |
| `text` | `PRESSURE MOVES THROUGH TYPE` | string | |
| `color` | `#f5f5f7` | color | |
| `background` | `#0b0b0d` | color | |
| `weightFrom` | `400` | 300 to 1000, step 10 | |
| `weightTo` | `1000` | 300 to 1000, step 10 | |
| `crestWidth` | `4` | 1chars to 24chars, step 0.5chars | |
| `sweepSpeed` | `0.5` | 0.05passes/s to 3passes/s, step 0.05passes/s | |
| `slant` | `-12` | -15deg to 0deg, step 0.5deg | |
| `direction` | `ltr` | `ltr`, `rtl` | |

Set them with `data-variable-values` on the element that mounts it. These are the
defaults, so this behaves exactly like the preview above until you change one:

```html wrap
<div
  data-composition-id="weight-wave"
  data-composition-src="compositions/weight-wave.html"
  data-variable-values='{"text":"PRESSURE MOVES THROUGH TYPE","color":"#f5f5f7","background":"#0b0b0d","weightFrom":400,"weightTo":1000,"crestWidth":4,"sweepSpeed":0.5,"slant":-12,"direction":"ltr"}'
></div>
```

{/* hf:generated-footer */}

Tagged `typography` `kinetic-type` `title` `variable-font` `text`.

## Related topics

* [Browse the complete Catalog](/catalog.md)
* [Add assets and Catalog items in the browser editor](/studio/assets-and-blocks.md)
* [Put blocks together into one video](/concepts/compositions.md)
