We're losing perspective on 3D CSS | Hacker News Reader

We're losing perspective on 3D CSS

logicalfriday.com

28 pointsfiepw13 comments

I think as an art project it's interesting, like building the Sistine Chapel out of lego blocks, but every time I read about one of these demos there are always several people in the thread who complain that it maxes out their CPU, so it's not very practical. This problem may one day be solved, but using CSS as a programming language would for me be a horrible prospect. That being said, if you told me several years ago that people would be using JavaScript on the server I would have laughed.

No one is going to solve the problem unless there's a need for it. Developers jumping in and using CSS now creates the need. It's probably just a matter of getting enough hardware acceleration. I sort of agree that WebGL is probably a better solution. However, people experimenting can lead to serendipity. At the very least, browser vendors now have other to optimize their CSS implementations.

> Developers jumping in and using CSS now creates the need.

Agreed. That's a good thing. I haven't looked into why it's so slow but I can't think of a reason why it can't be faster.

Is anyone actually using 3D shapes in CSS in practice for anything more than novelty? If they are, I haven't seen it. It's been more of a "look what I can do with just CSS", because it's fun to hack around with new technology.

I played around creating a flippable-card based UI for use on mobile:

http://experimenting.alastair.is/cardswipe/

I think it has potential. And yes, I know it doesn't feel quite right (or work on desktop), it was the result of a few hours of work. The hardware-accelerated nature of it means that it does feel very smooth indeed.

I have built a very specific product preview with 3D CSS (http://www.foldable.me) and have experimented some more with 3D CSS, but struggled to find a usecase for it (other than some funky UI animations).

Exactly. It's the CSS equivalent of writin a Brainfuck interpreter in C++ template metaprogramming.

http://rfw.name/blog/2012/11/12/brainfuck_with_templates.htm...

well, declaring a css transform as 3d, even if just using it for 2d transforms, seems to trigger GPU acceleration in some browsers, notably iOS. so, it's a new hack to use (margin: 0 auto; is so last year).

Not sure I buy the "anything outside of flat objects is a hack" statement. After all most 3d engines boil everything down to triangles...

If you are creating an app with node-webkit, you could probably find a use for 3D shapes without worrying about cross browser issues.

I think that creating 3D content using a WebGL-based application and then allowing export to 3D CSS may be a better solution rather than just creating the 3D in a CSS special purpose application. But admittedly, I'm biased because I'm a developer behind http://clara.io

You're right, 3D CSS still has a usecase though, it's just very restricted. Clara.io looks like a pretty sweet tool btw!

Be sure to apply for the beta, I can let you in immdiatel....

Clara.io is built using ThreeJS as your article recommends. I'm actually the third largest contributor to ThreeJS by commmits, so we are giving back where it matters too.

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