FORGE MOTION — Cinematic Animation & Physics Skill

FORGE MOTION — Cinematic Animation & Physics Skill

Motion is not decoration. It is communication. Every animation must answer: what does this movement mean to the user?

DIAL CONFIGURATION

CHOREOGRAPHY:    8   (1=Simple fade / 10=Hollywood-grade sequencing)
PHYSICS_GRADE:   8   (1=Linear ease / 10=Mass, friction, spring simulation)
PERFORMANCE_CAP: 9   (1=Any GPU cost / 10=60fps on mid-range Android)

SECTION 1 — THE MOTION PHILOSOPHY

Meaning Before Movement

Before adding any animation, answer:

1. What state change is this communicating?
2. Does removing this animation hurt comprehension?
3. Is this respecting prefers-reduced-motion?

If #2 is "no" and #3 is "no" → remove the animation.

Hierarchy of Motion

1. Functional — Loading states, page transitions, validation feedback. Always present.
2. Feedback — Button press, hover response, drag confirmation. Always present.
3. Contextual — List stagger, scroll reveals, shared element. Present when CHOREOGRAPHY ≥ 4.
4. Ambient — Background meshes, floating particles, cursor trails. Present when CHOREOGRAPHY ≥ 7.

prefers-reduced-motion

Every animation MUST respect the user's system preference:

@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
  *, *::before, *::after {
    animation-duration: 0.01ms !important;
    animation-iteration-count: 1 !important;