Trying Out That Effect
So, I was scrolling online the other day, you know how it is, just killing time. And I bumped into this really cool visual thing. Someone mentioned it was inspired by, or maybe directly from, a guy named Taisei Ota. Never heard of him before, honestly. But this effect, it looked neat. Simple, but really smooth. Caught my eye.
I thought, “Hey, I could probably build something like that.” Seemed like a fun little challenge for the afternoon. So, I fired up my code editor. Didn’t have the original code, obviously, just some video or GIF of it running. Had to guess how it was put together.
First Steps: Breaking it Down
I started trying to figure out the basics. Looked like some particles or shapes moving around in a specific pattern. Maybe some CSS animations? Or perhaps JavaScript controlling things on a canvas? I decided to go with JavaScript and Canvas first, seemed more flexible.
- Got a basic canvas set up.
- Drew some simple shapes on it.
- Tried making them move. Just basic random movement first.
Okay, that part was easy enough. But the effect I saw had this specific, smooth, almost flowing motion. Mine just looked… jerky. Random.
Hitting the Wall
Spent a good hour just tweaking speeds and directions. Still didn’t look right. Started searching online for “smooth particle animation” or similar stuff. Found lots of complex examples, way more involved than what I thought this Taisei Ota thing was. Got a bit frustrated. Was it really that complicated? Or was I just missing something obvious?
It reminded me of this one time years ago, working on a completely different project. We had this bug, seemed tiny, but it held up everything for days. Turned out it was just one line of code, typed wrong. One character! Made you feel pretty dumb afterwards. Maybe this was like that.
Getting Somewhere
Took a break, grabbed a coffee. Came back and looked at the original effect again, really closely this time. Noticed the particles seemed to follow some kind of invisible force field, or maybe reacted to the mouse cursor in a subtle way. Ah! Maybe that was it.
So, I added some simple logic. Make the particles gently move away from the mouse cursor. Played with the strength of that ‘push’. Suddenly, things started looking way better. Smoother. More organic, I guess.
It wasn’t exactly like the Taisei Ota effect I saw, not pixel-perfect. But it had a similar feel. Good enough for me, for an afternoon’s tinkering.
What I Learned
Ended up with a neat little animation. More importantly, it was a good reminder. Sometimes things look simple on the surface, but there’s clever thinking underneath. And sometimes, you just gotta step back, look closer, and try a different angle. Didn’t become an expert overnight, didn’t perfectly copy Taisei Ota, but I got my hands dirty, figured something out. That’s usually the point, right? Just trying stuff out.