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cmotion

cmotion

cmotion is a small, statically-typed programming language for video, motion graphics, and animation. The same source program renders identically as a deterministic offline frame sequence and as a realtime GPU preview.

It is infrastructure, not a product — hosts embed it.

A taste

Section titled “A taste”
use std.shapes.*;
use std.mesh3d.*;
use std.text;
use std.lighting.*;
use std.scene3d.*;
use std.anim.*;


scene title(duration: 6s) -> Frame {
  let bg = rect(width: 1920px, height: 1080px, fill: oklch(0.10, 0.04, 280));


  let rot   = animate { 0s => 0deg,   6s => 360deg } with { repeat: forever };
  let hue   = animate { 0s => 280deg, 4s => 640deg } with { repeat: forever };
  let pulse = animate {
                0s    => 1.00,
                500ms => 1.06,
                1s    => 1.00,
              } with { easing: easing.out_cubic, repeat: forever };


  let wobble = wave(amplitude: 8.6deg, period: 12s);


  let glyph = extrude(text.glyph("C", font: "Inter Bold"), depth: 80px)
                .material(fill: oklch(0.78, 0.20, hue),
                          metalness: 0.25,
                          roughness: 0.35)
                .rotate(x: wobble, y: rot)
                .scale(pulse);


  let lights = [
    ambient(0.35),
    directional(from: (3, 4, 5),    intensity: 1.6),
    directional(from: (-4, -2, -3), intensity: 0.9),
  ];


  compose [
    bg,
    render3d(glyph, lights: lights),
  ]
}
Live preview of the sample above.

A single program contains:

  • Units across domains (1920px, 6s, 280deg, 8.6deg, 0.25) — the type system enforces that a duration is a duration and a length is a length.
  • Perceptual color (oklch(0.78, 0.20, hue)) — animating only the hue gives a smooth color wheel with no muddy midpoints, because oklch / oklab / srgb are first-class color literals in the language.
  • 3D primitives (extrude(text.glyph("C"), depth: 80px)) — mesh3d is part of the stdlib; 3D scenes project back to a 2D Layer via render3d(...) so they compose alongside 2D layers.
  • Composition (compose [bg, render3d(...)]) — layered, typed, declarative.
  • Animation as values — animate { ... } with { repeat: forever } for keyframes and wave(amplitude:, period:) for continuous motion. Multiple independent animations drive different properties of the same mesh (x and y rotation, scale, hue) and loop on their own periods.

What this site is

Section titled “What this site is”

This is the language and toolchain reference. It is being built in public, in stages — see the Roadmap. The Grammar is the first thing locked.

Status

Section titled “Status”

cmotion is pre-release. The grammar spec is at v0.2; no compiler exists yet. The first milestone is the tree-sitter parser.