The toolbox
The 11 libraries and references behind the effects in the gallery — what each one builds, and when to reach for it.
shadcn/uiNot a component library — a component vendor. You copy the source and own the code; the reason half the internet suddenly ships polished UI.→React BitsThis gallery's effects as drop-in React components — split text, counters, auroras, magnets — free, animated, and pasteable.→Aceternity UIMarketing-site wow, componentized — spotlights, 3D cards, infinite marquees. The shortcut to looking expensive.→GSAPThe animation engine behind half this gallery. ScrollTrigger alone explains most scroll-scrubbed sites you've ever saved.→MotionSprings, layout animations, and exit transitions as React primitives — the fastest path from static to alive.→LenisThe open-source smooth scroll everyone actually uses. If a site feels buttery, check the bundle for this first.→RiveInteractive vector animation with a real runtime — state machines make illustrations respond to you, not just play at you.→Three.jsThe reason the browser does 3D at all. Every drivable world and scroll-through bookshelf in this gallery starts here.→CodropsTwo decades of effect tutorials with live demos — where half of these techniques were being taken apart before anyone named them.→The Book of ShadersThe gentlest on-ramp to fragment shaders — read it and "how is that even done" becomes "oh, that's noise and a gradient."→BeamThe animated rainbow glow that rides a card's border, as a drop-in React component — tune it in a visual studio, then copy a prompt written for your agent.→