Skip to main content
100%

Gradient Starfield

✓ Published1🌍 Public
CCurran Kelleher
Last edited Oct 9, 2025
Created on Aug 2, 2025

This example shows a 3D starfield animation with 2,000 colorful stars moving through space and slowly rotating around the center. It runs on HTML5 Canvas and vanilla JavaScript, using `requestAnimationFrame` for smooth animation. Stars are generated with random positions, sizes, speeds, and colors, then rendered with perspective projection and recycled when they exit the viewport. The code uses trigonometric functions for rotation and a perspective factor for depth perception, with a translucent background to create subtle trails.

AI-generated description

3D Rotating Starfield

An interactive 3D starfield animation built with HTML5 Canvas and vanilla JavaScript. Features a rotating perspective view with colorful stars moving through 3D space.

Features

  • 3D Perspective: Stars move through 3D space with realistic depth perception
  • Rotation Effect: The entire starfield slowly rotates around the center
  • Colorful Stars: Each star has a randomly generated color
  • Trail Effects: Stars leave subtle trails as they move
  • Responsive Design: Automatically adjusts to window size changes
  • Smooth Animation: Uses requestAnimationFrame for optimal performance

How it Works

  • 2000 stars are generated with random positions, colors, sizes, and speeds
  • Each star exists in 3D space (x, y, z coordinates)
  • Stars rotate around the center using trigonometric functions
  • Perspective projection creates the illusion of depth
  • Stars that move off-screen are recycled to the back of the scene

Usage

Simply open index.html in a web browser. The animation starts automatically and fills the entire viewport.

Customization

You can adjust various parameters in script.js:

  • numStars: Number of stars (default: 2000)
  • MIN_STAR_SIZE / MAX_STAR_SIZE: Star size range
  • MIN_SPEED / MAX_SPEED: Star movement speed range
  • PERSPECTIVE_FACTOR: Controls depth effect intensity
  • ROTATION_SPEED: How fast the starfield rotates

Files

  • index.html: Main HTML structure
  • script.js: Animation logic and 3D calculations
  • styles.css: Basic styling for full-screen display
MIT Licensed

Similar vizzes