Liquid Droplet Spinner
Four droplets circle a faint track at different speeds and melt into each other as they pass, then pinch apart again. An inline SVG goo filter in objectBoundingBox units makes the liquid necks.
Also known as: gooey spinner, metaball spinner, liquid loader.
HTML
<div class="ldr-gooey-spinner" role="status" aria-label="Loading">
<svg width="0" height="0" aria-hidden="true">
<filter id="ldr-gooey-spinner-goo" primitiveUnits="objectBoundingBox">
<feGaussianBlur stdDeviation="0.05" />
<feColorMatrix values="1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 20 -9" />
</filter>
</svg>
<div class="ldr-gooey-spinner-drops"><span></span><span></span><span></span><span></span></div>
</div>CSS
.ldr-gooey-spinner {
--s: var(--ldr-size, 48px);
--c: var(--ldr-color, #3b82f6);
position: relative;
width: var(--s);
height: var(--s);
}
.ldr-gooey-spinner::before {
content: "";
position: absolute;
inset: 16%;
border: calc(var(--s) / 24) solid color-mix(in srgb, var(--ldr-color, #3b82f6) 18%, transparent);
border-radius: 50%;
}
.ldr-gooey-spinner > svg {
position: absolute;
}
.ldr-gooey-spinner-drops {
position: absolute;
inset: 0;
filter: url(#ldr-gooey-spinner-goo);
}
.ldr-gooey-spinner-drops span {
position: absolute;
inset: 0;
animation: ldr-gooey-spinner-spin var(--t) cubic-bezier(0.45, 0.05, 0.55, 0.95) infinite;
}
.ldr-gooey-spinner-drops span::before {
content: "";
position: absolute;
top: 16%;
left: 50%;
width: var(--d);
height: var(--d);
margin: calc(var(--d) / -2) 0 0 calc(var(--d) / -2);
border-radius: 50%;
background: var(--c);
}
.ldr-gooey-spinner-drops span:nth-child(1) { --d: calc(var(--s) * 0.26); --t: 1.5s; }
.ldr-gooey-spinner-drops span:nth-child(2) { --d: calc(var(--s) * 0.2); --t: 2s; }
.ldr-gooey-spinner-drops span:nth-child(3) { --d: calc(var(--s) * 0.22); --t: 2.5s; }
.ldr-gooey-spinner-drops span:nth-child(4) { --d: calc(var(--s) * 0.17); --t: 3s; }
@keyframes ldr-gooey-spinner-spin {
to { transform: rotate(360deg); }
}
@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
.ldr-gooey-spinner, .ldr-gooey-spinner *, .ldr-gooey-spinner::before, .ldr-gooey-spinner::after, .ldr-gooey-spinner *::before, .ldr-gooey-spinner *::after {
animation-duration: 3s;
}
}Customizing this loader
- Color: set
--ldr-coloron the element or a parent. Currently previewing#3b82f6. - Size: set
--ldr-size. Every dimension in the snippet is derived from it. Currently previewing64px. - Speed: change the duration on the
animationshorthand. Delays on the children are relative, so they keep their rhythm. - Accessibility: the root carries
role="status"and anaria-labelso screen readers announce the wait. The reduced-motion rule at the end slows the animation for users who asked for less motion.