@lexdotdev/react-organic-particles

GPU-animated organic 3D particle fields for React, built on Three.js and React Three Fiber.

Overview

OrganicParticleField renders a cloud of particles that morphs through organic formations — blobs, nebulae, vortices, waves, turbulent chaos. All motion is computed in shaders on the GPU; the CPU never touches individual particles.

• Shader-based animation, no per-particle CPU updates
• Five presets with per-prop overrides
• Deterministic, seeded particle generation
• Optional pointer-reactive deformation
• Postprocessing bloom, fully disableable
• Automatic quality and pixel-ratio scaling
• Pauses when the tab is hidden or the field scrolls out of view
• Static frame under prefers-reduced-motion
• SSR-safe, with a fallback slot for missing WebGL
• Fully typed, including an imperative handle

Installation

npm install @lexdotdev/react-organic-particles
# or
yarn add @lexdotdev/react-organic-particles
# or
pnpm add @lexdotdev/react-organic-particles

react, react-dom, three and @react-three/fiber are peer dependencies and must be installed in the host app:

npm install three @react-three/fiber

Why some packages are peers: react, react-dom, three and @react-three/fiber must resolve to a single copy in the host app — duplicated copies break hooks, context and rendering. @react-three/drei and @react-three/postprocessing are direct dependencies instead: they are internal implementation details that must version-lock with the library.

Renaming the package

The scoped name is a placeholder that lives only in the name field of package.json. Change it there before publishing; no source file references it.

Basic usage

The component fills its parent, so the parent needs a size:

import { OrganicParticleField } from "@lexdotdev/react-organic-particles";

export function HeroBackground() {
  return (
    <div style={{ position: "relative", width: "100%", height: "100vh" }}>
      <OrganicParticleField />
    </div>
  );
}

Parent container sizing

OrganicParticleField renders a wrapper with width: 100%, height: 100%, position: relative and overflow: hidden. It never sets its own dimensions — the parent must define them, otherwise the field collapses to zero height.

Any sizing strategy works: fixed pixels, viewport units, or flex/grid tracks.

// Viewport-sized hero
<div style={{ position: "relative", height: "100vh" }}>
  <OrganicParticleField preset="nebula" />
</div>

// Fixed-height card
<div style={{ position: "relative", height: 320 }}>
  <OrganicParticleField density={0.3} />
</div>

If the canvas stays blank, a missing parent height is the first thing to check.

Props

Prop	Type	Default	Description
colors	string[]	["#7dd3fc", "#2563eb", "#ffffff"]	1–5 CSS colors; smooth gradient across the formation
density	number	0.5	[0, 1] particle count: ~8k–120k desktop, ~4k–35k mobile
speed	number	1	[0, 3] temporal rate only; shape unchanged
entropy	number	0.5	[0, 1] turbulence / curl / disorder master control
preset	OrganicParticlePreset	"soft-blob"	Base look; explicit props override preset values
svgPath	string	undefined	SVG path data ("d" attribute) or full "<svg>" markup; sampled along the outline when preset is "svg". Missing or invalid input falls back to a blob formation
particleSize	number	1	[0.05, 8] point size multiplier
scale	number	1	[0.1, 10] overall formation scale
bloomIntensity	number	1	[0, 5] bloom strength; 0 disables the bloom composer
opacity	number	1	[0, 1] field opacity
backgroundColor	string	"transparent"	Clear color behind the particles
autoRotate	boolean	false	Rotate the formation continuously
rotationSpeed	number	1	[0, 10] auto-rotation rate
interactive	boolean	false	Subtle pointer-reactive deformation
interactionStrength	number	1	[0, 5] pointer deformation strength
seed	number	1	Deterministic generation seed
paused	boolean	false	Freeze the animation clock
maxPixelRatio	number	2	[1, 3] device pixel ratio cap
quality	OrganicParticleQuality	"auto"	"auto" adapts to the device, or force "low" / "medium" / "high"
fallback	ReactNode	null	Shown when WebGL is unavailable or the context is lost
className	string	—	Class applied to the wrapper element
style	CSSProperties	—	Inline styles applied to the wrapper element
onReady	() => void	—	Called once the field has initialized
"aria-label"	string	—	Exposes the field to assistive tech; decorative (aria-hidden) otherwise

Numeric props are clamped to their documented ranges. The same seed and props always produce the same field.

How density, speed and entropy map to shader behavior

• density changes the particle count only. Formation size, shape and motion are identical at any density.
• speed is a multiplier on the shader time uniform. The animation runs faster or slower; paths and geometry do not change.
• entropy is the master disorder control. It smoothly lerps noise frequency, noise amplitude, curl strength, octave count, local displacement, and per-axis / phase variation. At 0 the formation is calm and coherent; at 1 it is a turbulent cloud.

Presets

Preset	Look
soft-blob	Calm rounded blob with gentle morphing (default)
nebula	Deep-space cloud with wide dispersion and strong bloom
vortex	Swirling spiral with rotational flow
wave	Undulating ripples across the formation
chaos	High-turbulence, rapidly shifting disorder
svg	Particles trace an SVG outline — pair with svgPath

A preset is a starting point: any explicit prop overrides the preset value.

Soft blob:

<OrganicParticleField
  preset="soft-blob"
  colors={["#bae6fd", "#0284c7", "#ffffff"]}
  density={0.7}
  speed={0.35}
  entropy={0.25}
/>

Nebula:

<OrganicParticleField
  preset="nebula"
  colors={["#020617", "#1d4ed8", "#22d3ee", "#ffffff"]}
  density={0.9}
  speed={0.55}
  entropy={0.75}
  bloomIntensity={1.6}
  backgroundColor="#020617"
/>

Chaos:

<OrganicParticleField
  preset="chaos"
  colors={["#8b5cf6", "#ec4899", "#38bdf8"]}
  density={0.8}
  speed={1.2}
  entropy={1}
  interactive
/>

SVG shapes

With preset="svg", particles trace the outline of an SVG shape instead of a procedural formation:

<OrganicParticleField
  preset="svg"
  svgPath="M23.6,0c-3.4,0-6.3,2.7-7.6,5.6C14.7,2.7,11.8,0,8.4,0C3.8,0,0,3.8,0,8.4c0,9.4,9.5,11.9,16,21.2c6.1-9.3,16-12.1,16-21.2C32,3.8,28.2,0,23.6,0z"
  colors={["#f472b6", "#ec4899", "#ffffff"]}
  density={0.6}
  speed={0.4}
  entropy={0.2}
/>

• Points are sampled uniformly by arc length along all subpaths, then auto-centered and uniformly scaled to the standard formation size; the Y axis is flipped (SVG is y-down). Sampling is deterministic for a given (svgPath, density, seed).
• Full <svg> markup is accepted as well; every path inside is used.
• Sampling runs client-side only (DOM APIs via three's SVGLoader). During SSR the component renders its fallback as usual.
• Missing or invalid svgPath input falls back to a blob formation.
• The svg preset ships calm tuned defaults (speed 0.5, entropy 0.2) so the silhouette stays readable; explicit props still override.
• Keep path complexity reasonable: very long or highly detailed paths cost sampling time without improving the silhouette.

Controlled settings

Props are plain React state — drive them from controls:

import { useState } from "react";
import { OrganicParticleField } from "@lexdotdev/react-organic-particles";

export function ControlledField() {
  const [density, setDensity] = useState(0.5);
  const [entropy, setEntropy] = useState(0.5);

  return (
    <div style={{ position: "relative", height: "100vh" }}>
      <OrganicParticleField density={density} entropy={entropy} />
      <label>
        Density
        <input
          type="range"
          min={0}
          max={1}
          step={0.01}
          value={density}
          onChange={(e) => setDensity(Number(e.target.value))}
        />
      </label>
      <label>
        Entropy
        <input
          type="range"
          min={0}
          max={1}
          step={0.01}
          value={entropy}
          onChange={(e) => setEntropy(Number(e.target.value))}
        />
      </label>
    </div>
  );
}

Imperative handle

The component accepts a ref exposing four methods:

Method	Effect
pause()	Freeze the animation clock
resume()	Unfreeze the animation clock
reset()	Restart the animation from t = 0
setTime(time)	Jump the animation clock to time

import { useRef } from "react";
import { OrganicParticleField } from "@lexdotdev/react-organic-particles";
import type { OrganicParticleFieldHandle } from "@lexdotdev/react-organic-particles";

export function ResettableField() {
  const fieldRef = useRef<OrganicParticleFieldHandle>(null);

  return (
    <div style={{ position: "relative", height: "100vh" }}>
      <OrganicParticleField ref={fieldRef} />
      <button type="button" onClick={() => fieldRef.current?.reset()}>
        Reset
      </button>
    </div>
  );
}

Prefer the paused prop for declarative pausing; use the handle for transient commands such as reset() and setTime().

Transparent background

The default backgroundColor is "transparent": the parent or page background shows through, so the field can float over existing content.

<div
  style={{
    position: "relative",
    height: "100vh",
    background: "linear-gradient(#0f172a, #1e293b)",
  }}
>
  <OrganicParticleField opacity={0.9} />
</div>

Light background

On light backgrounds, use a deeper palette and reduce bloom — additive glow on a bright clear color washes out quickly.

<OrganicParticleField
  colors={["#1d4ed8", "#7c3aed", "#0f766e"]}
  backgroundColor="#f8fafc"
  bloomIntensity={0.4}
  density={0.6}
/>

Dark nebula

<OrganicParticleField
  preset="nebula"
  colors={["#020617", "#1d4ed8", "#22d3ee", "#ffffff"]}
  density={0.9}
  speed={0.55}
  entropy={0.75}
  bloomIntensity={1.6}
  backgroundColor="#020617"
/>

Next.js

Importing the package is SSR-safe: no browser globals are touched at module scope. In the app router, mark the consuming component as a client component:

"use client";

import { OrganicParticleField } from "@lexdotdev/react-organic-particles";

export function Hero() {
  return (
    <div style={{ position: "relative", height: "100vh" }}>
      <OrganicParticleField preset="nebula" />
    </div>
  );
}

For maximum safety — or to keep Three.js out of the server bundle — load it with next/dynamic:

"use client";

import dynamic from "next/dynamic";

const OrganicParticleField = dynamic(
  () =>
    import("@lexdotdev/react-organic-particles").then(
      (mod) => mod.OrganicParticleField,
    ),
  { ssr: false },
);

Performance recommendations

• density maps to particle count: ~8k at 0 up to ~120k at 1 on desktop, ~4k–35k on mobile. Start at 0.5 and raise it until the frame rate dips.
• quality="auto" picks settings per device. Force quality="low" for heavy pages or embedded widgets.
• maxPixelRatio caps the device pixel ratio (default 2). Render cost scales with the square of the ratio; 1.5 or 1 is a large saving on high-DPI screens.
• Bloom is a fullscreen postprocessing pass. bloomIntensity={0} removes the composer and its cost entirely.
• Offscreen behavior is automatic: rendering pauses when the tab is hidden or the field scrolls out of the viewport. No extra code needed.
• Keep seed stable across renders — changing it regenerates all particle geometry. Avoid remounting the component for the same reason.
• Memoize colors if you compute it; a new array identity every render forces a gradient rebuild.
• The renderer enables preserveDrawingBuffer so the canvas can be captured (screenshots, GIF export). The cost is negligible on modern GPUs.

Reduced motion

When the OS or browser reports prefers-reduced-motion, the field renders a single static frame and the animation loop stays idle. Rendering also pauses automatically when the tab is hidden or the component is scrolled out of view. No props are required for either behavior.

Browser support

Works in current evergreen browsers (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari, including iOS Safari) with WebGL1 or WebGL2. Where WebGL is unavailable — or the GPU context is lost — the component renders the fallback prop instead:

<OrganicParticleField fallback={<p>Interactive background unavailable.</p>} />

Troubleshooting

• Blank canvas — the parent almost certainly has no height. The field is 100% x 100%; give the parent explicit dimensions.
• Washed-out or blown highlights — lower bloomIntensity (the bloom threshold is tuned for dark backgrounds). On light backgrounds use 0.3–0.5, or 0 to disable bloom.
• Nothing moves — check the paused prop or a pause() call, speed={0}, and OS-level reduced motion, which forces a static frame.
• The svg preset shows a blob — svgPath is missing or failed to parse. Validate the path data in an SVG viewer.
• Exported GIF has hard glow edges on a transparent background — GIF alpha is 1-bit; semi-transparent glow pixels are quantized to fully on or off. Export over a solid backgroundColor for softer edges.
• Field disappears after a GPU reset — the context was lost; the component renders fallback in this state. Remounting recreates the context.
• "Multiple instances of Three.js" warning or broken rendering — more than one copy of three is installed. Run npm dedupe three (or the yarn/pnpm equivalent) and keep a single version.
• Particles regenerate unexpectedly — seed or colors changed identity. Keep the seed constant and memoize computed color arrays.

Development

npm run dev       # playground with live reload
npm run validate  # format check, lint, typecheck, tests, build
npm run test      # unit tests
npm run build     # library bundle

The repo uses Biome for formatting and linting (npm run format, npm run lint). The playground in playground/ has a light, minimal UI: it exercises every prop, generates copy-pasteable JSX, and can export the live field as an animated GIF (sidebar Export section — duration, fps, width; transparent backgrounds are preserved and quantized to GIF's 1-bit alpha).

License

MIT