About
An empty media panel while something renders: halftone dots ride a slow diagonal swell behind the label. For video, image and canvas placeholders.
Built with React and Tailwind. Copy the prompt and paste it into Claude Code, Cursor or Lovable: your agent adds Halftone Loader to your project and fits it to your theme.
Code
How Halftone Loader is used: the demo's code. The component's own source comes with a free account.
Usage.tsx
"use client"
import * as React from "react"
import { HalftoneLoader } from "@/components/ui/halftone-loader"
const FIT_CSS = "html,body{overflow:hidden}[data-fit-small] [data-fit-hide]{display:none!important}"
/**
* 21st shows a demo in a small frame: about 674 by 421 on a component page, 358 by 224 on a
* phone and 245 by 139 on a profile card. A demo taller than its frame gets scrollbars, which
* render white on dark pages. FitFrame fills the frame exactly instead.
*
* - "scale": the content shrinks until it fits, centered. For visuals such as orbs.
* - "crop": the content stays at full size from the top and fades out at the bottom. For text
* that streams in, where a changing scale would make the page breathe.
*
* Anything marked `data-fit-hide` (state buttons, the chatcn.dev line) drops out in frames
* shorter than `hideBelow`, so a profile card shows the visual alone.
*/
function FitFrame({
children,
mode = "scale",
hideBelow = 360,
}: {
children: React.ReactNode
mode?: "scale" | "crop"
hideBelow?: number
}) {
const content = React.useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null)
const [cropped, setCropped] = React.useState(false)
React.useLayoutEffect(() => {
const el = content.current
if (!el) return
const measure = () => {
const vw = window.innerWidth
const vh = window.innerHeight
el.toggleAttribute("data-fit-small", vh < hideBelow)
// Layout sizes ignore the transform, so measuring never feeds back.
const w = Math.max(el.offsetWidth, el.scrollWidth)
const h = Math.max(el.offsetHeight, el.scrollHeight)
const scale = mode === "scale" ? Math.min(1, vw / w, vh / h) : 1
el.style.transform = scale < 1 ? `scale(${scale})` : ""
setCropped(mode === "crop" && h > vh + 1)
}
measure()
const observer = new ResizeObserver(measure)
observer.observe(el)
window.addEventListener("resize", measure)
return () => {
observer.disconnect()
window.removeEventListener("resize", measure)
}
}, [mode, hideBelow])
const fade = "linear-gradient(to bottom, #000 calc(100% - 40px), transparent)"
return (
<div
className="flex w-full justify-center overflow-hidden"
style={{
height: "100dvh",
alignItems: mode === "crop" ? "flex-start" : "center",
maskImage: cropped ? fade : undefined,
WebkitMaskImage: cropped ? fade : undefined,
}}
>
<style>{FIT_CSS}</style>
<div
ref={content}
className="w-full shrink-0"
style={{ transformOrigin: mode === "crop" ? "top center" : "center" }}
>
{children}
</div>
</div>
)
}
/** An empty canvas panel while the first frame of a video renders. */
function HalftoneLoaderDemo() {
return (
<div className="bg-(color:--chatcn-inset) rounded-(--chatcn-radius-xl) w-full max-w-3xl overflow-hidden">
<HalftoneLoader label="Rendering the first frame" className="aspect-video">
<span className="text-[0.8125rem]/[1.25rem] text-(color:--chatcn-fg-subtle) tabular-nums">
1920 × 1080, 24 fps
</span>
</HalftoneLoader>
</div>
)
}
/** The line under each 21st demo that points back to the kit. */
function MoreOn({ slug, children }: { slug: string; children: React.ReactNode }) {
return (
<p data-fit-hide className="text-[0.75rem]/[1rem] text-(color:--chatcn-fg-faint) text-center text-balance">
{children}{" "}
<a
href={`https://chatcn.dev/docs/components/${slug}`}
target="_blank"
rel="noopener"
className="text-(color:--chatcn-fg-subtle) hover:text-(color:--chatcn-fg) underline underline-offset-2"
>
chatcn.dev
</a>
</p>
)
}
/** An empty canvas panel while the first frame of a video renders. */
export default function HalftoneLoaderPreview() {
return (
<FitFrame>
<div className="flex w-full flex-col items-center justify-center gap-8 p-6">
<HalftoneLoaderDemo />
<MoreOn slug="halftone-loader">ASCII, dot matrix and pixel loaders live on</MoreOn>
</div>
</FitFrame>
)
}








