Creating an array of HTMLDiv Elements to animate (Typescript, React)

[fr8877]

import React, { ReactNode, useLayoutEffect, useRef, createRef } from "react";
import { gsap } from "gsap";
import ScrollTrigger from 'gsap/ScrollTrigger';

gsap.registerPlugin(ScrollTrigger);

export interface Props {
    letter: string;  
}

const Header = () => {
    const container = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
    const windowSize = useRef([window.innerWidth, window.innerHeight]);
    const nameRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);


    let name: string = "MY NAME";
    let nameArr: string[] = name.split('');
    const letterRefs: any[] = [];

    useLayoutEffect(function(): any {
        let width = windowSize.current[0];
        let height= windowSize.current[1];
        let x = (): number => {
            return Math.random() * (width - 200);
            }
        let y = (): number => {
            return Math.random() * (height - 200);
            }
        console.log(letterRefs);
        letterRefs.forEach(letterRef => {
            let floating = gsap.fromTo(letterRef.current, {
                x: x,
                y: y,
            },
            {
                id: "letters",
                duration: Math.random() * 100, 
                x: x,
                y: y,
                
            }); 
           let scrollAnim =  gsap.to(letterRef.current, {
                x: (): number => {
                    if (nameRef.current){
                        // floating.pause();

                        let nameWidth = nameRef.current.clientWidth;
                        return (width/2) - (nameWidth/2);
                     } else {
                        return width/1.5
                     }
                    
                },
                y: (): number  => {
                    if (nameRef.current){
                        let nameHeight = nameRef.current.clientHeight;
                        return (height/2) - (nameHeight/2)
                     } else {
                        return height/1.5
                     }
                },
                duration: 3,
                scrollTrigger: {
                    // trigger: container.current,
                    // pin: container.current,
                    start: 10,
                    markers: true,
                }, 
            }) 
             
        });
    }, []);
     
    return(
        <div className="container" ref={container}>
            <div className="name" ref ={nameRef}>
            {
            nameArr.map((value, index) => {
                const newLetterRef = createRef<HTMLDivElement>();
                letterRefs[index] = newLetterRef;
                return <div key={index} className="letter" ref={newLetterRef}>
                    <div>{value}</div>
                </div>
                })
            }
            </div>
        </div>
    )  
      
};

export default Header;

I'm probably missing something obvious here. I'm currently using forEach to animate each of my div elements in the same way. However, this means that all my animations need to be within it otherwise they can't interact and I am so sure that there is a better, cleaner way.  
I'm trying to pause `floating ` on Scrolltrigger but because it is currently only accessible within the loop its already paused on load.

[GSAP Helper]

It's pretty tough to troubleshoot without a minimal demo - the issue could be caused by CSS, markup, a third party library, your browser, an external script that's totally unrelated to GSAP, etc. Would you please provide a very simple CodePen or CodeSandbox that demonstrates the issue? 

 

Please don't include your whole project. Just some colored <div> elements and the GSAP code is best (avoid frameworks if possible). See if you can recreate the issue with as few dependancies as possible. If not, incrementally add code bit by bit until it breaks. Usually people solve their own issues during this process! If not, then at least we have a reduced test case which greatly increases your chances of getting a relevant answer.

 

Here's a starter CodePen that loads all the plugins. Just click "fork" at the bottom right and make your minimal demo: 

See the Pen aYYOdN by GreenSock (@GreenSock) on CodePen

 

If you're using something like React/Next/Vue/Nuxt or some other framework, you may find StackBlitz easier to use. We have a series of collections with different templates for you to get started on these different frameworks: React/Next/Vue/Nuxt.

 

Once we see an isolated demo, we'll do our best to jump in and help with your GSAP-specific questions. 

[Rodrigo]

Hi,

 

On top of requiring a minimal demo to see what could be the issue, I noticed that you're not using GSAP Context:

https://greensock.com/docs/v3/GSAP/gsap.context()

 

GSAP Context is your best friend for using GSAP. Also take a look at this article:

 

Hopefully this helps.

Happy Tweening!

[fr8877]

Well that was ridiculously easy! I knew I was missing something. Thanks so much for the wonderful help and quick response!