frames/skills/frames-animation/rules/ai-tracking-box.md

name, description, metadata

name	description	metadata
ai-tracking-box	Animated bounding box with L-shaped corner markers following an oscillating path — simulates AI object detection / tracking.	tags ai, tracking, bounding-box, detection, corner, yellow, ml

AI Tracking Box

A bounding box of four L-bracket corners + a confidence label that follows a moving target, simulating real-time AI detection. Rendered in detection yellow (#facc15 family) on a dark background — the industry convention (AV HUDs, security CV, ML demos); red reads "warning", green "success", blue "info" — none read "detection."

How It Works

ONE ease: "none" driver tween advances a phase p; its onUpdate computes the TARGET's position from trig, then derives the box's position/size FROM the target — every frame, in that order. The box never gets its own position tween: if it trails the target it reads as a broken tracker, not a smart AI. Size jitters a few percent off-tempo (non-integer frequency multiple) to mimic continuous re-fitting, and the confidence label flickers inside [95, 99].

Recipe

<!-- inside a standard scene clip (frames-core) -->
<div class="bg-mascot" id="mascot">{targetGlyph}</div>
<div class="track-box" id="track-box">
  <div class="corner tl"></div>
  <div class="corner tr"></div>
  <div class="corner bl"></div>
  <div class="corner br"></div>
  <div class="label" id="label">{LABEL} · {confidence}%</div>
</div>

.track-box {
  position: absolute; /* position + size written by the driver's onUpdate */
  pointer-events: none;
  will-change: transform, width, height;
}
.corner {
  position: absolute;
  width: 48px;
  height: 48px;
}
/* Each corner draws only its two outer borders — .tr/.bl/.br mirror this: */
.corner.tl {
  top: -8px;
  left: -8px;
  border-top: 6px solid {detectionYellow};
  border-left: 6px solid {detectionYellow};
}
.label {
  position: absolute;
  top: -56px;
  left: -8px;
  background: {detectionYellow};
  color: {labelTextColor}; /* near-black on yellow */
  font-family: {monoFont}; /* mono = machine readout */
  white-space: nowrap;
}

const box = document.getElementById("track-box");
const mascot = document.getElementById("mascot");
const label = document.getElementById("label");
const C = { x: COMP_WIDTH / 2, y: COMP_HEIGHT / 2 };

// Entry — the AI "locks on"
gsap.set(box, { opacity: 0, scale: ENTRY_SCALE });
tl.to(
  box,
  { opacity: 1, scale: 1, duration: ENTRY_DUR, ease: `back.out(${ENTRY_BOUNCE})` },
  ENTRY_START,
);

// Tracking — target first, box derived from it, every frame
const tracking = { p: 0 };
tl.to(
  tracking,
  {
    p: Math.PI * 2 * CYCLES,
    duration: TRACK_DUR,
    ease: "none",
    onUpdate: () => {
      const mx = C.x + Math.cos(tracking.p) * DRIFT_X;
      const my = C.y + Math.sin(tracking.p) * DRIFT_Y;
      mascot.style.left = `${mx - MASCOT_SIZE / 2}px`;
      mascot.style.top = `${my - MASCOT_SIZE / 2}px`;

      const w = SIZE_BASE + Math.sin(tracking.p * SIZE_FREQ_MULT) * SIZE_VAR;
      const h = SIZE_BASE + Math.sin(tracking.p * SIZE_FREQ_MULT + Math.PI / 2) * SIZE_VAR;
      box.style.width = `${w}px`;
      box.style.height = `${h}px`;
      box.style.left = `${mx - w / 2}px`;
      box.style.top = `${my - h / 2}px`;

      const conf = Math.round(
        CONFIDENCE_MEAN + Math.sin(tracking.p * CONFIDENCE_FREQ_MULT) * CONFIDENCE_VAR,
      );
      label.textContent = `${LABEL_TEXT} · ${conf}%`;
    },
  },
  TRACK_START,
);

Variations

• Multi-object: one driver per box/target pair, phases offset by π / N so they don't tick synchronously.
• Lost-then-reacquired: fade the box to ~0.2–0.4 opacity, then re-snap with a harder back.out(1.8–2.5) and flash a "REACQUIRED · 99%" label via tl.set.
• Tracking-then-zoom: hand off to viewport-change.md — "the AI found something, now show it."

Values

token	range	notes
ENTRY_SCALE	0.5–0.9	< 1 — the box snaps UP into focus
ENTRY_DUR / _BOUNCE	0.3–0.8s / 1.2–2.5	back.out only — elastic reads cartoonish, power reads flat
TRACK_START	≥ entry end	a gap = pause for emphasis; none = seamless lock + follow
TRACK_DUR	2–8s	≥ one full cycle or the drift never reads as oscillation
CYCLES	0.5–3	keep effective rate < ~0.6 Hz or the motion blurs
DRIFT_X / DRIFT_Y	40–200px	center ± drift must keep the target fully on screen
SIZE_BASE	200–500px	must visibly enclose the target at all jitter sizes
SIZE_VAR	5–10% of SIZE_BASE	more reads broken, none reads like a screenshot; keep < 0.15×
SIZE_FREQ_MULT	1.5–3, non-integer	integer ratios pulse in lock-step with drift = mechanical
CONFIDENCE_MEAN/VAR	95–99 / 1–3	mean ± var ⊂ [95, 99]; < 95 "uncertain", 100 "fake-precise"; 97 is sweet
CONFIDENCE_FREQ_MULT	3–6	> SIZE_FREQ_MULT — label flickers faster than the box breathes
MASCOT_SIZE	= rendered size	mismatch drifts the target out of the box

Tokens: {detectionYellow} #facc15 family; {bgInner}/{bgOuter} dark low-chroma radial so the yellow pops; {labelTextColor} near-black; {monoFont} for the label.

Critical Constraints

• ❗ Box recomputed per-frame FROM the target — one driver computes the target position, then the box derives from it in the same onUpdate. Never tween the box's position separately.
• Corner L-brackets, not a full border — the genre signature; a full border reads as a generic UI box.
• Yellow-on-dark — substituting another hue loses genre legibility.
• Confidence flickers in a tight band inside [95, 99], in a mono font.
• pointer-events: none on the box — it's a decorative overlay.

See also

viewport-change (zoom into the detection) · multi-phase-camera (wide during tracking, push-in on lock) · sine-wave-loop (the target idle-breathes inside the box).