Infinite Orbit Animation with CSS Trigonometry

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<section class="section">
    <div class="section-wrapper">
      <header class="header">
        <hgroup class="hgroup">
          <h2 class="headline">Meet Our Team!</h2>
          <p class="tagline">Creative minds shaping the future</p>
        </hgroup>
        <a href="#" class="section-link"> View All </a>
      </header>
      
      <ul class="cards" style="--nth-siblings: 5">
        <li class="card" style="--nth-child: 1">
          <a href="#" class="avatar-link-wrapper">
            <div class="visual">
              <img class="avatar-img"
                src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mobalti/modern-web-ui/refs/heads/main/css-trig-functions/images/img-1.avif"
                width="144" height="144" alt="Ethan B., DevOps Engineer" />
            </div>
            <div class="tooltiptext">
              <h3 class="team-name">Ethan B.</h3>
              <div class="team-content-wrapper">
                <p class="team-title">DevOps Engineer</p>
                <p class="team-bio">
                  Master of servers, pipelines, and keeping things running
                  smoothly.
                </p>
              </div>
            </div>
          </a>
        </li>
        <li class="card" style="--nth-child: 2">
          <a href="#" class="avatar-link-wrapper">
            <div class="visual">
              <img class="avatar-img"
                src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mobalti/modern-web-ui/refs/heads/main/css-trig-functions/images/img-2.avif"
                width="144" height="144" alt="Ava L., UI/UX Designer" />
            </div>
            <div class="tooltiptext">
              <h3 class="team-name">Ava L.</h3>
              <div class="team-content-wrapper">
                <p class="team-title">UI/UX Designer</p>
                <p class="team-bio">
                  Turning ideas into stunning designs, one pixel at a time.
                </p>
              </div>
            </div>
          </a>
        </li>
        <li class="card" style="--nth-child: 3">
          <a href="#" class="avatar-link-wrapper">
            <div class="visual">
              <img class="avatar-img"
                src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mobalti/modern-web-ui/refs/heads/main/css-trig-functions/images/img-3.avif"
                width="144" height="144" alt="Liam J., Mobile Developer" />
            </div>
            <div class="tooltiptext">
              <h3 class="team-name">Liam J.</h3>
              <div class="team-content-wrapper">
                <p class="team-title">Mobile Developer</p>
                <p class="team-bio">
                  Crafting sleek, intuitive apps for users on the go.
                </p>
              </div>
            </div>
          </a>
        </li>
        <li class="card" style="--nth-child: 4">
          <a href="#" class="avatar-link-wrapper">
            <div class="visual">
              <img class="avatar-img"
                src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mobalti/modern-web-ui/refs/heads/main/css-trig-functions/images/img-4.avif"
                width="144" height="144" alt="Sophia K., Data Scientist" />
            </div>
            <div class="tooltiptext">
              <h3 class="team-name">Sophia K.</h3>
              <div class="team-content-wrapper">
                <p class="team-title">Data Scientist</p>
                <p class="team-bio">
                  Decoding patterns and finding insights in the chaos.
                </p>
              </div>
            </div>
          </a>
        </li>
        <li class="card" style="--nth-child: 5">
          <a href="#" class="avatar-link-wrapper">
            <div class="visual">
              <img class="avatar-img"
                src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mobalti/modern-web-ui/refs/heads/main/css-trig-functions/images/img-5.avif"
                width="144" height="144" alt="Codey X, AI Code Assistant" />
            </div>
            <div class="tooltiptext">
              <h3 class="team-name">Codey X</h3>
              <div class="team-content-wrapper">
                <p class="team-title">AI Code Assistant</p>
                <p class="team-bio">
                  Powered by algorithms, driven by collaboration.
                </p>
              </div>
            </div>
          </a>
        </li>
        <li class="card" style="--nth-child: 6">
          <a href="#" class="avatar-link-wrapper">
            <div class="visual">
              <img class="avatar-img"
                src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mobalti/modern-web-ui/refs/heads/main/css-trig-functions/images/img-6.avif"
                width="144" height="144" alt="Maya R., Project Manager" />
            </div>
            <div class="tooltiptext">
              <h3 class="team-name">Maya R.</h3>
              <div class="team-content-wrapper">
                <p class="team-title">Project Manager</p>
                <p class="team-bio">
                  Keeping the team in sync and deadlines on track.
                </p>
              </div>
            </div>
          </a>
        </li>
      </ul>
    </div>
  </section>

CSS

@layer reset, base, utilities, components, layout, overrides;

@property --angle {
  syntax: '<angle>';
  initial-value: 0deg;
  inherits: false;
}

@property --direction {
  syntax: '<number>';
  initial-value: 1;
  inherits: true;
}

@layer reset {
  *,
  ::before,
  ::after {
    box-sizing: border-box;
  }

:where(:not(dialog)) {
    margin: 0;
  }

:where(html) {
    -webkit-text-size-adjust: none;

@media (prefers-reduced-motion: no-preference) {
      scroll-behavior: smooth;
    }
  }

:where(body) {
    min-block-size: 100svb;
    -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;
  }
}

@layer base {
  html {
    --surface-1: oklch(20% 0.03 269);
    --surface-2: oklch(26% 0.04 269);
    --text-1: oklch(91% 0.03 61);
    --body: 400 1rem/1.5rem system-ui, sans-serif;
    --display: 400 3.562rem/4rem system-ui, sans-serif;
    --display-small: 400 2.25rem/2.75rem system-ui, sans-serif;
    --label: 500 0.875rem/1.25rem system-ui, sans-serif;
    --title: 400 1.375rem/1.75rem system-ui, sans-serif;
    color-scheme: dark;
  }

body {
    background-color: var(--surface-1);
    color: var(--text-1);
    font: var(--body);
  }
}

@layer layout {
  .section {
    display: grid;
    max-inline-size: 100%;
    min-block-size: 100svb;
    overflow-x: clip;
    padding-block: 80px;
    place-items: center;
  }

.section-wrapper {
    display: grid;
    place-items: center;
  }

.header {
    display: grid;
    place-items: center;
    gap: 16px;
    z-index: 2;

/* lg-n-above */
    @media (width >=1024px) {
      /* Placing header and cards in the same grid cell to stack them */
      /* Both elements use grid-area: 1/1 to overlap within the same area */
      grid-area: 1/1;
    }
  }

.hgroup {
    display: grid;
    place-items: center;
    gap: 8px;
  }

.headline {
    font: var(--display-small);

/* lg-n-above */
    @media (width >=1200px) {
      font: var(--display);
    }
  }

.section-link {
    color: var(--text-1);
    text-decoration: underline;
    font: var(--label);

/* lg-n-below */
    @media (width < 1024px) {
      display: none;
    }
  }

.cards {
    list-style: none;
    padding: 0;

/* lg-n-below */
    @media (width < 1024px) {
      display: grid;
      grid-auto-flow: column;
      gap: 32px;
      max-inline-size: 100%;
      overflow-x: scroll;
      padding-block: 32px;
      padding-inline: 32px;
    }

/* lg-n-above */
    @media (width >=1024px) {
      --avatar-opacity: 1;
      --avatar-img-scale: 1;
      --tooltip-visibility: hidden;
      --tooltip-opacity: 0;
      --animation-state: running;

display: grid;
      /* Placing header and cards in the same grid cell to stack them */
      /* Both elements use grid-area: 1/1 to overlap within the same area */
      grid-area: 1/1;
      min-block-size: 700px;
      place-items: center;

&:has(.avatar-link-wrapper:is(:hover, :focus-visible, :active)) {
        --animation-state: paused;
        /* Reduces opacity of non-hovered avatars to create a layered effect */
        --avatar-opacity: 0.4;
      }
    }
  }

.card {
    padding: 0;

/* lg-n-above */
    @media (width >=1024px) {
      --radius: min(620px, 40cqi);
      --offset-per-child: calc(360deg / (var(--nth-siblings) + 1));
      --angle-offset: calc(var(--nth-child) * var(--offset-per-child));
      --inline-ratio: 1/1;
      /* Keeps the horizontal scaling unchanged */
      --block-ratio: 1/2;
      /* Reduces vertical scaling, making it an oval */

/* Adjusts tooltip direction based on avatar position */
      /* Future improvement: Replace with the sign() CSS function when it becomes widely supported */
      /* Reference: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/sign */
      --direction: min(max(calc(cos((var(--angle) + var(--angle-offset))) * -100), -1), 1);

/* Stack all cards in the same grid cell */
      grid-area: 1/1;

/* Based on Bramus' article, modified with inline/block ratios to create an oval shape */
      /* Source: https://web.dev/articles/css-trig-functions */

translate: calc(cos((var(--angle) + var(--angle-offset))) * var(--radius) * var(--inline-ratio))
        calc(sin((var(--angle) + var(--angle-offset))) * var(--radius) * var(--block-ratio) * -1);

animation: adjust-angle linear 40s infinite reverse var(--animation-state);
    }
  }

/* Continuously rotates the avatars in a circular motion */
  @keyframes adjust-angle {
    to {
      --angle: 360deg;
    }
  }

.avatar-link-wrapper {
    display: flex;
    align-items: center;
    gap: 8px;
    text-decoration: none;
    color: var(--text-1);

&:is(:hover, :focus-visible, :active) {
      --avatar-img-scale: 1.1;
      --avatar-opacity: 1;
      --tooltip-opacity: 1;
      --tooltip-visibility: visible;
    }

/* lg-n-below */
    @media (width < 1024px) {
      flex-direction: column;
      gap: 16px;
    }
  }

.visual {
    aspect-ratio: 1;
    border-radius: 1rem;
    box-shadow: 0 2px 4px 0 oklch(0 0 0 / 10%);
    inline-size: 240px;
    opacity: var(--avatar-opacity);
    overflow: clip;
    transition: opacity 0.3s ease;

/* lg-n-above */
    @media (width >=1024px) {
      inline-size: 144px;
      border-radius: 1e5px;
    }
  }

.avatar-img {
    background-color: var(--surface-2);
    block-size: 100%;
    display: block;
    inline-size: 100%;
    object-fit: cover;
    scale: var(--avatar-img-scale, 1);
    transition: scale 0.3s ease;
  }

.tooltiptext {
    display: grid;
    gap: 4px;

/* lg-n-above */
    @media (width >=1024px) {
      position: absolute;
      /* Adjusts tooltip placement based on avatar position */
      /* Moves the tooltip to the left or right depending on the avatar's location */
      /* --direction is either 1 (right) or -1 (left) */
      max-inline-size: 20ch;
      opacity: var(--tooltip-opacity);
      transition-duration: 0.3s;
      transition-property: opacity, visibility;
      transition-timing-function: ease;
      translate: 110% 0;
      visibility: var(--tooltip-visibility);

/* make the tooltips non-interactive */
      pointer-events: none;
      user-select: none;

/* Adjusts text alignment based on avatar position */
      /* Ensures the tooltip text aligns properly when shifted left or right */
      @container style(--direction: -1) {
        text-align: end;
        translate: -110% 0;
      }
    }
  }

.team-name {
    font: var(--title);
  }
}

Infinite Orbit Animation with CSS Trigonometry

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