---
title: VFX and liquid glass
description: "Prompt device mockups, liquid-glass UI, shatter/portal/magnetic moments, and ambient polish — and know which effects need the canvas pipeline."
---

import { DocsVideo } from "/snippets/docs-video.jsx";

Your motion-graphics terminal piece from Level 1 already named one of these — `vfx-shatter`, for the beat where the terminal breaks apart. This chapter is the rest of that showy end of the catalog: 3D device mockups, frosted-glass Apple UI, and cinematic moments where HTML shatters or gets sucked through a portal. Two groups do the work — the [HTML-in-Canvas](/catalog/blocks/vfx-iphone-device) blocks (real WebGL, live HTML rendered as GPU textures) and the [Effects](/catalog/components/vignette) components (lightweight CSS polish). Knowing which is which is the difference between an effect that renders and one that surprises you. All of it slots into the [one-shot skeleton](/prompting/anatomy) at the "technique" step.

### Device mockups

To put your product UI inside a real phone or laptop, name [`vfx-iphone-device`](/catalog/blocks/vfx-iphone-device) — real GLTF iPhone 15 Pro Max and MacBook Pro models with live HTML-in-Canvas screen content, a product-review camera choreography, and a 360° turntable. For a styled iOS/macOS *environment* (home screen, desktop, dock) rather than a bare device, reach for the liquid-glass system blocks below.

> /product-launch-video 15-second 1920x1080 video. Our dashboard UI lives on the screen of a real iPhone 15 Pro Max that turntables slowly under product-review lighting, then a MacBook Pro slides in beside it showing the same UI wider. Use the `vfx-iphone-device` registry block. No narration.

<DocsVideo
  title="HyperFrames video: Validate Device Mockup"
  src="https://static.heygen.ai/hyperframes-oss/docs/images/prompting/validate-device-mockup.mp4#t=0.1"
  loop
/>
*Rendered from the prompt above (the block's demo UI on screen), unedited.*


**Ask for the device *and* what's on its screen.** The block renders live HTML into the screen but ships with its own demo UI — describing your UI (or pointing at screenshots/paths) is what makes the agent replace the block's screen content instead of shipping the demo.
- ❌ `show my app on an iPhone` (you'll get the block's built-in demo UI)
- ✅ `our dashboard UI (screenshots in assets/ui/) on the screen of the iPhone 15 Pro Max, turntabling`

### Liquid-glass UI treatments

The liquid-glass blocks are frosted-glass Apple-style UI floating over an aurora shader background. Pick by the surface you want:

| You want…                                        | Name this block                                                  | Length |
| ------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | ------ |
| A full iOS 26 home screen on a 3D iPhone          | [`ios26-liquid-glass`](/catalog/blocks/ios26-liquid-glass)       | 15s    |
| A macOS Tahoe desktop on a 3D MacBook             | [`macos-tahoe-liquid-glass`](/catalog/blocks/macos-tahoe-liquid-glass) | 15s |
| Glass notification cards                          | [`liquid-glass-notification`](/catalog/blocks/liquid-glass-notification) | 8s |
| A glass context menu                              | [`liquid-glass-context-menu`](/catalog/blocks/liquid-glass-context-menu) | 8s |
| Glass media / playback controls                   | [`liquid-glass-media-controls`](/catalog/blocks/liquid-glass-media-controls) | 8s |
| Glass stat cards, panels, pill chips              | [`liquid-glass-widgets`](/catalog/blocks/liquid-glass-widgets)   | 8s     |

The four `liquid-glass-*` panel blocks share the aurora-shader stage, so they compose cleanly into one scene; `ios26-liquid-glass` and `macos-tahoe-liquid-glass` are complete device environments and generally stand alone.

> /motion-graphics 8-second 1920x1080 video. Frosted glass notification cards drift in and stack over an aurora shader background, each reading a fake alert ("Build passed", "Deploy live", "0 incidents"). Real translucency — the aurora must be visible through each card. Smoke the glass enough to keep white text above 3:1 against the brightest part of the aurora. No audio.

<DocsVideo
  title="HyperFrames video: Glass Notify"
  src="https://static.heygen.ai/hyperframes-oss/docs/images/prompting/glass-notify.mp4#t=0.1"
  loop
/>
*Rendered from the prompt above, unedited — CSS `backdrop-filter` glass over a Three.js aurora.*

<Warning>
  **The `liquid-glass-notification` block needs a GPU and fails quietly without one.** It is marked `stability: experimental` and tagged `webgpu` because its frosted surface is painted through `drawElementImage` with refraction computed by a WebGPU renderer. Validating this chapter, `navigator.gpu.requestAdapter()` returned `null` in every headless and headful Chrome tried — with `--enable-unsafe-webgpu`, `--use-angle=metal`, and hardware GPU mode — and the block's init simply bails. The failure mode is not an error: you get **no cards at all**, just the text floating on the background.

  So for a render you need to be able to reproduce, ask for the *effect* — "real translucency, the background visible through the card" — and let the agent build it with CSS `backdrop-filter`, which renders anywhere. That's what the video above is. Reach for the WebGPU block only when you have confirmed a working adapter in your render environment and you specifically want refraction, specular, and chromatic aberration, which CSS cannot do.
</Warning>

**"Liquid glass" means the block, not a filter you're describing.** These are complete WebGL stages; asking for "a glassy blur on my div" gets you a CSS `backdrop-filter`, not this look.
- ❌ `add a liquid glass effect over my text`
- ✅ `use the liquid-glass-widgets registry block for the stat cards`

### Shatter, portal, magnetic, and cursor moments

The `vfx-*` blocks are single cinematic beats — spend them on a transition or a reveal, not a whole video:

| The moment                                       | Name this block                                     | Length |
| ------------------------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------- | ------ |
| HTML shatters into glass fragments               | [`vfx-shatter`](/catalog/blocks/vfx-shatter)        | 12s    |
| A dimension breach with volumetric light         | [`vfx-portal`](/catalog/blocks/vfx-portal)          | 10s    |
| A magnetic-field particle visualization          | [`vfx-magnetic`](/catalog/blocks/vfx-magnetic)      | 15s    |
| HTML floating over an organic liquid surface     | [`vfx-liquid-background`](/catalog/blocks/vfx-liquid-background) | 12s |
| A dramatic text reveal with chromatic shadow rays | [`vfx-text-cursor`](/catalog/blocks/vfx-text-cursor) | 8s    |

> /motion-graphics 8-second 1920x1080 video. Beat 1 (0-4s): a landing-page hero holds under directional light. Beat 2 (4-6s): the whole page shatters into glass fragments that scatter. Beat 3 (6-8s): bold white text slams in on black. Use the `vfx-shatter` registry block; the final beat reads "HTML IS VIDEO". No narration, no image or media files.

<DocsVideo
  title="HyperFrames video: Vfx Shatter"
  src="https://static.heygen.ai/hyperframes-oss/docs/images/prompting/vfx-shatter.mp4#t=0.1"
  loop
/>
*Rendered from the prompt above, unedited.*


**Name the exact effect — "explode," "break," "burst" don't map.** Each block is a specific simulation.
- ❌ `make the UI explode`
- ✅ `the page shatters into glass fragments` → `vfx-shatter`, or `gets pulled through a portal` → `vfx-portal`

### Ambient polish

The [Effects](/catalog/components/vignette) components are lightweight, pure-CSS finishing passes you layer *on top* of a finished scene — grain, vignette, a light sweep, a subtle push:

| Say this                       | Component                                              |
| ------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------ |
| Film grain / texture           | [`grain-overlay`](/catalog/components/grain-overlay)   |
| Darkened cinematic edges       | [`vignette`](/catalog/components/vignette)             |
| A light sweep across text      | [`shimmer-sweep`](/catalog/components/shimmer-sweep)   |
| Slow push-in on a card         | [`parallax-zoom`](/catalog/components/parallax-zoom)   |
| Card pulls back to reveal siblings | [`parallax-unzoom`](/catalog/components/parallax-unzoom) |
| Screen dissolves into a grid   | [`grid-pixelate-wipe`](/catalog/components/grid-pixelate-wipe) |

These are the ambient layer of the [motion grammar](/prompting/motion): grain and a slow `parallax-zoom` keep a "held" beat alive instead of freezing. Never write "holds motionless" — a still final second is the biggest cheap-motion tell; let a grain overlay and a 2% push carry the hold.

> /motion-graphics 6-second 1920x1080 video. A wordmark logo — "HYPERFRAMES" in platinum on near-black — settles center-frame, then holds — but keep it alive with a film grain overlay and a slow 3% push-in, plus one shimmer sweep across the wordmark at 4s. Use the `grain-overlay`, `parallax-zoom`, and `shimmer-sweep` registry components. No audio.

<DocsVideo
  title="HyperFrames video: Logo Polish"
  src="https://static.heygen.ai/hyperframes-oss/docs/images/prompting/logo-polish-v2.mp4#t=0.1"
  loop
/>
*Rendered from the prompt above, unedited — the "hold" stays alive on grain, a 3% push, and one shimmer pass.*


**Reach for grain over a literal freeze.** The engine holds the final state exactly as written.
- ❌ `logo appears and holds still to the end`
- ✅ `logo settles, then a grain overlay and slow push keep the hold breathing` (see [ambient idle](/prompting/motion))

### When an effect needs the canvas pipeline

The distinction that trips people up: the **HTML-in-Canvas blocks are not CSS**. The device mockups, liquid-glass stages, and `vfx-*` blocks render live DOM into WebGL textures via the experimental `drawElementImage` API — which needs a Chrome flag. The [HTML-in-Canvas guide](/guides/html-in-canvas) documents the real behavior:

- **Rendering enables CanvasDrawElement automatically** (`--enable-features=CanvasDrawElement`), including inside Docker. That is enough for CanvasDrawElement-only blocks. Liquid-glass blocks that combine it with WebGPU still need a compatible browser such as Brave or Chrome Canary configured through `PRODUCER_HEADLESS_SHELL_PATH`; the bundled headless shell cannot run that combination.
- **Live preview in the Studio needs the flag turned on manually** (`chrome://flags/#canvas-draw-element` → *Enabled* → restart). Without it, these blocks fall back rather than showing the effect in preview.
- The blocks **feature-detect and degrade gracefully**, so a browser without the flag won't crash — it just won't show the WebGL treatment.

The Effects components above have none of this — they're plain CSS and animate everywhere, preview included. So if you need something visible in Studio preview today with zero setup, prefer the CSS Effects; the HTML-in-Canvas group is where the flag caveat lives.

<Warning>
  Don't promise a stakeholder a live Studio preview of a liquid-glass or device block without confirming the Chrome flag is enabled on that machine — the rendered MP4 is unaffected, but the in-browser preview may fall back. See the [HTML-in-Canvas guide](/guides/html-in-canvas).
</Warning>

### Where to go next

- [Anatomy of a one-shot prompt](/prompting/anatomy) — the skeleton, and quoting on-screen copy.
- [Motion that reads premium](/prompting/motion) — the ambient-idle rule these polish layers serve.
- [Copy-paste examples](/prompting/examples) — a `vfx-liquid-background` social-card prompt to adapt.
- [HTML-in-Canvas guide](/guides/html-in-canvas) — how `drawElementImage` works and the flag details.

<Note>
**Capstone thread** — the [Level 7 film](/prompting/capstone)'s Surface region floats its inspector panels on the brand's glass tokens — translucent white over real backdrop blur, the mural visibly smearing through each panel (cut from the film, below).
</Note>

This is the clause in the [full capstone prompt](/prompting/capstone#the-prompt-word-for-word) that buys the piece — prompt language you can lift for your own video:

> Inside: frosted-glass inspector panels (real translucency — blur over what's behind; the product's Studio design language) hover above the wire carrying live values (`ease: power3.out`, a color token, an fps readout) […] Glass surfaces use the file's `--glass-*` tokens with real backdrop blur.

<DocsVideo
  title="HyperFrames video: Capstone Region Surface"
  src="https://static.heygen.ai/hyperframes-oss/docs/images/prompting/capstone-region-surface.mp4#t=0.1"
  loop
/>
*That clause, rendered — the region cut from the finished film.*

*Next: [Runtimes and 3D](/prompting/runtimes-and-3d) — picking GSAP, Three.js, or Lottie by what the moment actually needs, including the real depth these effects render on.*
