{
  "schemaVersion": 1,
  "id": "paper-birds",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "status": "published",
  "kind": "background",
  "title": "Paper Birds, Real Shadows",
  "summary": "Three folded paper cranes rest in afternoon light. Their shadows escape, become a living flock and return to the paper. Ray-traced origami. Loops.",
  "description": "Three origami cranes, orange, red and white, sit on warm paper in a slanting shaft of afternoon sun. Their softly projected shadows slip free, split into a flock of small birds that circles above the cranes, then fly back and settle into the shadows. The cranes are ray-traced triangular meshes with properly projected shadows, and the flock is animated bird by bird. The 12 seconds loop. The film has no settings.",
  "role": "Shader film (three.js): Origami shadow theatre, a finished 12-second portrait film with no settings.",
  "collections": [
    "impossible-worlds",
    "hypnotic-loops"
  ],
  "tags": [
    "origami",
    "paper",
    "crane",
    "birds",
    "shadows",
    "flock",
    "paper craft",
    "afternoon light",
    "minimal",
    "calm",
    "zen",
    "animal",
    "loop",
    "portrait film"
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    "origami cranes animation",
    "paper crane shadows",
    "flock of birds from shadows",
    "paper birds",
    "origami loop",
    "shadow birds"
  ],
  "useCases": [
    "A calm, minimal title backdrop for a wellness or design brand",
    "A stationery or paper-goods brand intro",
    "A peaceful loop for a meditation or study video"
  ],
  "featured": null,
  "publishedAt": "2026-10-10",
  "implementation": {
    "target": "three",
    "runtime": "browser",
    "language": "javascript",
    "module": "esm",
    "entry": "src/paper-birds.js",
    "exports": [
      {
        "name": "createPaperBirds",
        "signature": "createPaperBirds() => { scene, camera, setSize(width, height), update(time), dispose() }",
        "description": "The film as one full-screen shader; render its scene with its camera straight to the canvas."
      }
    ],
    "reusable": [
      "src/paper-birds.js"
    ],
    "demo": "demo.js",
    "harness": "index.html"
  },
  "dependencies": [
    {
      "id": "three",
      "version": "0.185.1",
      "reason": "Renderer and a full-screen shader material."
    },
    {
      "id": "apw-runtime",
      "version": "1.0.0",
      "scope": "demo",
      "reason": "Demo harness."
    }
  ],
  "params": [],
  "presets": [],
  "output": {
    "width": 1080,
    "height": 1350,
    "fps": 30,
    "durationSeconds": 12,
    "posterSeconds": 7,
    "alpha": false,
    "motion": "procedural",
    "loop": {
      "seamless": true,
      "cycleSeconds": 12,
      "method": "Every part of the film is a function of the time modulo its length, and every motion completes whole cycles, so the last frame meets the first."
    },
    "seed": null
  },
  "composition": {
    "inputs": "The time in seconds, 0 to 12. The film has no other settings.",
    "outputs": "An opaque full-frame picture, already in display colours: render it straight to the canvas.",
    "coordinates": "Composed for a 4:5 portrait frame and measured by the frame height: in a wider frame the picture stays centred at full height and its background fills the sides; in a narrower one, such as 9:16, the sides are cropped.",
    "lighting": "A warm slanting shaft of afternoon sun across the paper, with soft projected shadows.",
    "timing": "The shadows slip free from about half a second in, form a flock through the first four seconds, circle until about nine seconds, then return to the cranes.",
    "compatibleWith": [],
    "notes": [
      "The cranes are ray-traced triangular meshes, not drawn shapes.",
      "It is one of the heavier films: about 45 ms a frame on an integrated GPU.",
      "Every pixel is a function of the time alone, so frames can be rendered in any order."
    ]
  },
  "reuse": [
    "Wellness intro: the flock rises from about 1 s and circles until about 9 s.",
    "Seamless loop: the birds settle back into the shadows, so it repeats cleanly.",
    "Quiet backdrop: the empty paper at the top and bottom holds a title."
  ],
  "integration": {
    "newProject": "Create a WebGLRenderer on a canvas (no antialiasing), call createPaperBirds() once and film.setSize(width, height); then for each frame call film.update(timeInSeconds) and renderer.render(film.scene, film.camera).",
    "existingProject": "Copy src/paper-birds.js, which needs only three. Render film.scene with film.camera into your own canvas or render target; the output is opaque and already in display colours, so use no tone mapping or colour conversion."
  },
  "performance": {
    "notes": "One full-screen fragment shader. About 46 ms a frame at 1080 by 1350 on an integrated Intel GPU (Iris Xe), and about 8 s a frame with software WebGL.",
    "limits": "Real-time playback at full size needs a discrete or recent integrated GPU; on weaker graphics use the rendered video, or draw into a smaller canvas."
  },
  "limitations": [
    "The film is finished: it has no settings. To change colours or timing, edit the shader.",
    "It is composed for a 4:5 portrait frame.",
    "Its length is fixed at 12 seconds; repeat the loop to fill a longer clip."
  ],
  "license": {
    "spdx": "MIT",
    "notice": "Copyright (c) 2026 AI Pixel Wizard. Released under the MIT License. See LICENSE in this folder.",
    "thirdParty": []
  },
  "provenance": "From the owner's collection Twenty Impossible Worlds: the original GLSL ES 3.00 shader of the film “Paper Birds, Real Shadows”, created with ChatGPT / Codex and used as published, wrapped for AI Pixel Wizard as a three.js full-screen shader in October 2026. The collection's synthesised soundtrack is not part of this ingredient.",
  "changelog": [
    {
      "version": "1.0.0",
      "date": "2026-10-10",
      "notes": "Initial release."
    }
  ]
}