Are springs fundamentally better than easings?

[laurentlahmy]

I formed the idea a while ago that springs are superior to "traditional" easings, but I wonder if it's true, especially in the context of the motion library.

• Is it true that springs can update and be interrupted more gracefully?
• Is it true springs just feel more natural?
• Can some fancy curve shaping emulate springs?
• Are springs more expensive to compute? (or is it all negligible anyways)

Thank you

[mattgperry]

Hey @laurentlahmy !

• It's not that springs can be interrupted more gracefully but that they can interrupt more gracefully. i.e easing -> spring, or gesture -> spring, this spring will incorporate the existing velocity for a smooth interruption.
• Yes
• Sometimes. The less bouncy a spring is, the more you can emulate one with an easing curve. You can play around with this https://motion.dev/studio. The one thing you can't emulate with a curve is the previously discussed velocity transfer
• Depends vs which easing curve, bezier curves are probably similar but a v ** v curve is very cheap. They're all negligible next to rendering though.