Ken Burns
A slow, documentary-style pan and zoom that cross-fades through a set of images.
- Category: Image
- Licence: Charcoal UI Pro
- Built with: React 19, Tailwind CSS 4, Motion
- Dependencies: motion, clsx, tailwind-merge
Examples
Ken Burns
API reference
| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
images | { src: string; alt: string }[] | — | |
interval | number | 6 |
About Ken Burns
Ken Burns pans and zooms slowly across images and crossfades between them, the documentary-style slideshow.
Ken Burns is an image effect for React 19, styled with Tailwind CSS 4 and animated with Motion. It drops into Next.js, Vite, Remix or Astro through the shadcn CLI as a single file you own.
When to use Ken Burns
- Hero slideshows.
- Travel and real estate.
- Memorial and story pages.
- Background imagery.
How it works
Each image gets a randomised start and end transform over the interval, with crossfades between. Reduced motion shows still images.
Images keep their alt text, controls are keyboard operable, and the effect never hides the content it decorates. With prefers-reduced-motion on, it holds still or settles instantly instead of animating.
Customizing Ken Burns
Every prop is documented in the API reference above with its type and default. The ones you will reach for first are listed here.
Style it with className like any other element. It only uses your theme's tokens, so it follows light and dark mode without extra work.
- images ({ src: string; alt: string }[]).
- interval (number, default 6).
Goes well with Ken Burns
Ken Burns is already composed into a ready-made section, so you can see it in context or install the whole block.
- Hero Film: Hero section
- Parallax Image: A React parallax image that drifts slower than the page as you scroll
- Pixelate Reveal: A React pixelate reveal: images resolve from chunky pixels to full detail
- Image Reveal: A React image reveal: a clip-path wipe uncovers the image as it settles
- Zoom Lens: A React zoom lens: a magnifier follows the pointer over product images
- Pixel Transition: A React pixel transition: content swaps behind a grid of flipping cells
Install Ken Burns
npx shadcn@latest add @charcoal/ken-burnsKen Burns is part of Charcoal UI Pro. One seat unlocks all 300 Pro components, 107 landing-page sections and 100 full templates, for every personal and client project, with updates included. Add the @charcoal registry once with your access token, then the command above copies ken-burns.tsx into components/ui and installs clsx, tailwind-merge.
You own the file you install: no runtime package, no lock-in, nothing to keep in sync. Change it however your product needs.
See Charcoal UI Pro pricing · Pro setup
Frequently asked questions
- How many images does Ken Burns need?
- Two or more. It pans and zooms slowly across each, with a randomised start and end, and crossfades to the next on the interval you set.
- How do I install Ken Burns?
- Ken Burns is part of Charcoal UI Pro. Add the @charcoal registry to components.json with your access token, then run npx shadcn@latest add @charcoal/ken-burns. It copies ken-burns.tsx into components/ui and installs motion, clsx, tailwind-merge.
- Is Ken Burns free for commercial use?
- Ken Burns needs a Charcoal UI Pro seat, monthly or a one-time lifetime price. A seat covers unlimited personal and commercial projects, including client work, and every future Pro component.
- Does Ken Burns work with Next.js?
- Yes. It is a client component for React 19 styled with Tailwind CSS 4, so it works in the Next.js App Router and Pages Router, Vite, Remix and Astro.
- Can an AI coding agent install Ken Burns?
- Yes. Connect the Charcoal UI MCP server (https://charcoalui.com/mcp) to Claude Code, Cursor or any MCP client; get_component returns Ken Burns's props and get_install_command returns the exact command.