Heliodon

3D product showcase — three.js metal with studio reflections.

Live demo  ·  Build notes  ·  More templates

Use this template — copy the source into a new project:

npx degit bswxyz/formwork-heliodon my-app

Live demo → https://bswxyz.github.io/formwork-heliodon/ · How it was built

A machined-metal object with photoreal reflections, no HDRI files — rotated by the visitor's scroll.

A free, MIT-licensed website template. Good for: industrial design, hardware products, jewellery, portfolio centrepieces. The demo brand ("HELIODON") is fictional — every word and colour is meant to be replaced with yours.

The signature technique

• three.js MeshStandardMaterial metal lit by a procedural RoomEnvironment (zero texture downloads)
• Scroll position drives the object's rotation; cursor adds a gentle lean
• ACES filmic tone-mapping for real metal highlight roll-off

Use this as your own site

This repo is a template — everything is plain HTML/CSS/JS with relative paths, so it works under any repo name with zero configuration.

1. Click Use this template → Create a new repository (top of this page). Name it whatever you like — my-site, portfolio, anything.
2. In your new repo: Settings → Pages → Build and deployment → Deploy from a branch, then pick main / / (root) and save. (CLI: see below.)
3. Wait ~1 minute. Your site is live at https://YOUR-USERNAME.github.io/YOUR-REPO-NAME/.

Prefer the command line?

gh repo create my-site --template bswxyz/formwork-heliodon --public --clone
cd my-site
gh api --method POST /repos/YOUR-USERNAME/my-site/pages \
  -f 'source[branch]=main' -f 'source[path]=/'

No build step, no dependencies to install — edit the files, push, done. The only external requests are Google Fonts and (where used) pinned CDN copies of GSAP/three.js.

Customize it

• Swap the object: replace the TorusKnotGeometry in main.js with any geometry or a loaded GLTF
• Material: tune roughness / metalness / envMapIntensity for brushed vs polished looks
• Specs list: the <dl class="spec-grid"> in index.html is plain HTML

The /guide/ page documents the signature technique in depth (with code) — keep it, rewrite it, or delete the folder entirely.

Files

index.html        the page
styles.css        all styling (design tokens in :root at the top)
main.js           the signature effect + motion
guide/index.html  how-it-works write-up (optional — yours to keep or delete)

Built-in quality

• Works with JS disabled or a CDN failure (content is never permanently hidden)
• Respects prefers-reduced-motion; keyboard focus styles throughout
• Canvas/WebGL feature-detected with graceful fallbacks; devicePixelRatio capped for performance
• Responsive at phone / tablet / desktop widths

License & credit

MIT — free for personal and commercial use, no attribution required (a link back is always appreciated). Part of FORMWORK — a collection of 25 free website templates: the full gallery →