Hand‑by‑hand Development of a Stunning Interactive Card Effect with React and Tailwind

In this guide we recreate the eye‑catching card animations seen on the Koudi AI platform, including a light‑following effect and a 3D perspective tilt. The implementation uses react components and tailwind for styling, with each card positioned relative so the light can be positioned absolutely.

Prepare three boxes

export default function Home() {
  return (
)
}

Implement the light‑following effect

'use client'
import { useRef, useState } from 'react'

export default function Home() {
  const cardRef = useRef
(null)
  const lightRef = useRef
(null)
  const [isShowLight, setIsShowLight] = useState(false)
  const [pos, setPos] = useState({ left: '0px', top: '0px' })

  return (
) => {
          if (cardRef.current) {
            setIsShowLight(true)
            const { x, y } = cardRef.current.getBoundingClientRect()
            const { clientX, clientY } = e
            setPos({
              left: clientX - x - 100 + 'px',
              top: clientY - y - 100 + 'px'
            })
          }
        }}
        onMouseLeave={() => setIsShowLight(false)}
        ref={cardRef}
      >
)
}

Add 3D parallax rotation

onMouseMove={(e) => {
  if (cardRef.current) {
    const { x, y } = cardRef.current.getBoundingClientRect()
    const { clientX, clientY } = e
    const offsetX = clientX - x
    const offsetY = clientY - y
    const maxXRotation = 10
    const maxYRotation = 10
    const rangeX = 400 / 2
    const rangeY = 400 / 2
    const rotateX = ((offsetY - rangeY) / rangeY) * maxXRotation
    const rotateY = -1 * ((offsetX - rangeX) / rangeX) * maxYRotation
    cardRef.current.style.transform = `perspective(1000px) rotateX(${rotateX}deg) rotateY(${rotateY}deg)`
  }
}}

Encapsulate the logic into a reusable Hook

'use client'
import { useRef, useState, useEffect } from 'react'

const useCardAnimation = () => {
  const cardRef = useRef
(null)
  const lightRef = useRef
(null)
  const [isShowLight, setIsShowLight] = useState(false)
  const [pos, setPos] = useState({ left: '0px', top: '0px' })

  useEffect(() => {
    const handleMouseMove = (e: MouseEvent) => {
      if (cardRef.current) {
        setIsShowLight(true)
        const { x, y } = cardRef.current.getBoundingClientRect()
        const { clientX, clientY } = e
        const offsetX = clientX - x
        const offsetY = clientY - y
        setPos({ left: offsetX - 100 + 'px', top: offsetY - 100 + 'px' })
        const maxXRotation = 5
        const maxYRotation = 5
        const rangeX = 400 / 2
        const rangeY = 400 / 2
        const rotateX = ((offsetY - rangeY) / rangeY) * maxXRotation
        const rotateY = -1 * ((offsetX - rangeX) / rangeX) * maxYRotation
        cardRef.current.style.transform = `perspective(1000px) rotateX(${rotateX}deg) rotateY(${rotateY}deg)`
      }
    }
    const handleMouseLeave = () => {
      setIsShowLight(false)
      if (cardRef.current) {
        cardRef.current.style.transform = `perspective(1000px) rotateX(0deg) rotateY(0deg)`
      }
    }
    cardRef.current?.addEventListener('mousemove', handleMouseMove)
    cardRef.current?.addEventListener('mouseleave', handleMouseLeave)
    return () => {
      cardRef.current?.removeEventListener('mousemove', handleMouseMove)
      cardRef.current?.removeEventListener('mouseleave', handleMouseLeave)
    }
  }, [])

  return { cardRef, lightRef, isShowLight, pos }
}

export default function Home() {
  const { cardRef: cardRef1, lightRef: lightRef1, isShowLight: isShowLight1, pos: pos1 } = useCardAnimation()
  const { cardRef: cardRef2, lightRef: lightRef2, isShowLight: isShowLight2, pos: pos2 } = useCardAnimation()
  const { cardRef: cardRef3, lightRef: lightRef3, isShowLight: isShowLight3, pos: pos3 } = useCardAnimation()

  return (
{/* three cards with their own hooks */}
)
}

The article concludes with a demonstration of three independent cards each using the useCardAnimation hook, showing how the effect can be scaled across multiple components.