Play/Pause Video on Scroll
Documentation
Webflow
Code
Setup: External Scripts
HTML
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/gsap@3.15/dist/gsap.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/gsap@3.15/dist/ScrollTrigger.min.js"></script>Step 1: Add HTML
HTML
<div class="demo-video">
<div class="demo-video__before"></div>
<div data-video="playpause" class="cover-video">
<video class="cover-video__video" src="https://osmo.b-cdn.net/resource-media/play-pause-resource-RostislavUzunov.mp4" muted="" loop="" webkit-playsinline="webkit-playsinline" playsinline="playsinline"></video>
</div>
</div>Step 2: Add CSS
CSS
.demo-video {
border-radius: 1em;
width: 34em;
max-width: calc(100% - 4em);
position: relative;
overflow: hidden;
}
.demo-video__before {
padding-top: 75%;
}
.cover-video {
width: 100%;
height: 100%;
position: absolute;
top: 0;
left: 0;
}
.cover-video__video {
object-fit: cover;
width: 100%;
height: 100%;
position: absolute;
top: 0;
left: 0;
}Step 2: Add Javascript
Step 3: Add Javascript
Javascript
// Register GSAP Plugins
gsap.registerPlugin(ScrollTrigger);
// Resource
function initPlayPauseVideoScroll() {
const videos = gsap.utils.toArray('[data-video="playpause"]');
videos.forEach(el => {
const video = el.querySelector('video');
if (!video) return;
ScrollTrigger.create({
trigger: el,
start: '0% 100%',
end: '100% 0%',
onEnter: () => video.play(),
onEnterBack: () => video.play(),
onLeave: () => video.pause(),
onLeaveBack: () => video.pause(),
});
});
}
// Initialize Play/Pause Video on Scroll
document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function() {
initPlayPauseVideoScroll();
});Implementation
Attribute
For this script to work, simply add the attribute [data-video="playpause"] to any parent element of a HTML video. The script will search for a descendant <video> element and automatically play or pause it based on its visibility. This optimization improves performance by ensuring that videos only play when they are in view. Note that the [data-video="playpause"] attribute does not need to be on the direct parent of the <video> element.
Demo
The demo visually demonstrates the effect by showing how the video behaves when it’s out of view. We achieved this by adjusting the ScrollTrigger start and end values.
Scrolltrigger
This script uses GSAP ScrollTrigger to detect when the video enters the viewport. However, you’re free to implement your own observer setup if you prefer.
Resource details
Published
March 10, 2025
Category
Video & Audio
Popularity
1.4K visitors
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