# Studio connection grammar

Connections are semantic objects, not background decoration. They make the Field feel gravitational, relational, and alive.

## Material

- warm gold or camel hairline at rest
- secondary enamel light only when active
- anchored into visible studs or constellation nodes
- curved by gravity rather than arbitrary Bézier flourish
- star glints only at meaningful crossings or exchanges
- motion only when the relationship is active or newly relevant

## Primary forms

- **Orbit — belonging.** One object participates in the context or Realm of another.
- **Tether — direct relation.** One curved path joins two explicit studs.
- **Braid — reciprocity.** Two lines exchange position; the relationship is mutual.
- **Confluence — gathering.** Two or more contributions become one shared flow.
- **Anchor — commitment.** A tensioned path terminates in an emphasized stud.
- **Crossing — exchange.** Independent paths meet at a lit junction and continue.
- **Threshold — entry.** A circular path expands until it becomes the spatial horizon.

## Secondary forms

- **Constellation** — a sparse set of related peers.
- **Threshold arc** — an approach path becoming a spatial horizon.
- **Echo** — a faint historical or inherited relationship behind the current one.

## States

| State | Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Resting | warm-metal hairline, 8–18% opacity |
| Relevant | 24–42% opacity; endpoints resolve |
| Active | secondary enamel light travels once or breathes locally |
| Selected | moon-cream endpoints and one clear directional cue |
| Historical | dim, partially dashed, no moving light |

## Motion

- Connection motion runs for 3–6 seconds and communicates a change, transfer, or active relation.
- Do not animate all connections simultaneously.
- A Field at rest may breathe locally, but lines themselves stay quiet.
- Reduced-motion mode resolves instantly to the same visible state.

## Collision and layering

- Route behind labels and primary object faces.
- Let no more than two equally bright paths cross at an unmarked point.
- Use a tiny dark knockout where depth ordering needs clarification.
- Use a star glint only when the crossing itself has meaning.
- Favor fewer legible relationships over a complete but noisy graph.