OverlayNew
Altitude ruler with named heights
A vertical tape that slides under a cursor to show how high, with the cloud ceiling, a jet, Everest and space marked.
- Version
- 1.0.0
- Added
- 23 October 2026
- Films
- Not used in a film yet
Parameters
| Name | Type | Default | Range | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| value (Can change over time) | number | 1500 | -1000 to 1000000000 m | the altitude in metres over the ground or the sea; give a follower of the counter, (v) => v * 100, to move itCan change over time |
| span (Can change over time) | number | 4000 | 0.01 to 1000000000 m | on a linear tape: how many metres of tape show at once; a larger span shows more, smallerCan change over time |
| decades (Can change over time) | number | 3 | 0.5 to 9 | on a log tape: how many powers of ten show at onceCan change over time |
| scale | choice | linear | linear, log | linear, or log for a value that runs through powers of ten |
| floor | number | 1 | 0.001 to 1000 m | on a log tape: the smallest altitude it can show, since a log scale has no zero |
| unit | choice | auto | auto, m, ft, km, mi | the unit of the tape and the reading; auto is metres below 10 km, kilometres above |
| decimals | integer | 0 | 0 to 3 | decimal places of the reading |
| format | choice | grouped | grouped, plain, compact, scientific | how numbers are written: 12,500 / 12500 / 12.5k / 1.25×10⁴ |
| references | choice | real | real, custom, none | real: a cloud ceiling, Everest, a jet's cruise, the 100 km line, the space station; or your own |
| marks | text | 30 Tower top; 120 Crane | – to 200 | your own references, in metres: a value then a name, separated by semicolons (with references: custom) |
| zeroLabel | text | Sea level | – to 24 | the name of the zero line on a linear tape; empty for none |
| label | text | ALTITUDE | – to 40 | a word over the tape; empty for none |
| shade | bool | true | – | shade the tape by how dense the air is at each height, so a climb shows the air thinning |
| cursor | number | 0.35 | 0.1 to 0.9 | where the cursor sits: how far up the tape from its bottom, so the climb has room ahead |
| side | choice | right | right, left | the tape stands at the right of the frame, or the left; its words lie toward the middle |
| at | vec2 | 0.9, 0.55 | 0 to 1 | the tape's middle: across and down the frame; a tape near an edge slides in |
| length | number | 0.52 | 0.15 to 0.85 | the tape's length, a share of the frame's height |
| width | number | 0.27 | 0.16 to 0.5 | the tape's width, a share of the frame's height; wide enough for the reading |
| size | number | 0.042 | 0.035 to 0.07 | the height of the reading, a share of the frame's height |
| ink | color | #f3f0e8 | – | its words, numbers, ticks and outlines |
| accent | color | #4fb8e8 | – | the cursor's window, the shading and the references passed |
| font | choice | sans | sans, serif, mono | the face of its words and numbers |
| backing | number | 0.45 | 0 to 1 | how dark the soft panel behind it is; 0 for none |
| reveal | number | 0.8 | 0 to 5 s | how long it takes to draw in; 0 shows it at once |
Use it in a film
film.js
elements: { 'altitude-ruler': { value: 1500, span: 4000 } }Sources
- NWS Louisville, Cloud Classification (low clouds below 6,500 ft); US government work, public domain
- NOAA National Ocean Service, Highest mountain on Earth? (Everest, 8,848 m); US government work, public domain
- NASA Goddard, Airplane Flight: How High? How Fast? (above 30,000 ft, close to 10 km); public domain
- NASA APOD 2021 July 24, The Edge of Space (the Karman line, 100 km); public domain
- NASA, What Is the International Space Station? (about 250 miles); public domain
- U.S. Standard Atmosphere, 1976, NASA-TM-X-74335 (air density for the shading); public domain
Use it from your agent
Ask your agent to put it in a film. It finds the element by name.