Figma Motion guide

Figma Motion brings timeline animation into the product design canvas.

A practical guide for UI/UX designers, product teams, animators and frontend developers working with Figma Motion, Motion code export, Figma Sites, Figma Make, Dev Mode, MCP, Rive and Lottie handoff.

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Timeline animation Motion code export Dev Mode handoff MCP context Rive and Lottie workflow

FrameProduct onboarding

What changed

Motion is now planned where the product interface is designed.

Figma Motion matters because motion decisions can sit beside components, variables, comments and development handoff instead of being treated as a late export task.

01Motion mode and timeline

Designers can work with timing on a timeline, scrub the animation, adjust layer timing and keyframe core transform properties.

02Animation styles

Preset styles such as fades, movement and scale help teams start quickly before refining details on the timeline.

03Animated components

Animation can travel with components, making motion easier to reuse as part of a design system.

04Motion variables

Teams can define easing choices and modes, then update animations that reference the same variable.

05Figma agent prompts

The Figma agent can generate keyframes from a written motion direction, then designers can fine-tune the result.

06Time-based review

Comments can point to moments in the animation, making motion critique clearer for product, design and engineering teams.

Developer handoff

Figma Motion can reduce the gap between designed motion and shipped motion.

The important handoff improvement is visibility: developers can inspect timing, easing and keyframes without guessing what the designer intended.

Dev Mode Inspect the timeline

Figma's Motion tab in Dev Mode is designed to expose animation details in a readable timeline so engineering can review motion with less interpretation.

Code handoff Copy implementation formats

Figma says developers can copy animation code from the panel in formats including CSS, JSON, React-ready output and motion.dev.

Exports Share animation outputs

Teams can export animation previews and files such as MP4, GIF, SVG and WEBM for stakeholder review, documentation and early alignment.

MCP Pass motion context to agents

Figma Motion works with Figma's MCP direction, allowing animated frame context to move into agentic coding workflows.

Motion code export

Figma Motion can move from timeline to real Motion code.

Motion's Figma guide explains that an animated layer can be inspected in Dev Mode, then exported as React Motion code from the Motion panel. The exported code expects Motion to already be installed in the project.

React export Copy Motion code from Dev Mode

After animating in Figma Motion, select the animated layer, open Dev Mode, choose React in the Motion panel, then move the generated code into your project.

Install Add Motion before using exported code

For React projects, install Motion and import from motion/react. Some generated projects may still import from framer-motion; Motion notes that this remains compatible, but motion/react matches current docs.

import { motion } from "motion/react"

export function AnimatedCard() {
  return <motion.div initial="hidden" animate="visible" />
}

Figma Sites and Make

Figma Motion also connects to no-code sites and AI-generated React work.

Motion's Figma documentation describes two adjacent workflows: Figma Sites can publish Motion-powered interactions without setup, and Figma Make can generate React code that uses Motion when prompted to animate a design.

Figma SitesNo-code Motion-powered websites

Use interactions such as hover or press effects in Figma Sites to publish web animations powered by Motion without installing a package yourself.

Figma MakePrompt-to-code animation

Figma Make can generate React interfaces from text, images or Figma frames, and can produce Motion code when the prompt asks for animation.

AI cleanupCheck imports and variants

If generated code uses an older import path or misses Motion entirely, ask the AI to add Motion or manually update the import and component syntax.

Production QAStill test the final result

Generated motion should still be reviewed for accessibility, reduced motion behavior, bundle size, timing accuracy and responsive states.

Figma to production

Where Figma Motion, Rive and Lottie fit together.

Figma Motion is strong for planning, reviewing and handing off motion in the design file. Rive and Lottie remain important when the final product needs runtime behavior, optimized animation files or platform-specific implementation.

Step 01Plan motion in Figma

Use timeline animation, variables, comments and component motion to define what should happen.

Step 02Choose the production format

Use Rive for interactive state-driven motion, Lottie for lightweight playback, SVG for vector transitions, or CSS for interface microinteractions.

Step 03Prepare handoff assets

Export previews, document easing and timing, inspect Dev Mode and prepare developer notes.

Step 04Ship and QA the motion

Test playback, performance, reduced motion behavior, responsive states and implementation accuracy.

UI Animation Studio support

Need help turning Figma Motion into production-ready animation?

UI Animation Studio can help convert motion direction from Figma into Rive, Lottie, SVG, CSS or developer-ready animation specs for real product teams.

StudioUI Animation Design

Motion direction, microinteractions, onboarding states and product animation systems.

RiveRive Animation

Interactive files, state machines, inputs and runtime-ready handoff.

WebsiteHero Animation

Premium homepage and SaaS landing-page motion based on product positioning.

ToolsAnimation Tools Hub

Preview, inspect, optimize and convert Rive, Lottie, SVG, GIF and CSS assets.

FAQ

Figma Motion questions for product teams.

Is Figma Motion a replacement for Rive or Lottie?

Not completely. Figma Motion is powerful for design-file animation, review and handoff. Rive and Lottie are still useful production formats when teams need runtime interaction, optimized playback files or implementation-ready animation assets.

What can be animated in Figma Motion?

Figma's announcement describes keyframing for properties such as position, scale, rotation and opacity, plus timeline control, animation styles, animated components and motion variables.

Can Figma Motion help developers?

Yes. Dev Mode can expose the animation timeline, easing, timing and keyframes so developers do not need to interpret motion from a video alone.

Can Figma Motion export real Motion code?

Yes. Motion.dev explains that choosing React in Figma Motion Dev Mode can provide Motion code that can be pasted into a React project after Motion is installed.

How do Figma Sites and Figma Make use Motion?

Motion.dev describes Figma Sites as publishing Motion-powered interactions, while Figma Make can generate React interfaces with Motion code when prompted to animate a design.

Does Figma Motion support AI-generated animation?

Figma describes agent-assisted motion where a designer can prompt the Figma agent to add keyframes to the timeline, then refine the result manually.

Official sources

Figma Motion references used for this guide.

This UI Animation Studio page summarizes Figma's official announcement and help center resources in original wording for designers and development teams.

Figma Motion product page Motion.dev Figma Motion to code guide Figma Motion announcement Hand off animations to development Export animations from Figma Animated components Animation easing

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Send your Figma Motion idea and get production-ready animation support.

Share your Figma file, animated frame, Rive file, Lottie idea, SVG asset or product screen. UI Animation Studio can help turn it into a clean production workflow.

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