Extruded Text Screensaver
The Extruded Text screensaver turns a word into real three-dimensional geometry — extruded, bevelled and lit — and rotates it so the highlights travel across the chamfered edges. It runs in the browser with nothing to install; press ESC to exit.
How the Extruded Text screensaver works
The saver renders with three.js on your GPU. The library is vendored into this site rather than fetched from a CDN, and is loaded only when a 3D screensaver actually runs.
It reads nothing external — the letterforms are defined in the saver itself, so there is no font to download.
The scene resizes with the window and releases its WebGL context when the saver stops, so shuffle mode and Multi-view can cycle 3D savers without exhausting the browser's context limit.
If WebGL is unavailable the saver says so on screen rather than showing an empty black box.
A worked example
Each letter is built from polygon outlines, extruded to give it depth, then bevelled so the edge between the face and the side is a chamfer rather than a hard corner. That chamfer is why it reads as solid: it catches a moving highlight that a flat letter cannot. The word rocks rather than spinning, so the light sweeps back and forth across the bevels.
Settings & tips
- Accent and Background recolour the scene; Speed changes the pace of both the motion and the camera.
- Add it to a Multi-view grid, though 3D savers are heavier than the 2D ones and a few per screen is plenty.
- Press ESC at any time to leave fullscreen.
Frequently asked questions
- Why not use a font file?
- Because it would be another download and another licence to honour. The glyphs here are simple polygon outlines defined in the saver — blocky, in the spirit of the era, and free of both problems.
- Can I change the text?
- The saver reads a text setting, and letters it does not have an outline for are skipped. The built-in set covers the common capitals.
- Does this need a special browser or plugin?
- No. It uses WebGL, which every current desktop and mobile browser supports. Nothing is installed and no plugin is required.
- Does it cost anything or need an account?
- No. Every screensaver here is free, runs in the browser and needs no sign-up.