How to create a sphere in css?

Question

I have trying to create a 3D sphere using just pure css, but I\'ve been unable to generate the shape required. I\'ve seen a cylinder but I can\'t find any reference to creat

Answer 1

I use JavaScript to build the sphere which formed by many div elements. To maintain the browser performance, the div elements are made as little as possible.

var DIAMETER = 200;
var CELLS_PER_CIRCLE = 26;
var IMG_CELL = 'https://sites.google.com/site/zulnasibu/sphere/earth.png';
var NAME = 'sphere';
var WRAP = NAME + '-wrapper';
var _cssRules = '';
var _cellW;
var _cellAmount = 0;
var _imgW;
var _imgH;

function createFace(w, h, rx, ry, tz, ts, tsx, tsy, cname) {
	var face = document.createElement("div");
	var css;
	var cssText =
		'width: ' + w.toFixed(2) + 'px;' +
		'height: ' + h.toFixed(2) + 'px;' +
		'margin-left: ' + (-w / 2).toFixed(2) + 'px;' +
		'margin-top: ' + (-h / 2).toFixed(2) + 'px;' +
		'background: url("' + ts + '") ' + tsx.toFixed(2) + 'px ' + tsy.toFixed(2) + 'px;';
	css = 'transform: rotateY(' + ry.toFixed(2) + 'rad) rotateX(' + rx.toFixed(2) + 'rad) translateZ(' + tz.toFixed(2) + 'px);';
	cssText += addVendorPrefix(css);
	face.className = cname;
	face.style.cssText = cssText;
	return face;
}

function createModel() {
	var wrap = document.createElement("div");
	var model = document.createElement("div");
	wrap.className = WRAP;
	model.className = NAME;
	if (CELLS_PER_CIRCLE % 2 != 0) CELLS_PER_CIRCLE++;
	if (CELLS_PER_CIRCLE < 4) CELLS_PER_CIRCLE = 4;
	var baseAngle = Math.PI / CELLS_PER_CIRCLE;
	var cellAngle = 2 * baseAngle;
	_cellW = DIAMETER * Math.tan(baseAngle);
	_imgW = _cellW * CELLS_PER_CIRCLE;
	_imgH = CELLS_PER_CIRCLE / 2;
	if (CELLS_PER_CIRCLE % 4 == 0) _imgH++;
	_imgH *= _cellW;
	var xc = Math.ceil(CELLS_PER_CIRCLE / -4);
	var yc, rx, ry, tx, ty = -_imgH, tw, cang, cdia, cw;
	for (var x = xc; x <= -xc; x++) {
		rx = x * cellAngle;
		cw = _cellW;
		yc = CELLS_PER_CIRCLE;
		if (Math.abs(rx) == Math.PI / 2)
			yc = 1;
		else if (Math.abs(x) != 1) {
			cang = rx - Math.sign(x) * cellAngle / 2;
			cdia = DIAMETER * Math.cos(cang);
			cw = cdia * Math.tan(baseAngle);
		}
		_cellAmount += yc;
		tw = cw * yc;
		tx = (tw - _imgW) / 2;
		ty += _cellW;
		for (var y = 0; y < yc; y++) {
			ry = y * cellAngle;
			model.appendChild(createFace(cw + 1, _cellW + 1, rx, ry, DIAMETER / 2, IMG_CELL, tx, ty, 'cell' + x.toString() + y.toString()));
			tx -= cw;
		}
	}
	wrap.appendChild(model);
	var style = document.createElement('style');
	style.type = 'text/css';
	if (style.styleSheet)
		style.styleSheet.cssText = _cssRules;
	else
		style.innerHTML = _cssRules;
	document.head.appendChild(style);
	return wrap;
}

function addVendorPrefix(property) {
	return	'-webkit-' + property +
			'-moz-' + property +
			'-o-' + property +
			property;
}

function showGeometry(elm) {
	if (elm.checked)
		document.querySelector('.sphere').classList.add('show-geometry');
	else
		document.querySelector('.sphere').classList.remove('show-geometry');
}

document.body.appendChild(createModel());

.sphere-wrapper {
	position: absolute;
	top: 50%;
	left: 50%;
	-webkit-perspective: 1000px;
	-moz-perspective: 1000px;
	-o-perspective: 1000px;
	perspective: 1000px;
}
.sphere {
	position: absolute;
	-webkit-transform-style: preserve-3d;
	-moz-transform-style: preserve-3d;
	-o-transform-style: preserve-3d;
	transform-style: preserve-3d;
	-webkit-transform-origin: center center -100px;
	-moz-transform-origin: center center -100px;
	-o-transform-origin: center center -100px;
	transform-origin: center center -100px;
	-webkit-animation: spin 60s infinite linear;
	-moz-animation: spin 60s infinite linear;
	-o-animation: spin 60s infinite linear;
	animation: spin 60s infinite linear;
}
.sphere div {
	position: absolute;
	-webkit-backface-visibility: hidden;
	-moz-backface-visibility: hidden;
	-o-backface-visibility: hidden;
	backface-visibility: hidden;
}
@-webkit-keyframes spin {
	010.00% {-webkit-transform: rotateX(   0deg) rotateY( 360deg) rotateZ(   0deg);}
	020.00% {-webkit-transform: rotateX( 360deg) rotateY( 360deg) rotateZ(   0deg);}
	030.00% {-webkit-transform: rotateX( 720deg) rotateY( 720deg) rotateZ(   0deg);}
	100.00% {-webkit-transform: rotateX(2880deg) rotateY(3240deg) rotateZ(2520deg);}
}
@-moz-keyframes spin {
	010.00% {-moz-transform: rotateX(   0deg) rotateY( 360deg) rotateZ(   0deg);}
	020.00% {-moz-transform: rotateX( 360deg) rotateY( 360deg) rotateZ(   0deg);}
	030.00% {-moz-transform: rotateX( 720deg) rotateY( 720deg) rotateZ(   0deg);}
	100.00% {-moz-transform: rotateX(2880deg) rotateY(3240deg) rotateZ(2520deg);}
}
@-o-keyframes spin {
	010.00% {-o-transform: rotateX(   0deg) rotateY( 360deg) rotateZ(   0deg);}
	020.00% {-o-transform: rotateX( 360deg) rotateY( 360deg) rotateZ(   0deg);}
	030.00% {-o-transform: rotateX( 720deg) rotateY( 720deg) rotateZ(   0deg);}
	100.00% {-o-transform: rotateX(2880deg) rotateY(3240deg) rotateZ(2520deg);}
}
@keyframes spin {
	010.00% {transform: rotateX(   0deg) rotateY( 360deg) rotateZ(   0deg);}
	020.00% {transform: rotateX( 360deg) rotateY( 360deg) rotateZ(   0deg);}
	030.00% {transform: rotateX( 720deg) rotateY( 720deg) rotateZ(   0deg);}
	100.00% {transform: rotateX(2880deg) rotateY(3240deg) rotateZ(2520deg);}
}
input, input~ label {
	cursor: pointer;
}
input:checked~ label {
	color: #f77;
}
.show-geometry div {
	background: rgba(160, 160, 160, 0.5) !important;
	border: 1px solid #333;
	-webkit-backface-visibility: visible;
	-moz-backface-visibility: visible;
	-o-backface-visibility: visible;
	backface-visibility: visible;
}

Show geometry