Webflow Spline Integration

About Spline

Spline is a user-friendly, browser-based 3D design tool suitable for all skill levels. It offers:

• Spline modeling for smooth, organic shapes.
• Boolean operations for complex shapes.
• Materials and textures for realistic rendering.
• Basic animation with keyframes and easing.
• Real-time collaboration.

Spline caters to web designers, graphic designers, product designers, 3D artists, educators, and students for teaching and learning 3D design. In Webflow Conf 2023, Webflow announced the integration of Spline in Webflow Designer. On this page, we’re going to explore this.

Why Connect Webflow and Spline

Here are some ideas as to why Webflow and Spline are a match made in heaven.

• Effortless 3D integration — Spline and Webflow work seamlessly together, allowing you to add interactive 3D content to your website without the need for coding. Just export your Spline scenes and embed them directly into your Webflow site.
• User-friendly control — Webflow's interactions make it easy to manage your Spline scenes. You can animate object positioning, rotation, and scaling to create interactive 3D content for your website.
• Enhance visual appeal — Spline lets you create various types of 3D content, such as product showcases, character animations, and abstract art. This adds a visual dimension to your site and engages your audience in a unique way.
• Stand out — By utilizing Spline, you can create distinctive 3D content that sets your website apart from the competition.

The creative potential of Spline and Webflow offers a range of possibilities:

• Develop interactive product displays that enable users to explore your products from different angles.
• Welcome visitors with a character animation that guides them through your site.
• Incorporate abstract 3D art into your design.
• Add a scrolling animation to your logo that captures user attention as they scroll down your page.

Common Challenges When Integrating Spline and Webflow 

Even though the compatibility issue is included with Webflow integrating Spline in Designer, you might face some other challenges, such as:

• Performance — Spline scenes can be complex and resource-intensive, especially if they include a lot of animation or interactivity. This can lead to performance issues on websites that are not properly optimized.
• Complexity — Spline and Webflow are both complex solutions, so if you have no prior experience using both, making your 3D Designs might be difficult.

How to Connect Spline and Webflow

Thanks to Webflow integrating Spline with its Designer, connecting the two and using Spline animations on your site is actually easier than ever. Here’s how to do it.

Exporting from Spline:

• Step 1: Open your Spline Scene to start the magic.
• Step 2: Click "Export" up top.
• Step 3: Choose "Spline Viewer" for the next step.
• Step 4: Copy the unique scene link, like this: https://prod.spline.design/GPrsdtalNeavkfxyT/scene.splinecode. You'll need it for Webflow.

Embedding Spline Scene in Webflow:

• Step 1: Inside the Webflow editor, hit the "+" icon on the left.
• Step 2: Look under "Elements" for "Spline Scene."
• Step 3: There's a default scene, but paste your Spline URL in the "URL" field (remember the link from the first step).
• Step 4: Click "Show All Settings" to fine-tune your Spline Scene on your site. For more detailed styling and sizing info, explore Webflow's documentation.

Animating your Spline scene in Webflow requires understanding the basic principles of 3D animation and being comfortable with both using Webflow and Spline.

Webflow Requirements

Using the Spline Scene option is actually available for free users. However, you’ll still need a paid account if you want to publish your site on a separate domain and use all of what Webflow has to offer.