Why does my transform: translateY flicker in Chrome?

Question

I have a simple multi-column layout; I'm trying to lift an element on :hover using translateY.

It causes flickering (tested on Chrome 57). How do I fix this?

"use strict";

$(function () {
  var $target = $('.wall');

  function getImageUrl(id) {
    var width = 500;
    var height = 250 + Math.floor(Math.random() * 150);
    return "https://unsplash.it/" + width + "/" + height + "?image=" + id;
  }

  function addElement(element) {
    var $template = $target.find('.template').clone().appendTo($target).removeClass("template");

    $template.find("a").attr("href", element.post_url);

    $template.find("img").attr("src", getImageUrl(element.id));

    $template.find("figcaption").text(element.author);

    $template.removeClass("hide");
  }

  $.getJSON("https://unsplash.it/list", function (data) {
    var images = 12;
    var elements = [];

    function getRandomImage() {
      var id = Math.floor(Math.random() * data.length);
      return data.splice(id, 1)[0];
    }

    while (images > elements.length) {if (window.CP.shouldStopExecution(1)){break;}
      elements.push(getRandomImage());
    }
window.CP.exitedLoop(1);


    elements.forEach(function (element) {
      addElement(element);
    });
  });
});

.wall {
  -webkit-column-count: 3;
     -moz-column-count: 3;
          column-count: 3;
  padding-top: 0.5rem;
}
.wall * {
  -webkit-column-break-inside: avoid;
     page-break-inside: avoid;
          break-inside: avoid;
}
.wall .brick {
  display: block;
  padding-bottom: 1rem;
}
.wall .brick a {
  display: inline-block;
  color: inherit;
  -webkit-transition: -webkit-transform 333ms ease;
  transition: -webkit-transform 333ms ease;
  transition: transform 333ms ease;
  transition: transform 333ms ease, -webkit-transform 333ms ease;
}
.wall .brick a:hover, .wall .brick a:focus {
  -webkit-transform: translateY(-1rem);
          transform: translateY(-1rem);
}
.wall .brick .thumbnail {
  margin-bottom: 0.5rem;
}
.wall .brick figcaption {
  text-align: center;
}

<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<div class="wall column">
  <div class="hide brick template">
    <a>
      <figure>
        <img class="thumbnail" /><figcaption></figcaption>
      </figure>
    </a>
  </div>
</div>

CodePen Demo

Answer 1

Placing the following code in the element with the transform property should solve:

-webkit-perspective: 1000;
-webkit-backface-visibility: hidden;

In your case:

a {
  display: inline-block;
  transition: transform 333ms ease;
  &:hover, &:focus {
    transform: translateY(-1rem);
    -webkit-perspective: 1000;
    -webkit-backface-visibility: hidden;
  }
}