manim

Manim (Programmatic Math Animation)

Manim (Mathematical Animation Engine, Community Edition) renders explanatory math/physics/CS videos from Python — the engine behind 3Blue1Brown-style motion. Every scene is declarative: you build vector objects, play timed animations over them, and render a deterministic MP4/GIF from the CLI. Best-in-class for moving equations, transforming formulas, animated graphs, and geometric intuition.

When to use

• Animate an equation: write it on, transform it term-by-term, highlight substitutions.
• Visualize a function/graph: axes, plotted curves, a dot tracing the curve, area under it.
• Geometric or conceptual explainers: a proof unfolding, vectors, transformations, number lines.
• 3D math: surfaces, parametric curves, a camera orbiting a shape.
• Any "show the math moving" educational clip rendered to MP4/GIF.

Not the tool for UI motion, social/marketing video, or data-from-CSV business charts — use the web-animation or Remotion video skills for those. Manim's edge is mathematical typesetting and intuition.

Setup & render

pip install manim          # needs Python 3.9+, ffmpeg, and a LaTeX distribution (for Tex/MathTex)
manim -pql scene.py SquareToCircle   # render one Scene class, preview at low quality

Render flags (the ones that matter):

• -q l|m|h|k — quality: low (fast iteration) → 4K. -ql while building, -qh to ship.
• -p — play when done; -o name — output filename; --format=gif — render a GIF (README demos).
• -s — save the last frame as a PNG (no video encode — the verification lever, see below).
• -n a,b — render only animation index range a..b (stop early to inspect a moment).
• Output lands in media/videos/<file>/<quality>/<Scene>.mp4 (and media/images/... for -s).

The three building blocks

Everything is Scenes (orchestration) acting on Mobjects (objects) via Animations (timed change).

from manim import *

class SquareToCircle(Scene):
    def construct(self):                 # ALL animation code lives in construct()
        sq = Square().set_fill(BLUE, opacity=0.5)
        self.play(Create(sq))            # animate it drawing on
        self.play(sq.animate.rotate(PI / 4))
        self.play(Transform(sq, Circle().set_fill(PINK, opacity=0.5)))
        self.wait(0.5)                   # hold