vectormation 2.2.1

Vector-based math animation engine

An entirely vector-based math-oriented animation engine.

Continuous convolution — a Gaussian kernel slides across a box function, building the convolution result in real time. Generated with ~70 lines of VectorMation code (source).

VectorMation produces compact SVG animations by treating every visual property as a function of time. Instead of rasterising frames, it generates precise vector graphics that can be played back in a browser, exported as SVGs, GIFs, or video.

It provides an alternative to manim, with a pixel coordinate system, explicit timing model, and native SVG export.

Installation

pip install vectormation

System Requirements

Python >=3.10 with the following dependencies (installed automatically):

• numpy, svgpathtools, beautifulsoup4, lxml, websockets

Optional dependencies:

Package	Used for
cairosvg + Pillow	PNG / GIF / video export (pip install vectormation[export])
ffmpeg (system)	Video export
LaTeX distribution	TexObject / SplitTexObject
sphinx + furo	Building documentation

Quick Start

from vectormation.objects import *

canvas = VectorMathAnim()
canvas.set_background()

point = Dot()
trace = Trace(point.c)
point.c.set(0, 5, lambda t: (t * 80 + 960, 540))
point.c.rotate_around(0, 5, (960, 540), 360 * 4)

canvas.add(trace, point)
canvas.show(end=6)

This opens a browser window showing a spiral being drawn in real time.

Features

• Time-varying attributes -- every property (position, colour, opacity, ...) is a function of time
• Browser-based viewer -- real-time playback with zoom, speed control, sections, and keyboard shortcuts
• Morphing -- smoothly morph any shape into any other, with optional rotation
• LaTeX support -- render LaTeX expressions as animatable SVG objects
• Graph plotting -- axes, function graphs, scatter plots, vector fields, polar plots, and more
• 3D rendering -- 3D axes, surfaces, primitives, and camera rotation with depth-sorted SVG output
• Charts and diagrams -- bar charts, pie charts, flowcharts, tree diagrams, Sankey diagrams, and more
• Physics simulations -- pendulums, springs, cloth, bouncing objects
• Boolean operations -- union, difference, intersection, and exclusion of shapes
• Path animation -- draw objects along paths, animate stroke-dashoffset
• Export -- SVG frames, animated GIFs, PNG, and MP4/WebM video

CLI Arguments

Scripts can use canvas.show() which automatically parses CLI arguments:

from vectormation.objects import *

canvas = VectorMathAnim()
# ... build your animation ...
canvas.show(end=5)

Flag	Default	Description
-v, --verbose	off	Enable debug logging
--port PORT	8765	Browser viewer WebSocket port
--fps FPS	60	Frames per second
-o, --output PATH	none	Export to file (format from extension: .mp4, .gif, .svg, .png)
-d, --duration SECS	none	Animation duration in seconds
--start SECS	0	Start time
--end SECS	none	End time
--hot-reload	off	Enable hot reload in browser

Documentation

Full documentation is available at jorisperrenet.github.io/VectorMation.

To build and serve locally:

cd docs && make serve

Examples

The examples/ directory contains 300+ examples organized into:

• showcase/ -- full demonstrations (spiral, heart, morphing, graphs, physics, 3D, and more)
• reference/ -- concise examples for individual features (shapes, animations, axes, charts, 3D primitives, UI widgets, etc.)
• advanced/ -- complex examples (Fourier circles, double pendulum, Mandelbrot zoom, Galton board, convolutions, etc.)
• manim/ -- recreations of Manim Community examples in VectorMation

Development

To run from a local clone without installing:

git clone https://github.com/jorisperrenet/VectorMation.git
cd VectorMation
pip install -r requirements.txt   # or: pip install numpy svgpathtools beautifulsoup4 lxml websockets
PYTHONPATH=. python examples/showcase/spiral.py

Or install in editable mode:

pip install -e .
python examples/showcase/spiral.py

Architecture

The code to generate the below SVG can be found in examples/showcase/code_explanation.py.

All attributes are functions of time. Evaluating these functions at a certain time gives precise information about every object; combining all objects produces the frame at that time. Repeatedly doing this for different times gives a video, displayed via the browser-based SVG viewer.

Browser Controls

Key	Action
Space / P	Pause / Resume
R	Restart
, / .	Step backward / forward one frame
Left / Right	Previous / next section
- / + / Up / Down	Slower / faster (0.25x increments)
0--9	Jump to 0%--90%
Home / End	Jump to start / end
F	Reset zoom to fit
S	Save current frame as SVG
Shift+S	Save current frame as PNG
C	Copy SVG to clipboard
L	Toggle loop
B	Cycle background (dark / white / checker)
Ctrl+B	Add / remove bookmark
[ / ]	Previous / next bookmark
H	Hide / show toolbars
G	Toggle grid overlay
I	Inspect mode (nearest object)
M	Measure tool (click two points)
N	Toggle snap-to-point mode
D	Debug panel
?	Help overlay
Q	Quit
Scroll	Zoom at cursor