manimgl-best-practices

What the source does

• FilesystemNone observedNo reads or writes in the source
• NetworkNone observedNo outbound calls in the source
• ShellDeclared3 observations
• DependenciesPinnedNothing floats
• SecretsNone foundNo keys in source

Five audit layers

Gates applied: no behavioural pass.

In the shell, you have full access to:

Audit 0.4.1 · source sha 799510d8ea86 · 22 Oct 2026Report an issue or request a re-scan

• Publisheradithya-s-k GitHub userOwner of the repository this skill is read from
• Source folderadithya-s-k/manim_skill/skills/manimgl-best-practicesThe exact folder we audited
• LicenceMITAs the repository states it
• Commit pinned for this verdict799510d8ea86A new audit runs when the source changes
• Repository statusNot archivedLast push 271 days ago
• Sandboxed runNot runSkills are read, not executed; layer L4 is skipped

Its description: Trigger when: (1) User mentions "manimgl" or "ManimGL" or "3b1b manim", (2) Code contains `from manimlib import *`, (3) User runs `manimgl` CLI commands, (4) Working with InteractiveScene, self.frame, self.embed(),…

---
name: manimgl-best-practices
description: |
  Trigger when: (1) User mentions "manimgl" or "ManimGL" or "3b1b manim", (2) Code contains `from manimlib import *`, (3) User runs `manimgl` CLI commands, (4) Working with InteractiveScene, self.frame, self.embed(), ShowCreation(), or ManimGL-specific patterns.

  Best practices for ManimGL (Grant Sanderson's 3Blue1Brown version) - OpenGL-based animation engine with interactive development. Covers InteractiveScene, Tex with t2c, camera frame control, interactive mode (-se flag), 3D rendering, and checkpoint_paste() workflow.

  NOT for Manim Community Edition (which uses `manim` imports and `manim` CLI).
---

## How to use

Read individual rule files for detailed explanations and code examples:

### Core Concepts
- [rules/scenes.md](rules/scenes.md) - InteractiveScene, Scene types, and construct method
- [rules/mobjects.md](rules/mobjects.md) - Mobject types, VMobject, Groups, and positioning
- [rules/animations.md](rules/animations.md) - Animation classes, playing animations, and timing

### Creation & Transformation
- [rules/creation-animations.md](rules/creation-animations.md) - ShowCreation, Write, FadeIn, DrawBorderThenFill
- [rules/transform-animations.md](rules/transform-animations.md) - Transform, ReplacementTransform, TransformMatchingTex
- [rules/animation-groups.md](rules/animation-groups.md) - LaggedStart, Succession, AnimationGroup

### Text & Math
- [rules/tex.md](rules/tex.md) - Tex class, raw strings R"...", and LaTeX rendering
- [rules/text.md](rules/text.md) - Text mobjects, fonts, and styling
- [rules/t2c.md](rules/t2c.md) - tex_to_color_map (t2c) for coloring math expressions

### Styling & Appearance
- [rules/colors.md](rules/colors.md) - Color constants, gradients, RGB, hex, GLSL coloring
- [rules/styling.md](rules/styling.md) - Fill, stroke, opacity, backstroke, gloss, shadow

### 3D & Camera
- [rules/3d.md](rules/3d.md) - 3D objects, surfaces, Sphere, Torus, parametric surfaces, lighting
- [rules/camera.md](rules/camera.md) - frame.reorient(), Euler angles, fix_in_frame(), camera animations

### Interactive Development
- [rules/interactive.md](rules/interactive.md) - Interactive mode with `-se` flag, checkpoint_paste()
- [rules/frame.md](rules/frame.md) - self.frame, camera control, reorient, and zooming
- [rules/embedding.md](rules/embedding.md) - self.embed() for IPython debugging, touch() mode

### Configuration & CLI
- [rules/cli.md](rules/cli.md) - manimgl command, flags (-w, -o, -se, -l, -h), rendering options
- [rules/config.md](rules/config.md) - custom_config.yml, directories, camera settings, quality presets

## Working Examples

Complete, tested example files demonstrating common patterns:

- [examples/basic_animations.py](examples/basic_animations.py) - Basic shapes, text, and animations
- [examples/math_visualization.py](examples/math_visualization.py) - LaTeX equations and mathematical content
- [examples/graph_plotting.py](examples/graph_plotting.py) - Axes, functions, and graphing
- [examples/3d_visualization.py](examples/3d_visualization.py) - 3D scenes with camera control and surfaces
- [examples/updater_patterns.py](examples/updater_patterns.py) - Dynamic animations with updaters

## Scene Templates

Copy and modify these templates to start new projects:

- [templates/basic_scene.py](templates/basic_scene.py) - Standard 2D scene template
- [templates/interactive_scene.py](templates/interactive_scene.py) - InteractiveScene with self.embed()
- [templates/3d_scene.py](templates/3d_scene.py) - 3D scene with frame.reorient()
- [templates/math_scene.py](templates/math_scene.py) - Mathematical derivations and equations

## Quick Reference

### Basic Scene Structure
```python
from manimlib import *

class MyScene(InteractiveScene):
    def construct(self):
        # Create mobjects
        circle = Circle()

        # Add to scene (static)
        self.add(circle)

        # Or animate
        self.play(ShowCreation(circle))  # Note: ShowCreation, not Create

        # Wait
        self.wait(1)
```

### Render Command
```bash
# Render and preview
manimgl scene.py MyScene

# Interactive mode - drop into shell at line 15
manimgl scene.py MyScene -se 15

# Write to file
manimgl scene.py MyScene -w

# Low quality for testing
manimgl scene.py MyScene -l
```

### Key Differences from ManimCE

| Feature | ManimGL (3b1b) | Manim Community |
|---------|----------------|-----------------|
| Import | `from manimlib import *` | `from manim import *` |
| CLI | `manimgl` | `manim` |
| Math text | `Tex(R"\pi")` | `MathTex(r"\pi")` |
| Scene | `InteractiveScene` | `Scene` |
| Create anim | `ShowCreation` | `Create` |
| Camera | `self.frame` | `self.camera.frame` |
| Fix in frame | `mob.fix_in_frame()` | `self.add_fixed_in_frame_mobjects(mob)` |
| Package | `manimgl` (PyPI) | `manim` (PyPI) |

### Interactive Development Workflow

ManimGL's killer feature is interactive development:

```bash
# Start at line 20 with state preserved
manimgl scene.py MyScene -se 20
```

In interactive mode:
```python
# Copy code to clipboard, then run:
checkpoint_paste()           # Run with animations
checkpoint_paste(skip=True)  # Run instantly (no animations)
checkpoint_paste(record=True) # Record while running
```

### Camera Control (self.frame)

```python
# Get the camera frame
frame = self.frame

# Reorient in 3D (phi, theta, gamma, center, height)
frame.reorient(45, -30, 0, ORIGIN, 8)

# Animate camera movement
self.play(frame.animate.reorient(60, -45, 0))

# Fix mobjects to stay in screen space during 3D movement
title.fix_in_frame()
```

### LaTeX with Tex class

```python
# Use raw strings with capital R
formula = Tex(R"\int_0^1 x^2 \, dx = \frac{1}{3}")

# Color mapping with t2c
equation = Tex(
    R"E = mc^2",
    t2c={"E": BLUE, "m": GREEN, "c": YELLOW}
)

# Isolate substrings for animation
formula = Tex(R"\sum_{n=1}^{\infty} \frac{1}{n^2} = \frac{\pi^2}{6}")
formula.set_color_by_tex("n", BLUE)
```

### Common Patterns

#### Em

Excerpt, first 6,000 characters of SKILL.md, verbatim from the audited commit. It is text from someone else’s repository, quoted so you can judge it before your agent reads it.

pip install manimgl

git clone https://github.com/adithya-s-k/manim_skill
git -C manim_skill checkout 799510d8ea86

Works in

1. 2026-10-22
   ✓SAFE B 89 / 100

   first audit · source 799510d8ea86

Questions about manimgl-best-practices

• github.com/adithya-s-k/manim_skill/tree/main/skills/manimgl-best — the audited source at commit 799510d8ea86 and every finding aboveObserved · 22 Oct 2026

Spotted something wrong? Report a correction · Methodology