Installation Guide

System Requirements

Python Version

Python 3.9 or higher required

Operating Systems

Windows, macOS, Linux (all supported)

Storage

~500MB for basic installation

RAM

4GB minimum, 8GB recommended

Prerequisites by Platform

Linux

ManimVTK requires system-level dependencies on Linux for text rendering (ManimPango).

Google Colab (Recommended)
Debian/Ubuntu
Fedora
Arch Linux
Other Distributions

  !sudo apt update
  !sudo apt install libcairo2-dev \
      # optional dependencies for full LaTeX support
      # texlive texlive-latex-extra texlive-fonts-extra \
      # texlive-latex-recommended texlive-science \
      tipa libpango1.0-dev
  !pip install IPython==8.21.0

sudo apt update
sudo apt install libpango1.0-dev pkg-config python3-dev

Tested on:

Ubuntu 20.04, 22.04, 24.04
Debian 11, 12
Google Colab

bash sudo dnf install pango-devel pkg-config python3-devel Tested on: - Fedora 38, 39, 40

bash sudo pacman -S pango pkgconf Tested on: - Arch Linux (rolling release) - Manjaro

Install the following packages using your distribution’s package manager:

Pango development files (libpango1.0-dev or pango-devel)
pkg-config
Python development headers

Linux headless environments: For rendering on servers without a display, you’ll need xvfb: bash sudo apt install xvfb # Debian/Ubuntu sudo dnf install xorg-x11-server-Xvfb # Fedora

macOS

No additional system dependencies required! Python 3.9+ is sufficient.

# Verify Python version
python3 --version

Windows

No additional system dependencies required! Python 3.9+ is sufficient.

Windows users: We recommend using Windows Terminal for the best CLI experience

Installation Methods

Method 1: From PyPI (Recommended)

Install the latest stable release from the Python Package Index:

Basic Installation
Scientific Stack
Development Installation

pip install manimvtk[vtk]

This includes:

Core ManimVTK functionality
VTK rendering and export
All standard dependencies

bash pip install manimvtk[scientific] Includes everything from basic installation plus: - PyVista (advanced VTK visualization) - Additional scientific computing tools

pip install manimvtk[dev]

Includes all dependencies plus:

Testing frameworks (pytest)
Linting tools (flake8, black)
Documentation tools

Method 2: From Source

For development or the latest unreleased features:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/mathifylabs/manimVTK.git
cd manimVTK

# Install in editable mode with VTK support
pip install -e ".[vtk]"

# Or with all extras for development
pip install -e ".[vtk,dev]"

Editable mode (-e) allows you to modify the source code and see changes immediately without reinstalling

Verify Installation

After installation, verify that ManimVTK is working correctly:

# Check version
manimvtk --version

# Should output something like: ManimVTK 0.19.0

Test Rendering

Create a test file test.py:

from manimvtk import *

class Test(Scene):
    def construct(self):
        circle = Circle()
        self.play(Create(circle))

Render it:

manimvtk -pql test.py Test

If a video file opens, your installation is working correctly!

Test VTK Export

Test VTK functionality:

manimvtk -ql test.py Test --vtk-export

Check for VTK output:

ls media/vtk/Test/
# Should show: Test_final.vtp

Troubleshooting

ImportError: No module named 'manimpango'

This means ManimPango failed to install, usually due to missing system dependencies.Solution:

Install system dependencies (see Prerequisites section above)
Reinstall: pip install --force-reinstall manimpango

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'vtk'

VTK was not installed or the installation failed. Solution: bash pip install vtk # Or reinstall with VTK extras pip install --force-reinstall manimvtk[vtk]

OpenGL errors on Linux

This occurs in headless environments (servers without display). Solution:

# Install xvfb sudo apt install xvfb # Run with xvfb wrapper xvfb-run

-a manimvtk -pql example.py Scene ```
</Accordion>

{" "}

<Accordion icon="triangle-exclamation" title="Permission denied errors">
You may need to use `--user` flag or a virtual environment. **Solution:**
```bash # Option 1: Install for current user only pip install --user
manimvtk[vtk] # Option 2: Use a virtual environment (recommended) python -m
venv venv source venv/bin/activate # On Windows: venv\Scripts\activate pip
install manimvtk[vtk] ```
</Accordion>

<Accordion icon="triangle-exclamation" title="FFmpeg not found">
  ManimVTK uses FFmpeg for video encoding.
  
  **Solution:**
  ```bash
  # Ubuntu/Debian
  sudo apt install ffmpeg
  
  # macOS
  brew install ffmpeg
  
  # Windows
  # Download from https://ffmpeg.org/download.html
  # Add to PATH

Virtual Environments (Recommended)

Using virtual environments helps avoid dependency conflicts:

venv (Built-in)
conda

# Create virtual environment
python -m venv manimvtk-env

# Activate (Linux/macOS)
source manimvtk-env/bin/activate

# Activate (Windows)
manimvtk-env\Scripts\activate

# Install ManimVTK
pip install manimvtk[vtk]

# Create conda environment conda create -n manimvtk python=3.11 conda

activate manimvtk # Install ManimVTK pip install manimvtk[vtk] ```
</Tab>

<Tab title="uv (Fast)">
  ```bash
  # Install uv (if not already installed)
  pip install uv
  
  # Create environment and install
  uv venv
  source .venv/bin/activate  # or .venv\Scripts\activate on Windows
  uv pip install manimvtk[vtk]

Updating ManimVTK

Keep your installation up to date:

# Update to latest version
pip install --upgrade manimvtk[vtk]

# Update from source
cd manimVTK
git pull
pip install -e ".[vtk]"

Optional Dependencies

Additional packages you might want to install:

# For advanced VTK visualization
pip install pyvista

# For Jupyter notebook support
pip install jupyter ipywidgets

# For 3D file export
pip install trimesh

# For advanced plotting
pip install matplotlib

Next Steps

Quick Start Guide

Create your first animation

VTK Features

Learn about VTK capabilities

Examples

Browse example scenes

Configuration

Customize ManimVTK settings

​System Requirements

Python Version

Operating Systems

Storage

RAM

​Prerequisites by Platform

​Linux

​macOS

​Windows

​Installation Methods

​Method 1: From PyPI (Recommended)

​Method 2: From Source

​Verify Installation

​Test Rendering

​Test VTK Export

​Troubleshooting

​Virtual Environments (Recommended)

​Updating ManimVTK

​Optional Dependencies

​Next Steps

Quick Start Guide

VTK Features

Examples

Configuration

System Requirements

Prerequisites by Platform

Linux

macOS

Windows

Installation Methods

Method 1: From PyPI (Recommended)

Method 2: From Source

Verify Installation

Test Rendering

Test VTK Export

Troubleshooting

Virtual Environments (Recommended)

Updating ManimVTK

Optional Dependencies

Next Steps