Quick Start - ManimVTK

Installation

Prerequisites

Linux Users: ManimVTK depends on ManimPango, which requires system dependencies on Linux. Install them first before proceeding.

Google Colab (Recommended)

  !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

Debian/Ubuntu

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

Fedora

bash sudo dnf install pango-devel pkg-config python3-devel

Arch Linux

sudo pacman -S pango pkgconf

Install ManimVTK

From PyPI (Recommended)
From Source

Install the latest stable version from PyPI:

# Basic installation with VTK support
pip install manimvtk[vtk]

# Full scientific stack (includes PyVista)
pip install manimvtk[scientific]

Clone the repository and install in development mode:

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

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

# Or install with full scientific stack
pip install -e ".[scientific]"

Verify Installation: Run manimvtk --version to confirm installation

Your First Animation

Let’s create a simple animation to verify everything is working.

Step 1: Create a Scene File

Create a new file called example.py:

from manimvtk import *

class CircleExample(Scene):
    def construct(self):
        # Create a circle
        circle = Circle(radius=1, color=BLUE)

        # Add it to the scene
        self.play(Create(circle))
        self.wait()

Step 2: Render the Animation

Render your scene with the default Cairo renderer:

manimvtk -pql example.py CircleExample

Command breakdown:

-p: Preview the video after rendering
-q: Quality (l=low, m=medium, h=high)
-l: Low quality for faster rendering

The rendered video will be saved in media/videos/example/480p15/CircleExample.mp4

Step 3: Add VTK Export

Now let’s export the scene to VTK format:

manimvtk -pql example.py CircleExample --vtk-export

This creates:

media/videos/example/480p15/CircleExample.mp4 - Video file
media/vtk/CircleExample/CircleExample_final.vtp - VTK file

Success! You’ve created your first ManimVTK animation with VTK export

Using the VTK Renderer

Switch to the VTK renderer for high-quality 3D rendering:

from manimvtk import *

class SphereExample(ThreeDScene):
    def construct(self):
        # Create a 3D sphere
        sphere = Sphere(radius=1.5, resolution=(20, 20))
        sphere.set_color(BLUE)

        # Rotate the camera
        self.set_camera_orientation(phi=75 * DEGREES, theta=30 * DEGREES)

        # Animate
        self.play(Create(sphere))
        self.play(Rotate(sphere, angle=PI, axis=UP))
        self.wait()

Render with the VTK renderer:

manimvtk -pql example.py SphereExample --renderer vtk --vtk-export

Time Series Export for ParaView

Export frame-by-frame VTK files for animation scrubbing in ParaView:

from manimvtk import *

class AnimatedCircle(Scene):
    def construct(self):
        circle = Circle(radius=1, color=BLUE)
        self.add(circle)

        # Animate the circle growing
        self.play(circle.animate.scale(2))
        self.wait()

Render with time series export:

manimvtk -pql example.py AnimatedCircle --vtk-time-series

Output structure:

media/vtk/AnimatedCircle/
├── AnimatedCircle.pvd              # ParaView collection file
├── AnimatedCircle_00000.vtp        # Frame 0
├── AnimatedCircle_00001.vtp        # Frame 1
├── ...
└── AnimatedCircle_viewer.html      # HTML viewer template

Open the .pvd file in ParaView to scrub through the animation using the time slider

Common CLI Options

Option	Description
`-p`	Preview video after rendering
`-q{l,m,h}`	Quality: low, medium, or high
`-s`	Save last frame as PNG
`-a`	Render all scenes in file
`--renderer {cairo,opengl,vtk}`	Choose renderer
`--vtk-export`	Export final scene to VTK
`--vtk-time-series`	Export all frames as VTK time series

See all CLI options

Complete reference of command-line options

Next Steps

VTK Features

Learn about VTK rendering and export

Core Concepts

Understand scenes, mobjects, and animations

Examples Gallery

Explore example animations

API Reference

Browse the complete API

Getting Help

Found a bug?

Report issues on our GitHub repository

Need help?

Check the Manim Community resources and Discord

Want to contribute?

See our Contributing Guide

​Installation

​Prerequisites

​Install ManimVTK

​Your First Animation

​Step 1: Create a Scene File

​Step 2: Render the Animation

​Step 3: Add VTK Export

​Using the VTK Renderer

​Time Series Export for ParaView

​Common CLI Options

See all CLI options

​Next Steps

VTK Features

Core Concepts

Examples Gallery

API Reference

​Getting Help

Installation

Prerequisites

Install ManimVTK

Your First Animation

Step 1: Create a Scene File

Step 2: Render the Animation

Step 3: Add VTK Export

Using the VTK Renderer

Time Series Export for ParaView

Common CLI Options

Next Steps

Getting Help