About Algan¶
Algan (ALGorithmic ANimation) is a 3-D graphics and animation library inspired by Manim. Manim is a popular Python library for animating mathematical concepts, featuring a simple and intuitive interface and an expansive collection of built in functionality. However, Manim has some key design flaws that make it unsuited for orchestrating complex animations involving many moving parts, and unsuited for developing modular animation software. Algan seeks to improve upon Manim by providing a similarly simple interface, but a much more robust and scalable animation framework.
To this end, Algan features a fully complete animation and rendering backend, built from the ground up in PyTorch. Because the entire pipeline is purpose-built for algorithmic animating, Algan enjoys several key benefits over Manim:
Algan does not render animations as they are created in the program, but instead records all defined animations until a command to render is given. This allows programs to define animations out-of-order (i.e. not in the order they appear in the video timeline). This makes animating some complex scenes far simpler.
Algan features a robust AnimationContext system to control animations. This system makes code written in Algan automatically modular and reusable by default.
Because both the animation and rendering pipelines are built in PyTorch, Algan allows for the use of GPU acceleration for both rendering AND animating. Note that while Manim does support GPU acceleration for rendering, it does not for animating. This means that for scenes involving the animation of many thousands of actors, Algan will be far quicker.
The Algan rendering pipeline is fully customizable. If you need to implement a new type of rendering operation, or unique lighting and shading, you can do so by simply writing a PyTorch program to implement them. You don’t need to bother trying to learn how to use shader languages like OpenGL, just write your rendering pipeline in good old familiar Python with numpy-like arrays.
First Steps¶
Are you new to Algan and are looking for where to get started? Then you are in the right place!
The Installation section has the latest and up-to-date installation instructions for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
In our Tutorials section you will find a collection of resources that will teach you how to use Algan.
Finding Help¶
Are you struggling with installing or using Algan? Don’t worry, we’ve all been there. Here are some good resources to help you out:
Perhaps your problem is one that occurs frequently, then chances are it is addressed in our collection of FAQs.
If you are looking for information on some specific class, look for it in the reference manual and/or use the search feature of the documentation.
Still no luck? Then you are welcome to ask the community for help, together we usually manage to find a solution for your problem! Consult the FAQ page on getting help for instructions.
Index¶
