Function Repository Resource:

AnimatedArrow

Source Notebook

An Arrow whose heads move dynamically

Contributed by: Jon McLoone

ResourceFunction["AnimatedArrow"][pts]

is a Graphics or Graphics3D primitive that displays as an Arrow but with animated Arrowheads.

Details and Options

Arrowheads primitives are ignored, but the following options are available:

"HeadSize"

0.04

size of the arrowheads

"HeadCount"

1

number of arrowheads to display

"Period"

2

time (in seconds) taken for an arrowhead to travel the length of the arrow

"InitialPosition"

0

position of the arrowhead at time 0

"Time"

current time in the animation

Examples

Basic Examples (1)

AnimatedArrow displays the same as Arrow except its head position is animated:

In[1]:=

Out[1]=

Scope (2)

AnimatedArrow can be used in Graphics3D:

In[2]:=

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AnimatedArrow can be specified with a BSplineCurve:

In[3]:=

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Options (7)

Control the size of the arrowheads with "HeadSize":

In[4]:=

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Control the number of arrowheads with "HeadCount":

In[5]:=

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Control the speed of the arrowhead movement with "Period". The period is measured in the number of seconds it takes an arrowhead to travel the length of the arrow:

In[6]:=

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Multiple arrows will be synchronized:

In[7]:=

Graphics[{
ResourceFunction["AnimatedArrow"][{{0, 0}, {1, 0}}],
ResourceFunction["AnimatedArrow"][{{0, 1}, {1, 1}}]
}, AspectRatio -> 1/5]

Out[7]=

Use "InitialPostion" to control their relative positions:

In[8]:=

Graphics[{
ResourceFunction["AnimatedArrow"][{{0, 0}, {1, 0}}],
ResourceFunction["AnimatedArrow"][{{0, 1}, {1, 1}}, "InitialPosition" -> 0.5]
}, AspectRatio -> 1/5]

Out[8]=

Use "InitialPostion" with RuleDelayed to randomly desynchronize arrows:

In[9]:=

Graphics[Table[
ResourceFunction["AnimatedArrow"][{{0, i}, {1, i}}, "InitialPosition" :> Random[]], {i, 10}],
AspectRatio -> 1/5]

Out[9]=

While AnimatedArrow is intended to be automatically animated, you may wish to control the animation by specifying the time, for example, if you wish to export the result to a movie:

In[10]:=

Table[
Graphics[{
ResourceFunction["AnimatedArrow"][{{0, 0}, {1, 0}}, "Time" -> t],
}, AspectRatio -> 1/5],
{t, 0, 0.5, 0.1}]

Out[10]=

Applications (1)

AnimatedArrow can be used within a Graph:

In[11]:=

$Graph[Table[i -> Mod[i^2, 74], {i, 60}], EdgeShapeFunction -> (ResourceFunction["AnimatedArrow"][#, "InitialPosition" :> Random[]] &)]$

Out[11]=

Publisher

Version History

1.0.0 – 21 November 2019

License Information

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License