Function Repository Resource:

ExportRotatingGIF

Export 3D graphic objects as spinning animations in GIF format

Contributed by: Michael Sollami

ResourceFunction["ExportRotatingGIF"]["dest.gif",graphics]

exports an animated GIF file of graphics cyclically rotating in three dimensions.

Details and Options

ResourceFunction["ExportRotatingGIF"] accepts various three dimensional graphics objects including Graphics3D, Graph3D, MeshRegion, ContourPlot3D, etc.

In the resulting GIF, the default "FPS" option is 30 frames-per-second.

The total number of frames is OptionValue["FPS"]×OptionValue["Duration"]

The option "Duration" is the time in seconds that a single 360° rotation will take to complete.

The following options are accepted:

"FPS"

frames per second to render

"Parallel"

False

whether to use parallel kernels

"Axis"

“z"

which axis to rotate around

"InitialViewPoint"

{3,0,0}

initial view point

"Graphics3DOptions"

{}

options to pass to Graphics3D

"FramesDirectory"

Automatic

directory to store frames making up the GIF

"Duration"

time (in seconds) for one rotation

Examples

Basic Examples (2)

Export 3D plots as animations:

In[1]:=

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Export Graphics3D objects to animated GIF file:

In[2]:=

g = Graphics3D[{Blue, Cylinder[], Red, Sphere[{0, 0, 2}], Black, Thick, Dashed,
Line[{{-2, 0, 2}, {2, 0, 2}, {0, 0, 4}, {-2, 0, 2}}], Yellow,
Polygon[{{-3, -3, -2}, {-3, 3, -2}, {3, 3, -2}, {3, -3, -2}}],
Green, Opacity[1], Cuboid[{-2, -2, -2}, {2, 2, -1}]}];
ResourceFunction["ExportRotatingGIF"]["example.gif", g, ImageSize -> 400];
Import[%, "Animation"]

Out[2]=

Scope (4)

Use ExportRotatingGIF to spin 3D plots of molecules around x-, y- and z-axes:

In[3]:=

$m = Molecule["O=C(C1CCC1)S[C@@H]1CCC1(C)C"]; mp = MoleculePlot3D[m]; Table[ResourceFunction["ExportRotatingGIF"]["axis_" <> a <> ".gif", mp, "Axis" -> a], {a, {"x", "y", "z"}}]; Import[#, "Animation", ImageSize -> Small] & /@ %$

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Export spinning Graph3D objects:

In[4]:=

$gp = Graph3D[Table[i -> Mod[i^2, 74], {i, 100}]]; ResourceFunction["ExportRotatingGIF"]["graph_network.gif", gp, "FPS" -> 10, "Duration" -> 1, "Axis" -> "Y"]; ListAnimate[Import[%], ImageSize -> Small]$

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Export a styled graph animation that revolves once every second:

In[5]:=

$h = Graph3D[ Table[Property[ v, {VertexSize -> 0.2 + 0.2 Mod[v, 5], VertexStyle -> Hue[v/15, 1, 1]}], {v, 0, 14}], Table[v \[UndirectedEdge] Mod[v + 1, 15], {v, 0, 14}]]; ResourceFunction["ExportRotatingGIF"]["example.gif", h, "FPS" -> 30, "Duration" -> 1, "InitialViewPoint" -> {2, 2, 1}]; Import[%, "Animation", ImageSize -> Small]$

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Export a MeshRegion object with axes and lighting:

In[6]:=

$mr = DelaunayMesh[RandomReal[1, {50, 3}]]; ResourceFunction["ExportRotatingGIF"]["mesh_lighting.gif", mr, "Graphics3DOptions" -> { Lighting -> {{"Point", Green, {0, 0, 10}}, {"Point", Blue, {0, 10, 0}}}, Axes -> True}, ImageResolution -> 150]; ListAnimate[Import[%], ImageSize -> Small]$

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Options (7)

Axis (1)

Specify the plane of rotation about one of three axes:

In[7]:=

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In[8]:=

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In[9]:=

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Duration (1)

Export a GIF that completes a 360° spin in two seconds:

In[10]:=

$Graphics3D[{Specularity[White, 20], Texture[RadialGradientImage[ColorData["Rainbow"], {128, 128}]], EdgeForm[ Opacity[1/ 8]], (Append[#1, {VertexTextureCoordinates -> With[{n = Length[First[#1]]}, Table[1/2 {Cos[2 \[Pi] i/n], Sin[2 \[Pi] i/n]} + {1/2, 1/2}, {i, 0, n - 1}]]}] &) /@ Flatten[PolyhedronData["StellaOctangula", "Faces", "Polygon"]]}, Lighting -> "Neutral", Boxed -> False]; ResourceFunction["ExportRotatingGIF"]["example.gif", %, "Duration" -> 2, "InitialViewPoint" -> {1, 3, 2}]; Import[%, "Animation"]$

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FPS (1)

Control the smoothness of the animation by changing the frames per second:

In[11]:=

$g = Graph3D[ButterflyGraph[4]]; Table[ResourceFunction["ExportRotatingGIF"][ "fps_" <> ToString[f] <> ".gif", g, "FPS" -> f], {f, {5, 30}}]; Import[#, "Animation", ImageSize -> Tiny] & /@ %$

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FramesDirectory (1)

Set a directory in which to save the images of the intermediate frames:

In[12]:=

g = Graph3D[HypercubeGraph[4]];
dir = CreateDirectory[];
ResourceFunction["ExportRotatingGIF"]["HypercubeGraph.gif", g, "FramesDirectory" -> dir, "FPS" -> 3, "Duration" -> 2];
FileNames["*.png", dir] // TableForm

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Graphics3DOptions (1)

Include additional options to be exported with a graphics complex:

In[14]:=

gp = GraphPlot3D[HypercubeGraph[6], GraphLayout -> "SpringElectricalEmbedding", PlotTheme -> "CoolColor"];
ResourceFunction["ExportRotatingGIF"]["example.gif", gp, "Axis" -> "Z", Duration -> 4, "Graphics3DOptions" -> {Background -> Darker@Purple}];
Import[%, "Animation", ImageSize -> Small]

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InitialViewPoint (1)

Modify the initial view point of the animation:

In[15]:=

$cp = ContourPlot3D[ Cos[x] Sin[y] + Cos[y] Sin[z] + Cos[z] Sin[x] == 0, {x, -2 \[Pi], 2 \[Pi]}, {y, -2 \[Pi], 2 \[Pi]}, {z, -2 \[Pi], 2 \[Pi]}, Axes -> True, PerformanceGoal -> "Speed"]; viewpoints = {{2, 2, -3}, {2, 2, 3}}; Table[ResourceFunction["ExportRotatingGIF"][ "vp_" <> ToString[f] <> ".gif", cp, "FPS" -> 5, "InitialViewPoint" -> viewpoints[[f]]], {f, 2}]; Import[#, "Animation", ImageSize -> Small] & /@ %$