gif_animate.py

# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
"""
Created on Sun Sep 14 12:41:24 2014

@author: rlabbe
"""

from matplotlib import animation
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

def animate(filename, func, frames, interval, fig=None, figsize=(6.5, 6.5)):
    """ Creates an animated GIF of a matplotlib.

    Parameters
    ----------
    filename : string
        name of the file. E.g 'foo.GIF' or '\home\monty\parrots\fjords.gif'

    func : function
       function that will be called once per frame. Must have signature of
       def fun_name(frame_num)

    frames : int
       number of frames to animate. The current frame number will be passed
       into func at each call.

    interval : float
       Milliseconds to pause on each frame in the animation. E.g. 500 for half
       a second.

    figsize : (float, float)  optional
       size of the figure in inches. Defaults to 6.5" by 6.5"
    """



    def forward(frame):
        # I don't know if it is a bug or what, but FuncAnimation calls twice
        # with the first frame number. That breaks any animation that uses
        # the frame number in computations
        if forward.first:
            forward.first = False
            return
        func(frame)

    if fig is None:
        fig = plt.figure(figsize=figsize)
    forward.first = True
    anim = animation.FuncAnimation(fig, forward, frames=frames, interval=interval)
    anim.save(filename, writer='imagemagick')