Manim Math Animation

Manim Math Animation

Render math animations with Manim from a simple JSON scene spec -- no hand-written Manim Python required. Output is a SILENT clip normalized to the slides-to-video canonical profile (resolution, fps, yuv420p, silent 48 kHz stereo audio), so it splices cleanly into a slides-to-video deck as an interlude, or stands alone.

This is the optional Manim companion to slides-to-video. Keep narration in the parent slides-to-video pipeline (one timing owner per segment): Manim owns only the animation timing and is rendered silent.

Windows Runtime Commands

$runtime = if ($env:AAS_RUNTIME_ROOT) { $env:AAS_RUNTIME_ROOT } else { "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\ai-agents-skills\runtime" }
& "$runtime\run_skill.ps1" "skills/manim-math-animation/run_manim_math_animation.ps1" <args>

When to use

• write an equation on screen in the 3Blue1Brown "being written" style (Write)
• morph one equation into the next derivation step (TransformMatchingTex)
• emphasize a step (indicate / circumscribe / flash / wiggle)
• produce a clip to drop into a slides-to-video lecture, or a standalone math clip

For plain narrated slides without authored animation, use slides-to-video directly. For genuine cursive handwriting, that is out of scope (no free Vietnamese-capable model); "handwriting" here means Manim Write of typeset math.

Setup (one time, explicit)

Manim needs a LaTeX distro (with dvisvgm + the standalone/preview packages

• cm-super), the cairo/pango dev libraries, and ffmpeg:

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt-get install -y ffmpeg dvisvgm texlive texlive-latex-extra texlive-fonts-extra libcairo2-dev libpango1.0-dev build-essential

Then create the dedicated venv (installs Manim CE). Python 3.11+ receives Manim 0.20.1; Python 3.10 receives Manim 0.19.1, the latest compatible line for that interpreter.

bash "${AAS_RUNTIME_ROOT:-$HOME/.local/share/ai-agents-skills/runtime}/run_skill.sh" skills/manim-math-animation/run_manim_math_animation.sh setup
bash "${AAS_RUNTIME_ROOT:-$HOME/.local/share/ai-agents-skills/runtime}/run_skill.sh" skills/manim-math-animation/run_manim_math_animation.sh doctor

doctor reports readiness; it never installs anything.

Scene spec and subcommands

A scene spec is JSON, e.g.:

{
  "title": "Hàm số bậc hai",
  "equations": ["f(x) = x^2 + 2x + 1", "f(x) = (x + 1)^2"],
  "emphases": [{"at": 1, "type": "circumscribe"}],
  "run_time": 1.5, "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "fps": 30
}

• gen --spec spec.json --output scene.py -- generate the Manim script (no render).
• render --spec spec.json --output clip.mp4 [--quality=-qh] -- render + normalize to a silent, splice-ready clip. Pass the quality with = (e.g. --quality=-ql for a fast draft) because the value starts with a dash; omit it to use the default -qh.
• doctor / selftest -- environment check / offline smoke.

Equations are LaTeX (math is language-neutral). Use the title (Pango Text) for Vietnamese/other-script prose; it renders with a Unicode font (Noto by default).

Integration with slides-to-video

Render a clip here, then treat it as one slide's visual in slides-to-video: the parent measures the clip duration with ffprobe and concatenates it like any other slide, synthesizing that segment's narration via its own TTS ladder. Because the Manim clip is silent and already on the canonical profile, the concat stays drift-free. See references/integration.md.