Illustrating mathematical concepts in video with Manim
Explainer
Manim lets you program video sequences with a few lines of Python code to present mathematical problems in an engaging and scientifically accurate way.
A precise description of a complex problem is sometimes difficult to achieve. Plain text will work eventually, but it often requires a great deal of imagination on the part of the reader. In a conventional classroom setting, an instructor might attempt to illustrate a topic by drawing on a chalkboard or whiteboard during a lecture, but it is fair to ask whether the power of the computer might offer a better option than a professor talking and writing at the same time. Presentation tools such as Impress or PowerPoint evolved as a way to illustrate key concepts in advance, but these tools typically have limited support for mathematical expressions, and they tend to present information in a static, slide show format. Movies and video sequences, on the other hand, can follow a spoken presentation organically in a way that often enhances learning and builds understanding.
However, shooting, trimming, and post-editing video footage can take time, even if you are experienced with video production. Manim [1] is a computer graphics tool that speeds up the task of building mathematical relationships into videos (Figure 1), letting you create a graphic video image with a simple Python script.
Figure 1: Graphic images can help the reader makes sense of mathematical expressions. © Grant Sanderson
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Dash to Panel Maintainer Quits
Charles Gagnon has stepped away as maintainer of the popular Dash to Panel Gnome extension.
-
CIQ Releases Security-Hardened Version of Rocky Linux
If you're looking for an enterprise-grade Linux distribution that is hardened for business use, there's a new version of Rocky Linux that's sure to make you and your company happy.
-
Gnome’s Dash to Panel Extension Gets a Massive Update
If you're a fan of the Gnome Dash to Panel extension, you'll be thrilled to hear that a new version has been released with a dock mode.
-
Blender App Makes it to the Big Screen
The animated film "Flow" won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature at the 97th Academy Awards held on March 2, 2025 and Blender was a part of it.
-
Linux Mint Retools the Cinnamon App Launcher
The developers of Linux Mint are working on an improved Cinnamon App Launcher with a better, more accessible UI.
-
New Linux Tool for Security Issues
Seal Security is launching a new solution to automate fixing Linux vulnerabilities.
-
Ubuntu 25.04 Coming Soon
Ubuntu 25.04 (Plucky Puffin) has been given an April release date with many notable updates.
-
Gnome Developers Consider Dropping RPM Support
In a move that might shock a lot of users, the Gnome development team has proposed the idea of going straight up Flatpak.
-
openSUSE Tumbleweed Ditches AppArmor for SELinux
If you're an openSUSE Tumbleweed user, you can expect a major change to the distribution.
-
Plasma 6.3 Now Available
Plasma desktop v6.3 has a couple of pretty nifty tricks up its sleeve.