Develop Reference

How can I animate a matplotlib plot from within for loop

I would like to update my matplotlibplot with values calculated in each iteration of a for loop. The idea is that I can see in real time which values are calculated and watch the progress iteration by iteration as my script is running. I do not want to first iterate through the loop, store the values and then perform the plot.
Some sample code is here:
from itertools import count
import random
from matplotlib.animation import FuncAnimation
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
def animate(i, x_vals, y_vals):
plt.cla()
plt.plot(x_vals, y_vals)
if __name__ == "__main__":
x_vals = []
y_vals = []
fig = plt.figure()
index = count()
for i in range(10):
print(i)
x_vals.append(next(index))
y_vals.append(random.randint(0, 10))
ani = FuncAnimation(fig, animate, fargs=(x_vals, y_vals))
plt.show()
Most of the examples I have seen online, deal with the case where everything for the animation is global variables, which I would like to avoid. When I use a debugger to step through my code line by line, the figure does appear and it is animated. When I just run the script without the debugger, the figure displays but nothing is plot and I can see that my loop doesn't progress past the first iteration, first waiting for the figure window to be closed and then continuing.

You should never be using a loop when animating in matplotlib.
The animate function gets called automatically based on your interval.
Something like this should work
def animate(i, x=[], y=[]):
plt.cla()
x.append(i)
y.append(random.randint(0, 10))
plt.plot(x, y)
if __name__ == "__main__":
fig = plt.figure()
ani = FuncAnimation(fig, animate, interval=700)
plt.show()

trying to elaborate on #dumbpotato21 answer, here my attempt:
import random
from matplotlib.animation import FuncAnimation
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
def data():
cnt = 0
x = []
y = []
for i in range(1,10):
# x = []
# y = []
x.append(cnt*i)
y.append(random.randint(0, 10))
cnt += 1
yield x, y, cnt
input('any key to exit !!!')
quit()
def init_animate():
pass
def animate( data, *fargs) :
print('data : ', data, '\n data type : ', type(data), ' cnt : ', data[2])
plt.cla()
x = [i*k for i in data[0]]
y = [i*p for i in data[1]]
plt.plot(x,y)
if __name__ == "__main__":
fig = plt.figure()
k = 3
p = 5
ani = FuncAnimation(fig, animate, init_func=init_animate, frames=data, interval=700, fargs = [k,p])
plt.show()

There are a number of alternatives which might come in handy in different situations. Here is one that I have used:
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np
from time import sleep
x = np.linspace(0, 30, 51)
y = np.linspace(0, 30, 51)
xx, yy = np.meshgrid(x, y)
# plt.style.use("ggplot")
plt.ion()
fig, ax = plt.subplots()
fig.canvas.draw()
for n in range(50):
# compute data for new plot
zz = np.random.randint(low=-10, high=10, size=np.shape(xx))
# erase previous plot
ax.clear()
# create plot
im = ax.imshow(zz, vmin=-10, vmax=10, cmap='RdBu', origin='lower')
# Re-render the figure and give the GUI event loop the chance to update itself
# Instead of the two lines one can use "plt.pause(0.001)" which, however gives a
# decepracted warning.
# See https://github.com/matplotlib/matplotlib/issues/7759/ for an explanation.
fig.canvas.flush_events()
sleep(0.1)
# make sure that the last plot is kept
plt.ioff()
plt.show()
Additionally, the set_data(...) method of a line plot or imshow object is useful if only the data changes and you don't want to re-drw the whole figure (as this is very time consuming).

Animating a line plot over time in Python

Time series data is data over time. I am trying to animate a line plot of time series data in python. In my code below this translates to plotting xtraj as they and trange as the x. The plot does not seem to be working though.
I have found similar questions on Stack overflow but none of the solutions provided here seem to work. Some similar questions are matplotlib animated line plot stays empty, Matplotlib FuncAnimation not animating line plot and a tutorial referencing the help file Animations with Matplotlib.
I begin by creating the data with the first part and simulating it with the second. I tried renaming the data that would be used as y-values and x-values in order to make it easier to read.
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from matplotlib import animation
dt = 0.01
tfinal = 5.0
x0 = 0
sqrtdt = np.sqrt(dt)
n = int(tfinal/dt)
xtraj = np.zeros(n+1, float)
trange = np.linspace(start=0,stop=tfinal ,num=n+1)
xtraj[0] = x0
for i in range(n):
xtraj[i+1] = xtraj[i] + np.random.normal()
x = trange
y = xtraj
# animation line plot example
fig = plt.figure(4)
ax = plt.axes(xlim=(-5, 5), ylim=(0, 5))
line, = ax.plot([], [], lw=2)
def init():
line.set_data([], [])
return line,
def animate(i):
line.set_data(x[:i], y[:i])
return line,
anim = animation.FuncAnimation(fig, animate, init_func=init, frames=len(x)+1,interval=200, blit=False)
plt.show()
Any help would be highly appreciated. I am new to working in Python and particularly trying to animate plots. So I must apologize if this question is trivial.
Summary
So to summarize my question how does one animate time series in Python, iterating over the time steps (x-values).

Check this code:
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from matplotlib import animation
dt = 0.01
tfinal = 1
x0 = 0
sqrtdt = np.sqrt(dt)
n = int(tfinal/dt)
xtraj = np.zeros(n+1, float)
trange = np.linspace(start=0,stop=tfinal ,num=n+1)
xtraj[0] = x0
for i in range(n):
xtraj[i+1] = xtraj[i] + np.random.normal()
x = trange
y = xtraj
# animation line plot example
fig, ax = plt.subplots(1, 1, figsize = (6, 6))
def animate(i):
ax.cla() # clear the previous image
ax.plot(x[:i], y[:i]) # plot the line
ax.set_xlim([x0, tfinal]) # fix the x axis
ax.set_ylim([1.1*np.min(y), 1.1*np.max(y)]) # fix the y axis
anim = animation.FuncAnimation(fig, animate, frames = len(x) + 1, interval = 1, blit = False)
plt.show()
The code above reproduces this animation:

Animating bisection method with matplotlib animation library

I am interested in math demonstrations. Currently I am working on visualizing numerical methods in python, in particular the bisection method. Below is the code I have written so far.
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import matplotlib.animation as animation
import numpy as np
def sgn(x):
if x > 0:
return 1
elif x < 0:
return -1
else:
return 0
def bisect(f,a,b):
fa = f(a)
fb = f(b)
p = a+(b-a)/2
fp = f(p)
if sgn(fa) == sgn(fp):
return p, fp, b, fb
else:
return a, fa, p, fp
def f(x):
return x**2-3
a, b = 1, 2
plt.figure()
plt.subplot(111)
a, fa, b, fb = bisect(f,a,b)
vf = np.vectorize(f)
x = np.linspace(a,b)
y = vf(x)
plt.plot(x, y, color='blue')
plt.plot([a,a], [0,fa], color='red', linestyle="--")
plt.plot([b,b], [0,fb], color='red', linestyle="--")
plt.grid()
plt.show()
I have three problems I wish to solve. First, I want to be able to call the bisect function multiple times and each time I would like to redraw the plot with the new data. Second, I would like to restart the animation after applying the bisect function some specified number of times. Third, I would like to retain the original axes of the figure before the bisection method is called i.e. I would like to keep the x-range as [1,2] and the y-range as $[-2,1]$. Any help will be much appreciated.

I found a solution to my problems through much trial and error.
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from matplotlib import animation
import numpy as np
def sgn(x):
if x > 0:
return 1
elif x < 0:
return -1
else:
return 0
def bisect(f,a,b):
fa = f(a)
fb = f(b)
p = a+(b-a)/2
fp = f(p)
if sgn(fa) == sgn(fp):
return p, b
else:
return a, p
def bisection_method(f,a,b,n):
for i in range(n):
a,b = bisect(f,a,b)
return a,b
def f(x):
return x**2-3
xmin, xmax = 1, 2
yrange = f(xmin), f(xmax)
ymin, ymax = min(yrange), max(yrange)
vf = np.vectorize(f)
x = np.linspace(xmin,xmax)
y = vf(x)
epsilon = 0.1
# Initialize figure
fig = plt.figure()
ax = plt.axes(xlim=(xmin-epsilon,xmax+epsilon), ylim=(ymin,ymax))
curve, = ax.plot([],[], color='blue')
left, = ax.plot([],[],color='red')
right, = ax.plot([],[],color='red')
# Figure reset between frames
def init():
left.set_data([],[])
right.set_data([],[])
curve.set_data([],[])
return left, right, curve,
# Animation of bisection
def animate(i):
a, b = bisection_method(f,xmin,xmax,i)
left.set_data([a,a],[ymin,ymax])
right.set_data([b,b],[ymin,ymax])
curve.set_data(x,y)
return left, right, curve,
anim = animation.FuncAnimation(fig, animate, init_func=init, frames=15, interval=700, blit=True)
plt.grid()
plt.show()

You can simply change your code to:
plt.plot([a,a], [0,fa], color='red', linestyle="--",hold=TRUE) which would basically allow you to plot multiple points without resetting the plot and once you have plotted a number of times you can reset using hold=FALSE. Hope this makes sense.

Python multi-body animation does not work

I am stuck with a python animation in which I am trying to animate a system of particles initially arranged in a 2 dimensional hexagonal lattice and gradually spreading out as per rule: xpos1[i]=xpos1[i]+L/10.0. If any particle goes out of the window limit, they are brought in through the other side
if xpos1[i]>L*3: # translate back the particle if it goes out of window limit 0 to L*3
xpos1[i]=xpos1[i]-L*3
elif xpos1[i]<0:
xpos1[i]=L*3-xpos1[i]
And all the updates of position are stored in two list xpos1 and ypos1. This is done for several time steps.
I wish to visualize the time evolution of the system by turning it to an animation. My code is as follows. I have never done matplotlib animations before and actually copied the 'animation' part from another program where it works fine. But it does not work for mine.
from numpy import*
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import matplotlib.animation as animation
sigma=3.4e-10 # dist of closest approach
L=4.8e-10 # lattice constant = sigma*2**0.5 (Let)
xpos1=zeros(18,float)
ypos1=zeros(18,float)
# ~~~~~~~~~~~ Setting up the hexagonal lattice ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
k=0
for x in range(0,6,1):
for y in range(0,6,1):
if (x+y)%2==0:
xpos1[k]=x*L*.5+.25*L
ypos1[k]=y*L*.5+.25*L
k=k+1
#~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~TIME EVOLUTION~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
t = 4.5e-12
iteration=1
while t<=1e-9:
for i in range(18):
xpos1[i]=xpos1[i]+L/10.0
ypos1[i]=ypos1[i]+L/10.0
if xpos1[i]>L*3: # translate back the particle if it goes out of window limit 0 to L*cell
xpos1[i]=xpos1[i]-L*3
elif xpos1[i]<0:
xpos1[i]=L*3-xpos1[i]
if ypos1[i]>L*3: # translate back the particle if it goes out of window limit 0 to L*cell
ypos1[i]=ypos1[i]-L*3
elif ypos1[i]<0:
ypos1[i]=L*3-ypos1[i]
t = t + 4.5e-12
#~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ANIMATION ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
def simData():
for i in range(18):
x=xpos1[i]
y=ypos1[i]
yield x,y
def simPoints(simData):
x,y= simData[0],simData[1]
line.set_data(x,y)
return line
fig = plt.figure()
ax = fig.add_subplot(111)
line,= ax.plot([],[],'bo',ms=8)
ax.set_ylim(0 , L*3)
ax.set_xlim(0 , L*3)
ani = animation.FuncAnimation(fig, simPoints, simData, blit=True , interval=200)
plt.show()
Can somebody tell me how to make the animation successfully?

Your animation update (and init if you have one) must return an iterable.
def simPoints(simData):
x, y = simData[0], simData[1]
line.set_data(x, y)
return line, # added a comma to return a tuple
You may also need to set blit=False if you are on mac os
ani = animation.FuncAnimation(fig, simPoints, simData, blit=False, interval=200)
Edit:
Here is a minimum working example that shows 18 random points - you'll have to change the random generation to the pattern you want for the points on your lattice.
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import matplotlib.animation as animation
x = np.random.random(18)
y = np.random.random(18)
def simData():
"""updates the points position on your lattice.
replace with your own code - can call a helper function to accomplish this task
"""
x = np.random.random(18)
y = np.random.random(18)
yield x, y
def simPoints(simData):
"""initializes the points position on your lattice.
replace with your own code - can call a helper function to accomplish this task
"""
x = np.random.random(18)
y = np.random.random(18)
line.set_data(x, y)
return line,
fig = plt.figure()
ax = fig.add_subplot(111)
line, = ax.plot(x, y,'bo', ms=8)
ani = animation.FuncAnimation(fig, simPoints, simData, blit=False, interval=200)
plt.show()

Matplotlib create real time animated graph

I am having a hard time setting up my code to create a real time animated graph, my code is graphing after the data is being collected, not showing every iteration. My script runs a regression function then stores in a file, then I access the files and plot them, here is what I have, what do I need to move around or change to have it graph real time? I tried moving the plot functions inside the for loop but that didn't work, any suggestions?
fig = plt.figure()
ax1 = fig.add_subplot(1,1,1)
num = 10
for idx in range(1,num):
c,e = Regr_magic()
with open("CK_output.txt",'a') as CK:
CK.write("{0},{1}\n".format(idx,c))
with open("error_output.txt",'a') as E:
E.write("{0},{1}\n".format(idx,e))
def animate(i):
pull = open('error_output.txt','r').read()
data = pull.split('\n')
xar = []
yar = []
for each in data:
if len(each)>1:
x,y = each.split(',')
xar.append(float(x))
yar.append(float(y))
ax1.plot(xar, yar)
ani = animation.FuncAnimation(fig, animate, interval=1000)
plt.show()
FYI, data files contain the following, the iteration number and Ck value or error, so they look like this
1,.0554
2,.0422
3,.0553
4,.0742
5,.0232

Solution for pre-computed results
This makes a decent animation from the data in your output file:
from matplotlib import pyplot as plt
from matplotlib import animation
fig = plt.figure()
with open('error_output.txt') as fobj:
x, y = zip(*([float(x) for x in line.split(',')] for line in fobj))
def animate(n):
line, = plt.plot(x[:n], y[:n], color='g')
return line,
anim = animation.FuncAnimation(fig, animate, frames=len(x), interval=1000)
plt.show()
Solution for a real-time animation as the values are computed
Here a version that allows real-time animation of data produce by regr_magic:
import random
import time
from matplotlib import pyplot as plt
from matplotlib import animation
class RegrMagic(object):
"""Mock for function Regr_magic()
"""
def __init__(self):
self.x = 0
def __call__(self):
time.sleep(random.random())
self.x += 1
return self.x, random.random()
regr_magic = RegrMagic()
def frames():
while True:
yield regr_magic()
fig = plt.figure()
x = []
y = []
def animate(args):
x.append(args[0])
y.append(args[1])
return plt.plot(x, y, color='g')
anim = animation.FuncAnimation(fig, animate, frames=frames, interval=1000)
plt.show()
The class RegrMagic is a helper the mocks Regr_magic(). The __call__method makes an instance of this class behave like a function. It has state and produces the numbers 1, 0.56565, 2, 0.65566 etc. for each call (second number is a random number). It also has a time delay to mimic the computation time.
The important thing is frames(). Replace Regr_magic() with Regr_magic() and should be good to go.
Solution for the concrete problem
A version without mocks:
import random
import time
from matplotlib import pyplot as plt
from matplotlib import animation
def frames():
while True:
yield Regr_magic()
fig = plt.figure()
x = []
y = []
def animate(args):
x.append(args[0])
y.append(args[1])
return plt.plot(x, y, color='g')
anim = animation.FuncAnimation(fig, animate, frames=frames, interval=1000)
plt.show()