<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><title>8. Looping an animation</title><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="style.css"><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets Vsnapshot"><link rel="home" href="index.html" title="The Clutter Cookbook"><link rel="up" href="animations.html" title="Chapter 5. Animations"><link rel="prev" href="animations-moving.html" title="7. Moving actors"><link rel="next" href="animations-scaling.html" title="9. Animated scaling"></head><body bgcolor="white" text="black" link="#0000FF" vlink="#840084" alink="#0000FF"><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">8. Looping an animation</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="animations-moving.html">Prev</a> </td><th width="60%" align="center">Chapter 5. Animations</th><td width="20%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="animations-scaling.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="animations-looping"></a>8. Looping an animation</h2></div></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a name="idm140200507282400"></a>8.1. Problem</h3></div></div></div><p>You want to loop an animation so it plays multiple times.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a name="idm140200507281168"></a>8.2. Solutions</h3></div></div></div><p>Each <a class="link" href="animations.html#animations-introduction-api" title="1.3. Clutter's animation API">animation
approach</a> can be used to create a looping animation, as
described in the following sections.</p><p>The animation implemented in each case is a simple repeated
movement of a rectangle from the right (<code class="code">x = 150.0</code>)
to the left (<code class="code">x = 50.0</code>) of the stage, and back again,
looped; like this (just a few iterations):</p><p><video controls="controls" src="videos/animations-looping.ogv"><a href="videos/animations-looping.ogv">
<p>Video showing simple looped movement of an actor</p>
</a></video></p><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a name="animations-looping-solutions-implicit"></a>8.2.1. Solution 1: looping an implicit animation</h4></div></div></div><p>Implicit animations, started using
<code class="function">clutter_actor_animate()</code>, can be looped via
their associated <span class="type">ClutterTimeline</span>.</p><p>Create a <span class="type">ClutterTimeline</span> which is
set to loop:</p><div class="informalexample"><pre class="programlisting">ClutterTimeline *timeline = clutter_timeline_new (1000);
clutter_timeline_set_repeat_count (timeline, -1);</pre></div><p>Use this timeline when starting an implicit animation on an
actor; in this case, to animate the actor's <code class="varname">x</code>
coordinate from its initial value to <code class="code">50.0</code>:</p><div class="informalexample"><pre class="programlisting">/* assume <code class="varname">actor</code> is a <span class="type">ClutterActor</span> instance */
/* actor's initial x value is 150.0 */
clutter_actor_set_x (actor, 150.0);
/* animate the actor (starting the timeline is implicit) */
clutter_actor_animate_with_timeline (actor,
CLUTTER_LINEAR,
timeline,
"x", 50.0,
NULL);</pre></div><p>One further technique is to repeatedly reverse the timeline's
direction to create a "closed loop" animation (one which returns
to its origin at the end of each iteration). See
<a class="link" href="animations-looping.html#animations-looping-discussion-closed-loop" title='8.3.2. Creating a "closed loop" with an implicit animation'>this
section</a> for details.</p><p><a class="link" href="animations-looping.html#animations-looping-example-1" title="Example 5.11. Looping an implicit animation">The full
code example</a> shows how to run an implicit animation on
a loop.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a name="idm140200507266032"></a>8.2.2. Solution 2: looping with <span class="type">ClutterAnimator</span></h4></div></div></div><p>A <span class="type">ClutterAnimator</span> animation can also be looped
via its <span class="type">ClutterTimeline</span>. However, as
<span class="type">ClutterAnimator</span> enables more complex animations,
you don't have to manually invert the timeline at the
end of each iteration. Instead, you can animate
an actor's properties back to their initial values
at the end of each iteration of the loop.</p><p>Creating the timeline and setting it to loop is the same
as for implicit animations:</p><div class="informalexample"><pre class="programlisting">ClutterTimeline *timeline = clutter_timeline_new (2000);
clutter_timeline_set_repeat_count (timeline, -1);</pre></div><p>Note that the timeline is twice the length of the one for
the implicit animation: this is because, unlike the implicit
animation, the movement from right to left and back again
is a <span class="emphasis"><em>single</em></span> animation. By contrast, in the
implicit animation, the timeline runs forward, for the right to
left movement; and then backwards, for the left to right
movement. So rather than a 1000ms timeline running twice (once
forward, once backward for the implicit animation),
we have a 2000ms timeline running once (for
<span class="type">ClutterAnimator</span>).</p><p>Next, create a <span class="type">ClutterAnimator</span> which animates
the actor from right to left, then left to right:</p><div class="informalexample"><pre class="programlisting">/* assume <code class="varname">actor</code> is a <span class="type">ClutterActor</span> instance */
ClutterAnimator *animator = clutter_animator_new ();
/* use the looping timeline as the timeline for the animator */
clutter_animator_set_timeline (animator, timeline);
/* set positions for the actor at various points through the animation:
* at progress 0.0, x = 150.0 (right of the stage)
* at progress 0.5, x = 50.0 (left of the stage)
* at progress 1.0, x = 150.0 again (back to the right)
*/
clutter_animator_set (animator,
actor, "x", CLUTTER_LINEAR, 0.0, 150.0,
actor, "x", CLUTTER_LINEAR, 0.5, 50.0,
actor, "x", CLUTTER_LINEAR, 1.0, 150.0,
NULL);</pre></div><p>Finally, start the animation:</p><div class="informalexample"><pre class="programlisting">clutter_animator_start (animator);</pre></div><p>See <a class="link" href="animations-looping.html#animations-looping-example-2" title="Example 5.12. Looping with ClutterAnimator">the full
example</a> for more details.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a name="idm140200507254080"></a>8.2.3. Solution 3: looping with <span class="type">ClutterState</span></h4></div></div></div><p>You can loop <span class="type">ClutterState</span> animations by
creating a cycle of states which
<a class="ulink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouroboros" target="_top">"swallows
its own tail"</a>: i.e. goes from a start state, through
intermediate state(s), back to the start state, then again
through the intermediate states(s), back to the start state,
etc., ad infinitum.</p><p>For the animation we're implementing, there are two states
the actor transitions between:</p><div class="orderedlist"><ol class="orderedlist" type="1"><li class="listitem"><p>The actor's <code class="varname">x</code> value
is <code class="code">150.0</code> (the start/end state, on the right
of the stage).</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>The actor's <code class="varname">x</code> value is
<code class="code">50.0</code> (the intermediate state, on the left
of the stage).</p></li></ol></div><p>Here is how to add those states to a
<span class="type">ClutterState</span> instance:</p><div class="informalexample"><pre class="programlisting">ClutterState *transitions = clutter_state_new ();
/* the duration for a transition from any state to any other is 1 second */
clutter_state_set_duration (transitions, NULL, NULL, 1000);
clutter_state_set (transitions, NULL, "right",
actor, "x", CLUTTER_LINEAR, 150.0,
NULL);
clutter_state_set (transitions, NULL, "left",
actor, "x", CLUTTER_LINEAR, 50.0,
NULL);</pre></div><p>You also need a handler to move the <span class="type">ClutterState</span>
to its next state, called each time a state transition
is completed:</p><div class="informalexample"><pre class="programlisting">/* handler to move the <span class="type">ClutterState</span> to its next state */
static void
next_state (ClutterState *transitions,
gpointer user_data)
{
const gchar *state = clutter_state_get_state (transitions);
if (g_strcmp0 (state, "right") == 0)
clutter_state_set_state (transitions, "left");
else
clutter_state_set_state (transitions, "right");
}</pre></div><p>Then connect the <span class="type">ClutterState's</span>
<code class="code">completed</code> signal to the handler, so that each time
a state is reached, the transition to the next state begins:</p><div class="informalexample"><pre class="programlisting">/* connect the <span class="type">ClutterState</span> <code class="code">completed</code> signal to the handler */
g_signal_connect (transitions,
"completed",
G_CALLBACK (next_state),
NULL);</pre></div><p>Finally, put the <span class="type">ClutterState</span> into the start
state to begin the animation:</p><div class="informalexample"><pre class="programlisting">clutter_state_warp_to_state (transitions, "right");</pre></div><p>See <a class="link" href="animations-looping.html#animations-looping-example-3" title="Example 5.13. Looping with ClutterState">the full
example</a> for more details.</p></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a name="idm140200507235696"></a>8.3. Discussion</h3></div></div></div><p>We use two different approaches to looping in the solutions:</p><div class="orderedlist"><ol class="orderedlist" type="1"><li class="listitem"><p>Setting the <span class="type">ClutterTimeline</span> to loop
(via <code class="function">clutter_timeline_set_repeat_count()</code>). This
is the best approach where the timeline is explicit (for
<span class="type">ClutterAnimator</span> and implicit animations).</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>Cycling through states in a <span class="type">ClutterState</span>. In
this case, the timeline is implicit and we don't need to
manually control it: the loop is a consequence of cycling
repeatedly through a series of states.</p></li></ol></div><p>The following sections cover some other aspects of looping
animations.</p><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a name="idm140200507229632"></a>8.3.1. Looping a fixed number of times</h4></div></div></div><p><span class="type">ClutterTimeline</span> doesn't have any built-in
functionality to support looping a certain number of times. But
it is reasonably easy to count the number of iterations completed and
stop the animation when some limit is reached.</p><p>For example, you could use a static counter to keep track
of the iteration count:</p><div class="informalexample"><pre class="programlisting">static guint counter = 0;</pre></div><p>Implement the looping behaviour as in the above solutions,
but use a callback function to set/reset the counter each time
the timeline completes. For example, for the
<span class="type">ClutterAnimator</span> solution, you would connect the
<code class="code">completed</code> signal of the timeline
to a callback function:</p><div class="informalexample"><pre class="programlisting">g_signal_connect (timeline,
"completed",
G_CALLBACK (timeline_completed_cb),
NULL);</pre></div><p>And implement a callback function which resets the counter and
stops the timeline if more than two iterations have been counted:</p><div class="informalexample"><pre class="programlisting">static void
timeline_completed_cb (ClutterTimeline *timeline,
gpointer user_data)
{
counter++;
if (counter > 2)
{
counter = 0;
clutter_timeline_stop (timeline);
}
}</pre></div><p>Note that it's simple to count iterations and
control the timeline using <span class="type">ClutterAnimator</span> or
<span class="type">ClutterState</span>, as the whole animation (right to left
and back) is a discrete unit. Doing the same with implicit
animations is possible (one forward + one backward run along the
timeline is one iteration). But you will be really stretching the
implicit animation API beyond its intended use cases.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a name="animations-looping-discussion-closed-loop"></a>8.3.2. Creating a "closed loop" with an implicit animation</h4></div></div></div><p>When using implicit animations, at the end of the timeline
(before the next iteration of the loop), an actor's properties
"jump" back to their initial values (as they were when the timeline
started). For example, in the
<a class="link" href="animations-looping.html#animations-looping-solutions-implicit" title="8.2.1. Solution 1: looping an implicit animation">earlier
solution</a>, the actor's initial <code class="varname">x</code> value was
<code class="code">150.0</code>; so the default behaviour on each iteration
of the loop would be to animate the actor to <code class="code">x = 50.0</code>
then jump it immediately back to <code class="code">x = 150.0</code>, before
continuing the loop.</p><p>To prevent this happening, you can create a "closed" loop:
animate the actor's properties away from their initial values, then
back again.</p><p>This could be done manually, by creating two separate
animations, one the inverse of the other, and chaining them together.</p><p>However, a simpler solution is to run forward through the timeline
once, and have the timeline invert itself when its end is reached.
The animation then continues, but in reverse. Once the backward iteration
completes, the timeline sets itself to run forward again, etc.</p><p>To make a timeline reverse its direction each time it
completes, use the <code class="function">clutter_timeline_set_auto_reverse()</code>
function:</p><div class="informalexample"><pre class="programlisting">clutter_timeline_set_auto_reverse (timeline, TRUE);</pre></div><p>This is the approach used in
<a class="link" href="animations-looping.html#animations-looping-example-1" title="Example 5.11. Looping an implicit animation">the example</a>,
which results in a smooth, repeated right to left,
left to right motion.</p><p>See <a class="link" href="animations-inversion.html" title="2. Inverting Animations">this
recipe</a> for more details about inverting a timeline.</p></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a name="animations-looping-examples"></a>8.4. Full examples</h3></div></div></div><div class="example"><a name="animations-looping-example-1"></a><p class="title"><b>Example 5.11. Looping an implicit animation</b></p><div class="example-contents"><pre class="programlisting">#include <stdlib.h>
#include <clutter/clutter.h>
static const ClutterColor stage_color = { 0x33, 0x33, 0x55, 0xff };
static const ClutterColor red_color = { 0xff, 0x00, 0x00, 0xff };
typedef struct
{
ClutterActor *actor;
ClutterTimeline *timeline;
} State;
static gboolean
key_pressed_cb (ClutterActor *actor,
ClutterEvent *event,
gpointer user_data)
{
State *state = (State *) user_data;
/* only start animating if actor isn't animating already */
if (clutter_actor_get_animation (state->actor) == NULL)
clutter_actor_animate_with_timeline (state->actor,
CLUTTER_LINEAR,
state->timeline,
"x", 50.0,
NULL);
return TRUE;
}
int
main (int argc,
char *argv[])
{
State *state = g_new0 (State, 1);
ClutterActor *stage;
if (clutter_init (&argc, &argv) != CLUTTER_INIT_SUCCESS)
return 1;
stage = clutter_stage_new ();
clutter_actor_set_size (stage, 300, 200);
clutter_stage_set_color (CLUTTER_STAGE (stage), &stage_color);
g_signal_connect (stage, "destroy", G_CALLBACK (clutter_main_quit), NULL);
state->actor = clutter_rectangle_new_with_color (&red_color);
clutter_actor_set_size (state->actor, 100, 100);
clutter_actor_set_position (state->actor, 150, 50);
state->timeline = clutter_timeline_new (1000);
clutter_timeline_set_repeat_count (state->timeline, -1);
clutter_timeline_set_auto_reverse (state->timeline, TRUE);
g_signal_connect (stage,
"key-press-event",
G_CALLBACK (key_pressed_cb),
state);
clutter_container_add_actor (CLUTTER_CONTAINER (stage), state->actor);
clutter_actor_show (stage);
clutter_main ();
g_object_unref (state->timeline);
g_free (state);
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}
</pre></div></div><br class="example-break"><div class="example"><a name="animations-looping-example-2"></a><p class="title"><b>Example 5.12. Looping with <span class="type">ClutterAnimator</span></b></p><div class="example-contents"><pre class="programlisting">#include <stdlib.h>
#include <clutter/clutter.h>
static const ClutterColor stage_color = { 0x33, 0x33, 0x55, 0xff };
static const ClutterColor red_color = { 0xff, 0x00, 0x00, 0xff };
static gboolean
key_pressed_cb (ClutterActor *actor,
ClutterEvent *event,
gpointer user_data)
{
ClutterTimeline *timeline = CLUTTER_TIMELINE (user_data);
if (!clutter_timeline_is_playing (timeline))
clutter_timeline_start (timeline);
return TRUE;
}
int
main (int argc,
char *argv[])
{
ClutterActor *stage;
ClutterActor *actor;
ClutterTimeline *timeline;
ClutterAnimator *animator;
if (clutter_init (&argc, &argv) != CLUTTER_INIT_SUCCESS)
return 1;
stage = clutter_stage_new ();
clutter_actor_set_size (stage, 300, 200);
clutter_stage_set_color (CLUTTER_STAGE (stage), &stage_color);
g_signal_connect (stage, "destroy", G_CALLBACK (clutter_main_quit), NULL);
actor = clutter_rectangle_new_with_color (&red_color);
clutter_actor_set_size (actor, 100, 100);
clutter_actor_set_position (actor, 150, 50);
timeline = clutter_timeline_new (2000);
clutter_timeline_set_repeat_count (timeline, -1);
animator = clutter_animator_new ();
clutter_animator_set_timeline (animator, timeline);
clutter_animator_set (animator,
actor, "x", CLUTTER_LINEAR, 0.0, 150.0,
actor, "x", CLUTTER_LINEAR, 0.5, 50.0,
actor, "x", CLUTTER_LINEAR, 1.0, 150.0,
NULL);
clutter_container_add_actor (CLUTTER_CONTAINER (stage), actor);
g_signal_connect (stage,
"key-press-event",
G_CALLBACK (key_pressed_cb),
timeline);
clutter_actor_show (stage);
clutter_main ();
g_object_unref (animator);
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}
</pre></div></div><br class="example-break"><div class="example"><a name="animations-looping-example-3"></a><p class="title"><b>Example 5.13. Looping with <span class="type">ClutterState</span></b></p><div class="example-contents"><pre class="programlisting">#include <stdlib.h>
#include <clutter/clutter.h>
static const ClutterColor stage_color = { 0x33, 0x33, 0x55, 0xff };
static const ClutterColor red_color = { 0xff, 0x00, 0x00, 0xff };
static void
next_state (ClutterState *transitions,
gpointer user_data)
{
const gchar *state = clutter_state_get_state (transitions);
if (g_strcmp0 (state, "right") == 0)
clutter_state_set_state (transitions, "left");
else
clutter_state_set_state (transitions, "right");
}
static gboolean
key_pressed_cb (ClutterActor *actor,
ClutterEvent *event,
gpointer user_data)
{
ClutterState *transitions = CLUTTER_STATE (user_data);
if (!clutter_timeline_is_playing (clutter_state_get_timeline (transitions)))
next_state (transitions, NULL);
return TRUE;
}
int
main (int argc,
char *argv[])
{
ClutterActor *stage;
ClutterActor *actor;
ClutterState *transitions;
if (clutter_init (&argc, &argv) != CLUTTER_INIT_SUCCESS)
return 1;
stage = clutter_stage_new ();
clutter_actor_set_size (stage, 300, 200);
clutter_stage_set_color (CLUTTER_STAGE (stage), &stage_color);
g_signal_connect (stage, "destroy", G_CALLBACK (clutter_main_quit), NULL);
actor = clutter_rectangle_new_with_color (&red_color);
clutter_actor_set_position (actor, 150, 50);
clutter_actor_set_size (actor, 100, 100);
transitions = clutter_state_new ();
clutter_state_set_duration (transitions, NULL, NULL, 1000);
clutter_state_set (transitions, NULL, "right",
actor, "x", CLUTTER_LINEAR, 150.0,
NULL);
clutter_state_set (transitions, NULL, "left",
actor, "x", CLUTTER_LINEAR, 50.0,
NULL);
clutter_state_warp_to_state (transitions, "right");
g_signal_connect (stage,
"key-press-event",
G_CALLBACK (key_pressed_cb),
transitions);
g_signal_connect (transitions,
"completed",
G_CALLBACK (next_state),
NULL);
clutter_container_add_actor (CLUTTER_CONTAINER (stage), actor);
clutter_actor_show (stage);
clutter_main ();
g_object_unref (transitions);
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}
</pre></div></div><br class="example-break"></div></div><div class="navfooter"><hr><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="animations-moving.html">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="animations.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="animations-scaling.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">7. Moving actors </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> 9. Animated scaling</td></tr></table></div></body></html>