Manim Environment Setup and Interference Package

About This Project

This project uses a custom package called interference_package to simulate and visualize wave interference patterns.

You can import functions like I1, I2, Is, and constants like c1, z, l from interference_package.

Example usage inside a Manim scene:

from manim import *
from interference_package import I1, z, l, c1

class SimplePlot(Scene):
    def construct(self):
        axes = Axes(
            x_range=[-7*z, 7*z, 20],
            y_range=[0, 1, 0.2],
            x_length=10,
            y_length=6,
        )
        plot = axes.plot(lambda x: I1(x, 30*l, c1), color=BLUE)
        self.add(axes, plot)

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Setting Up the Environment

To get started, clone or download the repository.

It is recommended to create your own virtual environment instead of using the pre-existing manim_env/ folder.

Creating a New Virtual Environment

python -m venv manim_env

Activating the Environment

Windows

.\manim_env\Scripts\activate

macOS/Linux

source manim_env/bin/activate

Once activated, you'll see (manim_env) at the beginning of your command prompt.

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Installing Requirements

After activating the environment, install all required Python dependencies:

pip install -r requirements.txt

Make sure you also have a LaTeX distribution installed on your system:

• TeX Live (Linux/Windows)
• MacTeX (Mac)

LaTeX is needed for Manim to render text labels like axis labels.

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Running Manim

After activating the environment and installing requirements, you can run Manim commands as usual.

To run a Manim script:

manim -pql <filename>.py

The flags mean:

• -p: Preview the video after rendering
• -ql: Low quality (you can use -qh for high quality)

To render a specific scene:

manim -pql <filename>.py SceneName

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Running Tests

Before running tests, make sure you have installed all requirements including pytest.

To run all tests:

pytest

Pytest will automatically discover and run all test cases inside the tests/ folder.

Example output:

=================================== test session starts ===================================
platform darwin -- Python 3.x.x, pytest-x.x.x
collected 3 items

tests/test_wave_functions.py ...                                             [100%]

==================================== 3 passed in 0.14s ====================================

If you prefer, you can also run:

python -m unittest discover tests

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Performance Tips

• For development, use -s to skip rendering and show the last frame
• Use -n to render specific frames only
• First render is usually slowest due to font building and cache generation
• Break complex scenes into smaller parts if needed

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First Time Running

• The first time you run Manim, it may take longer due to:
  • Building the font cache
  • Initializing components
  • Compiling and caching animations
• This is normal. Subsequent runs will be faster.
• Some font warnings might appear — these can be safely ignored.

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Notes

• Always create and activate your own virtual environment before running Manim commands
• If you get LaTeX errors, double-check that TeX Live (or MacTeX) is properly installed
• For any missing Python packages, reinstall using pip install -r requirements.txt
• Avoid uploading your manim_env/ folder to GitHub; instead, use requirements.txt to define dependencies.