Complete field reference

This is the exhaustive version of the reference section — every object type with every one of its fields, every animation kind with every one of its fields, and every project-level setting, all in one page. The other reference pages (Object types, Animations, Scene settings) cover the same ground with more narrative; this page trades narrative for completeness, so nothing is left out or summarized away.

Field types use plain names: number, string, boolean, point (an {x, y} pair), point3 (an {x, y, z} triple), color (a hex string or null for none). Where a field only accepts a fixed set of values, they're listed as a | b | c.

Table of contents

1. Shared fields every object has
2. Text & formula objects
3. Path & field objects
4. 2D shapes
5. Lines, arrows, braces, dots
6. Coordinate systems & function graphs
7. 3D objects
8. Media
9. Data & diagram objects
10. Teaching annotations & groups
11. Animation events — shared fields
12. Kind: manim (whole-object animations)
13. Kind: property (keyframes)
14. Kind: transform
15. Kind: matrix
16. Kind: graphStyle
17. Kind: camera
18. Easing and speed ramps
19. Every animation preset
20. Every motion template
21. Every recipe
22. Every camera template
23. Variable bindings (live links)
24. Audio
25. Physics — bodies and simulation
26. Render settings
27. Blocked animation combinations

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Shared fields every object has

Every object in the project — every shape, every 3D solid, every chart — carries this same base set of fields, on top of whatever fields are specific to its type (listed type-by-type below).

Procedural spawn

Set on any object (Info tab → "Procedural spawn") to turn one placed instance into count copies, each nudged by a rule evaluated at its own index i — the escape hatch for "200 dots following a rule" content, without writing custom Python.

Compiles to a single rewritten assignment: <var> = VGroup(*[<var>.copy().shift(...).rotate(...) for i in range(count)]) — a real Python local named count is bound just before the loop so colorExpr expressions like i / count resolve correctly. Leaving every expression field empty stacks every copy in the same spot (a warning is surfaced for that case).

The default color cycle

New shapes without an explicit color cycle through: MANIM blue #58C4DD, teal #5CD0B3, green #83C167, yellow #FFFF00, gold #F0AC5F, red #FC6255, maroon #C55F73, purple #9A72AC, white #FFFFFF, gray #888888.

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Text & formula objects

text

mathtex

A standalone mathtex with lines set is the "show several aligned steps at once, revealed one at a time" complement to derivation (which morphs ONE equation through states instead of stacking lines) — see Reveal an aligned derivation.

derivation

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Path & field objects

path

Every anchor's x and y are independently keyframable as nodes.0.x, nodes.0.y, nodes.1.x, and so on.

layered_matrix

vector_field

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2D shapes

circle

ellipse

square

rectangle / rounded_rectangle

triangle

regular_polygon

polygon

arc / sector

arc has no fill by default (it's an open curve); sector fills the pie-slice wedge.

star

annulus

annular_sector

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Lines, arrows, braces, dots

line / arrow / double_arrow / vector

curved_arrow

brace

dot

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Coordinate systems & function graphs

number_line

axes / number_plane / complex_plane

Plots on axes objects

axes, number_plane, complex_plane, and threed_axes can each carry a plots array — functions drawn on top of the coordinate system:

function_graph

parametric_function

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3D objects

sphere

ellipsoid

No native Ellipsoid class exists in Manim, so this compiles to a unit Sphere stretched per axis: Sphere(radius=1).stretch(radiusX, dim=0).stretch(radiusY, dim=1).stretch(radiusZ, dim=2).

cube

prism

cone

cylinder

torus

polyhedron

The four named Platonic presets compile to Manim's own Tetrahedron/Octahedron/Dodecahedron/Icosahedron. pyramid has no dedicated Manim class either, so it compiles the same way a custom mesh does — a Polyhedron(vertex_coords=..., faces_list=...) built from 5 generated points (4 base corners + 1 apex).

threed_axes

surface3d

parametric_surface

parametric_curve3d

line3d / arrow3d

dot3d

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Media

image / svg

video

An embedded video clip. Manim has no native video mobject, so this compiles to an ImageMobject whose pixel_array is swapped every frame by an add_updater that decodes the source with OpenCV (opencv-python-headless, bundled into both the cloud renderer and the desktop Render Agent) — frame selection is keyed by elapsed scene time × the source's own fps, so playback speed is correct even when the source clip's frame rate differs from the scene's. The clip's own audio (unless muted) is muxed with self.add_sound, starting at whichever moment the object actually appears on stage (its own intro animation's start time, or 0 if it has none). The canvas preview shows only a static placeholder — live video playback happens exclusively in the actual render.

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Data & diagram objects

counter

graph (network graph)

Individual vertices/edges can be recolored over time with a graphStyle animation — see Kind: graphStyle.

table

code

matrix

bar_chart

pie_chart

box_plot

A five-number-summary box plot for probability/statistics content, not a native Manim mobject — compiles to a VGroup of Rectangle (the Q1–Q3 box), Line (median + whiskers), and optional Dots (outliers), built from the computed quartiles the same way pie_chart is hand-built from Sector wedges.

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Teaching annotations & groups

callout

highlight

group

Has no fields of its own beyond the shared fields — it's a container used to move/scale/rotate several objects together.

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Animation events — shared fields

Every animation event on the timeline — regardless of kind — carries this base set of fields, on top of whatever's specific to its kind (below):

Kind: manim (whole-object animations)

The full list of Manim animations

Entrances (bring the object from not-there to fully visible):

Exits (the reverse):

One-shot emphasis (plays in place, doesn't change presence):

Kind: property (keyframes)

Universal properties (every object type)

position (point), positionZ (number), rotation (number, °), rotationX/rotationY (number, °, 3D + path only), scale (point), opacity (0–1), fill (color), stroke (color), strokeWidth (number), fillOpacity (0–1).

Every animatable property, by object type

Beyond the universal set above, each object type exposes its own geometry fields as keyframable properties — this is exactly the field list from the per-type sections above, minus the handful of string/array/boolean fields that can't be smoothly animated (like text, bracket, or solid). The complete per-type list:

Kind: transform

The full list of transforms

ReplacementTransform, TransformMatchingTex, TransformMatchingShapes, and FadeTransform are the four replacing transforms — the source object stops existing on stage afterward, and the target takes over. The other five keep the original object on stage with its points morphed to look like the target.

Kind: matrix

The 2D canvas preview can only show the 3×3 map's upper-left 2×2 block; the true 3D result only appears once you render.

Kind: graphStyle

Only targets a graph (network graph) object's vertices/edges — chain several with staggered start times to build a BFS/DFS/sorting-style traversal highlight.

Kind: camera

Has no objectId (always "") — it targets the scene camera directly.

Only the fields you actually set on a given camera event are animated — one that only sets zoom leaves position/rotation/phi/theta exactly where the previous camera event left them.

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Easing and speed ramps

The 10 easing names

Speed ramp

Every event can also carry a speedRamp — a list of { t, speed } nodes (t = position within the event's own duration, 0–1; speed = playback-rate multiplier, 0.1×–10×). It warps time CapCut-style — accelerating or slow-motioning inside the event — without changing the event's total duration, and composes with easing (the ramp warps time first, then easing shapes the warped result).

The 6 speed-ramp presets

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Every animation preset

The Anim tab's quick-animate cards — each inserts one ready-made animation event with tuned duration and easing.

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Every motion template

Single, self-contained pieces from the Templates panel's Motion templates section — each inserts a small pre-built group of objects and animations at the playhead.

Text

Info

Shapes

3D

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Every recipe

Multi-step compositions from the Templates panel's Recipes section — several templates and camera moves chained together with tuned timing offsets, shown as numbered step chips.

Math

Story

Social

3D

Camera steps within a recipe continue smoothly from wherever the camera was left by the previous step, so a recipe's camera moves never jump.

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Every camera template

Single camera moves from the command palette / camera inspector — each is relative to the camera's current position, so they compose with whatever shot you're already in.

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Variable bindings (live links)

Set up from the Inspector's Anim tab — see Link one object's property to another for the workflow.

A binding recomputes every frame and always overrides a plain keyframe on the same field — see How keyframes and time work for the full priority order against physics and keyframes.

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Audio

AudioTrack — one per uploaded music/voiceover clip, shown as a ♪ row on the timeline:

Compiles to self.add_sound(path, time_offset=start, gain=...).

AudioMarker — a named point dropped on the track's waveform (double-click to add; see Sync animations to a voiceover):

Markers don't compile to anything themselves — they're an editing convenience. An animation event's Start-time field gets a Snap to dropdown listing every marker across every track; picking one resolves to a plain scene-time number (track.start + (marker.time − track.trimStart)), same as typing that number in by hand.

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Physics — bodies and simulation

Per-object physics (3D solids only)

Scene-wide simulation settings

The 6 gravity presets

After baking, an object's motion is stored as a dense per-frame track (position + orientation) and replayed directly — see Simulate rigid-body physics.

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Render settings

Aspect ratio presets

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Blocked animation combinations

Some overlaps are rejected before they're ever created, because Manim has no sensible way to run them at the same time on the same object:

Full explanation and reasoning in Animations → Blocked combinations.