tm_animate: Specify an animation

In tmap: Thematic Maps

Specify an animation

Description

Specify an animation from a tmap plot. This is similar to creating facets with tm_facets(). The animation subsequently can be exported to a gif or video file (e.g. mp4) with tmap_animation(). If the tmap plot with tm_animate() is printed, the animation will be previewed. The default tm_animate() will show the individual frames slowly (frame per seconds (fps) set to 2) whereas tm_animate_fast() will show them like a movie (with a fps set to 24).

Usage

tm_animate_fast(
  frames = "VARS__",
  nframes = 60L,
  fps = 24L,
  play = c("loop", "pingpong", "once"),
  dpr = 2,
  ...
)

tm_animate(
  frames = "VARS__",
  nframes = 60L,
  fps = 2L,
  play = c("loop", "pingpong", "once"),
  dpr = 2,
  ...
)

Arguments

frames	group by variable used to create the animation frames. This is similar to the by argument of tm_facets_wrap(). Instead of showing facets next to each other, they are shown as animation frames. However, under the hood frames will be used to specify pages of tm_facets(). This makes it possible to create an animation of regular facets.
nframes	number of animation frames. So far, this only applied experimentally in transition map variables. See the extension package tmap.cartogram.
fps	frames per second. Default: 30 for tm_facets_animate and 2 for tm_facets_animate_slow.
play	how should the animation be played? One of "loop" (default), "pingpong", and "once", where "loop" means that the animation will loop indefinitely, "pingpong" means that it will play forward and then backward, and "once" means that it will play only once.
dpr	device pixel ratio. The ratio between the physical pixel density of a device and its logical pixel density.
...	passed on to tm_facets(). Note that for animated facets, by can be specified to create animated facet wraps, and rows and cols to created animated facet grids.

Note

In older versions (< 4.1) tm_facets() with page specification was used to create animations frames and tmap_animation() to create the animation itself using inputs like the frame rate specification. As of version 4.2, the whole animation, including frame rate, is specified in tm_animate(). The animation can still be saved via tmap_animation().

See Also

Animations, tmap.cartogram

Examples

if (interactive()) {
	tm_shape(NLD_prov) +
		tm_polygons("yellow") +
		tm_animate(frames = "name")

	tm_shape(metro) +
		tm_symbols(size = paste0("pop", seq(1950, 2030, by=10)),
				   size.free = FALSE,
				   size.legend = tm_legend("Population")) +
		tm_layout(panel.labels = seq(1970, 2030, by=10)) +
		tm_animate()
}

tmap documentation built on June 26, 2026, 5:08 p.m.