Animation timing

Set animation and slide durations in seconds. Export a GIF for a silent loop, video for motion with sound, or HTML for an interactive presentation.

Animate and hold a scene

This example fades in a shape over one second, then holds the final image for two seconds. It writes timed.gif in the working directory, replacing any existing file with that name:

from quickthumb import AnimationSpec, Canvas, GifOptions

canvas = Canvas(320, 180).background(color="#102030").shape(
    "rectangle", (80, 40), 160, 100, "#42CEB7",
    animation=AnimationSpec.fade(duration=1),
)
canvas.export("timed.gif", animation=GifOptions(hold=2))

Use VideoOptions(hold=2) for MP4, WebM, or MOV. Video export requires FFmpeg. GifOptions and VideoOptions also accept fps; their defaults are 20 and 30 respectively. GIF has no audio. See output formats for setup.

Slide duration and transitions

A Deck plays each slide's motion and incoming transition, then holds the settled slide for hold seconds (three by default). Later slides use a 0.5-second crossfade unless you choose another transition; Cut() switches immediately.

For Deck video, slide(duration=...) sets the slide's total window, including its incoming transition and animation. Narration can set the window when no explicit duration is supplied. A longer visual animation is allowed to finish; narration is trimmed or padded to its scheduled window. GIF ignores slide narration and slide(duration=...).

advance_after on a transition replaces the usual hold; the slide still waits for its animation and any video narration or explicit duration to finish. For precise boundary rules, see the timing reference.

Audio, captions and reduced motion

MP4, WebM, and MOV can include supported clip audio, slide narration, and a soundtrack. GIF is silent. Video clip captions use times relative to the placed clip and are burned into supported video frames.

With ExportPolicy(reduced_motion=True), authored layer motion and transitions are suppressed while holds, narration, and caption timing remain. Default Deck crossfades can remain. HTML presentations keep interactive click cues, but do not play Deck narration and show video layers as static frames. Check your export in the destination app.

Temporal exposure

To add motion blur to GIF, video, or an image sequence, pass MotionBlur to the corresponding export options:

from quickthumb import MotionBlur, VideoOptions

canvas.export(
    "exposure.mp4",
    animation=VideoOptions(fps=30, motion_blur=MotionBlur(samples=8, shutter_angle=180)),
)

Motion blur is an export setting; HTML and PowerPoint do not reproduce it. MotionBlur accepts 2–64 samples and a shutter angle greater than 0 and at most 360 degrees. See the motion blur reference for timing, support, and export receipts.

Support and receipts

Use result.capability_report after export to inspect applied motion blur and result.timing_metrics for encoded playback. See the support table.

Choose the clock

sample() observes the authored timeline; an encoded GIF or video can have a slightly different duration or frame count because of its format. HTML is interactive rather than a fixed-duration video. See the sampling and timing reference when exact frame times or export metrics matter.

Verify playback

Play the exported file and check slide changes, captions, sound, and the final hold in the app where it will be shared. For exact timing, inspect result.timing_metrics; the timing reference also describes the project's playback tests.