ImAnim

Animation Engine for Dear ImGui

ImAnim brings modern animation capabilities to ImGui applications. Write smooth UI animations with minimal code.

Version 1.0.0 - First Official Release

This is the first stable release of ImAnim, featuring a complete animation toolkit for Dear ImGui.

// Animate anything in one line
float alpha = iam_tween_float(id, channel, hovered ? 1.0f : 0.5f, 0.3f, ease, policy, dt);

Why ImAnim?

• Immediate-mode friendly - Works naturally with ImGui's paradigm
• Zero dependencies - Only requires Dear ImGui
• Large easing collection - 30+ easing functions including spring physics
• Perceptual color blending - OKLAB and OKLCH
• Responsive layouts - Anchor-relative animations that survive window resizing

Features at a Glance

Quick Integration

Step 1: Copy im_anim.h and im_anim.cpp to your project.

Step 2: Add two lines after ImGui::NewFrame():

ImGui::NewFrame();

// Add these two lines
iam_update_begin_frame();
iam_clip_update(ImGui::GetIO().DeltaTime);

// Your UI code...

Step 3: Animate! Here's a hover effect:

bool hovered = ImGui::IsItemHovered();
float scale = iam_tween_float(
    ImGui::GetID("btn"), ImHashStr("scale"),
    hovered ? 1.1f : 1.0f, 0.2f,
    iam_ease_preset(iam_ease_out_back),
    iam_policy_crossfade,
    ImGui::GetIO().DeltaTime
);

That's it. No build system changes, no external dependencies.

Debug helper

• Timeline for clips with tooltip helpers:

• Support for delayed start:

Building Examples

Windows

Open examples/ImAnim_vs2022_Win64.sln in Visual Studio 2022 and select a configuration:

Debug configurations are also available for each backend.

Linux / macOS

Each backend has its own Makefile:

cd examples/glfw_opengl3
make

# or
cd examples/sdl2_opengl3
make

Cross-platform (CMake)

The CMake build compiles the demo against every backend permutation ImPlatform supports, and is what CI runs. It builds ImPlatform from the submodule, so no system Dear ImGui is needed.

cmake -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build --target ImAnimDemo_GLFW_Vulkan --parallel

Binaries land in build/bin/. Configurations whose dependencies are missing are skipped at configure time with a message, so a partial toolchain still builds whatever it can.

GLFW is deliberately absent from the DirectX rows: it exposes no native window handle, so the DirectX backends cannot obtain an HWND from it. Vulkan on macOS runs through MoltenVK. The Metal configurations currently compile but do not run, because ImPlatform_InitGfxAPI in ImPlatform's Metal backend still returns false pending an NSWindow accessor on the GLFW and SDL3 backends.

Documentation

Comprehensive guides for every ImAnim feature, organized by category. Each doc includes code examples and API references.

Getting Started

• Integration Guide - Add ImAnim to your project
• Quick Start - Get running in 5 minutes

Core Animation

• Tweens - Immediate-mode animation
• Clips - Timeline-based keyframe animation
• Easing - All 30+ easing functions

Motion & Paths

• Motion Paths - Animate along curves
• Path Morphing - Interpolate between paths
• Text Along Paths - Curved text rendering
• Transforms - 2D transform animation

Effects

• Stagger - Cascading element animations
• Text Stagger - Per-character text effects
• Oscillators - Continuous periodic motion
• Shake & Wiggle - Feedback and organic motion
• Noise - Perlin/Simplex procedural animation

Colors & Styles

• Gradients - Color gradient animation
• Style Interpolation - Animated theme transitions
• Per-Axis Easing - Different easing per component

Advanced Features

• Variations - Per-loop parameter changes
• Layering - Blend multiple animations
• Resolved Tweens - Dynamic target computation
• Anchors - Resize-aware animation
• Drag Feedback - Animated drag operations
• Scroll Animation - Smooth scrolling

Tools & Debug

• Debug - Inspector and debugging tools
• Advanced - Profiler, persistence, memory management

Interactive Demo

The im_anim_demo.cpp file provides a comprehensive playground for exploring all ImAnim features. Call ImAnimDemoWindow() to display it.

Demo Categories

Use Cases

The demo showcases practical UI patterns you can adapt:

• Animated Buttons - Hover scaling, press feedback, icon animations
• Toggle Switches - Smooth state transitions with easing
• Hover Cards - Expand/collapse with spring physics
• List Stagger - Cascading item reveal animations
• Grid Reveal - Wave-based grid animations
• Dropping Cards - Physics-inspired card animations
• Health Bars - Color gradient health indicators
• Loading Indicators - Pulsing rings, spinning elements
• Error Feedback - Shake effects for invalid input
• Scroll Navigation - Smooth scroll-to-section animations

Showcase

Visual examples of ImAnim capabilities in action.

Stagger Animations

Easing & Curves

Colors & Transforms

Paths & Text

Procedural & Integration

Additional Examples

Contributing

Development is supported through Patreon:

For Contributors: Regenerating Projects

The Visual Studio solution is generated using Sharpmake. To regenerate projects after modifying the build configuration:

Prerequisites: .NET 6.0 SDK or later

# First time setup (builds Sharpmake)
cd examples
bootstrap.bat        # Windows
./bootstrap.sh       # Linux/macOS

# Regenerate projects
generate_projects.bat    # Windows
./generate_projects.sh   # Linux/macOS

License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

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Made for the Dear ImGui community