Simple Animation and Movement

This lesson covers simple animation techniques: controlling speed and updating drawings in a loop to create motion.

Simple frame-by-frame animation

You can clear the drawing and redraw slightly moved shapes to make simple animations.

import turtle
import time

screen = turtle.Screen()
t = turtle.Turtle()
t.hideturtle()
t.penup()

for x in range(-150, 151, 10):
    t.clear()
    t.goto(x, 0)
    t.dot(30, 'red')
    screen.update()
    time.sleep(0.05)

Note: screen.update() and time.sleep() work for simple demos. For smoother animations explore ontimer or tracer() later.

Using speed with drawing

speed(0) combined with quick loops can draw many frames quickly for an animated effect.

Exercise

  • Animate a ball moving left-to-right and bouncing back.