ofxTanim

Bezier-curve keyframe timeline animation for openFrameworks ECS apps, integrated with the shared ofxEnTTInspector reflection system.

Based on hegworks/tanim.

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Dependencies

Addon	Why
ofxEnTT	entt::registry
ofxImGui	Curve editor and UI
ofxEnTTInspector	Shared reflection (registerProperties, PinDataType, ReflectedProperty)

Removed dependencies: visit_struct, nlohmann/json (bundled copy). JSON serialization is now via ofJSON (OF's built-in nlohmann). Reflection is via ofxEnTTInspector.

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Migration from TANIM_REFLECT

Old approach (removed):

// At global scope in a header:
TANIM_REFLECT(my_comp, x, y, z);

// At startup:
tanim::RegisterComponent<my_comp>();

New approach — one specialization serves Inspector, Tanim, and StateCollector:

// In my_comp_inspector.h (include wherever these tools are used):
#pragma once
#include "ComponentInspector.h"
#include "my_comp.h"

template<>
inline void inspector::registerProperties(my_comp& c, inspector::ComponentInspector& ci) {
    ci.addProperty("x", &c.x, -100.f, 100.f);
    ci.addProperty("y", &c.y, -100.f, 100.f);
    ci.addProperty("z", &c.z, -100.f, 100.f);
}

// At startup (explicit name recommended for JSON stability):
tanim::RegisterComponent<my_comp>("my_comp");

The structName parameter is stored in serialized JSON. It should remain stable across refactors — if you rename the struct, also update the string, or existing saved timelines will not load correctly.

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Quick start

#include "ofxTanim.h"
#include "my_comp_inspector.h"   // specializes inspector::registerProperties<my_comp>

void ofApp::setup() {
    tanim::Init();
    tanim::RegisterComponent<my_comp>("my_comp");
}

void ofApp::update() {
    // Advance all playing timelines:
    tanim::UpdateTimeline(registry, entityDatas, timelineData, componentData, ofGetLastFrameTime());
}

void ofApp::draw() {
    // Inside ImGui frame:
    tanim::Draw();          // draws the curve editor window
    tanim::UpdateEditor(ofGetLastFrameTime());
}

// When you want to open the editor for a specific entity:
tanim::OpenForEditing(registry, entityDatas, timelineData, componentData);

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Supported field types

PinDataType	Curves	Notes
Float	1	Smooth Bezier
Int	1	Linear, integer-snapped
Bool	1	Constant (step)
Vec2	2	X, Y
Vec3	3	X, Y, Z
Vec4	4	X, Y, Z, W
Quat	5	W, X, Y, Z + Spins curve
Color	4	R, G, B, A normalized 0–1 in curves

String, Trigger, and Any are not animatable and will be silently skipped.

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Serialization

// Save:
std::string json = tanim::Serialize(timelineData);
ofSaveFile("timeline.json", json);

// Load:
std::string json = ofLoadFileAsString("timeline.json");
tanim::Deserialize(timelineData, json);

Serialized format version 2 (unchanged from original). JSON keys use the explicit struct name passed to RegisterComponent.

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API reference

tanim::Init();
tanim::RegisterComponent<T>("struct_name");
tanim::Draw();
tanim::UpdateEditor(dt);
tanim::OpenForEditing(registry, entityDatas, tdata, cdata);
tanim::CloseEditor();

tanim::EnterPlayMode();
tanim::StartTimeline(tdata, cdata);
tanim::UpdateTimeline(registry, entityDatas, tdata, cdata, dt);
tanim::StopTimeline(cdata);
tanim::ExitPlayMode();

tanim::Play(cdata);
tanim::Pause(cdata);
tanim::Stop(cdata);
bool playing = tanim::IsPlaying(cdata);

std::string json = tanim::Serialize(tdata);
tanim::Deserialize(tdata, json);