JavaFX - Animations

In general, animating an object implies creating illusion of its motion by rapid display. In JavaFX, a node can be animated by changing its property over time. JavaFX provides a package named javafx.animation. This package contains classes that are used to animate the nodes.
Animation is the base class of all these classes.
Using JavaFX, you can apply animations (transitions) such as Fade Transition, Fill Transition, Rotate Transition, Scale Transition, Stroke Transition, Translate Transition, Path Transition, Sequential Transition, Pause Transition, Parallel Transition, etc.
All these transitions are represented by individual classes in the package javafx.animation.
To apply a particular animation to a node, you have to follow the steps given below −

• Create a require node using respective class.
• Instantiate the respective transition (animation) class that is to be applied
• Set the properties of the transition and
• Finally play the transition using the play() method of the Animation class.

In this chapter we are going to discuss examples of basic transitions(Rotation, Scaling, Translation).

Rotate Transition

Following is the program which demonstrates Rotate Transition in JavaFX. Save this code in a file with the name RotateTransitionExample.java.

import javafx.animation.RotateTransition; 
import javafx.application.Application; 
import static javafx.application.Application.launch; 
import javafx.scene.Group; 
import javafx.scene.Scene; 
import javafx.scene.paint.Color; 
import javafx.scene.shape.Polygon; 
import javafx.stage.Stage; 
import javafx.util.Duration; 
         
public class RotateTransitionExample extends Application { 
   @Override 
   public void start(Stage stage) {      
      //Creating a hexagon 
      Polygon hexagon = new Polygon();        
      
      //Adding coordinates to the hexagon 
      hexagon.getPoints().addAll(new Double[]{        
         200.0, 50.0, 
         400.0, 50.0, 
         450.0, 150.0,          
         400.0, 250.0, 
         200.0, 250.0,                   
         150.0, 150.0, 
      }); 
      //Setting the fill color for the hexagon 
      hexagon.setFill(Color.BLUE); 
       
      //Creating a rotate transition    
      RotateTransition rotateTransition = new RotateTransition(); 
      
      //Setting the duration for the transition 
      rotateTransition.setDuration(Duration.millis(1000)); 
      
      //Setting the node for the transition 
      rotateTransition.setNode(hexagon);       
      
      //Setting the angle of the rotation 
      rotateTransition.setByAngle(360); 
      
      //Setting the cycle count for the transition 
      rotateTransition.setCycleCount(50); 
      
      //Setting auto reverse value to false 
      rotateTransition.setAutoReverse(false); 
      
      //Playing the animation 
      rotateTransition.play(); 
         
      //Creating a Group object   
      Group root = new Group(hexagon); 
         
      //Creating a scene object 
      Scene scene = new Scene(root, 600, 300);   
      
      //Setting title to the Stage 
      stage.setTitle("Rotate transition example "); 
         
      //Adding scene to the stage 
      stage.setScene(scene); 
         
      //Displaying the contents of the stage 
      stage.show(); 
   }      
   public static void main(String args[]){ 
      launch(args); 
   } 
} 

Compile and execute the saved java file from the command prompt using the following commands.

javac RotateTransitionExample.java 
java RotateTransitionExample

On executing, the above program generates a JavaFX window as shown below.

Scale Transition

Following is the program which demonstrates Scale Transition in JavaFX. Save this code in a file with the name ScaleTransitionExample.java.

import javafx.animation.ScaleTransition; 
import javafx.application.Application; 
import static javafx.application.Application.launch; 
import javafx.scene.Group; 
import javafx.scene.Scene; 
import javafx.scene.paint.Color; 
import javafx.scene.shape.Circle; 
import javafx.stage.Stage; 
import javafx.util.Duration; 
         
public class ScaleTransitionExample extends Application {  
   @Override 
   public void start(Stage stage) {      
      //Drawing a Circle 
      Circle circle = new Circle(); 
      
      //Setting the position of the circle 
      circle.setCenterX(300.0f); 
      circle.setCenterY(135.0f); 
      
      //Setting the radius of the circle 
      circle.setRadius(50.0f); 
      
      //Setting the color of the circle 
      circle.setFill(Color.BROWN); 
      
      //Setting the stroke width of the circle 
      circle.setStrokeWidth(20); 
       
      //Creating scale Transition 
      ScaleTransition scaleTransition = new ScaleTransition(); 
      
      //Setting the duration for the transition 
      scaleTransition.setDuration(Duration.millis(1000)); 
      
      //Setting the node for the transition 
      scaleTransition.setNode(circle); 
      
      //Setting the dimensions for scaling 
      scaleTransition.setByY(1.5); 
      scaleTransition.setByX(1.5); 
      
      //Setting the cycle count for the translation 
      scaleTransition.setCycleCount(50); 
      
      //Setting auto reverse value to true 
      scaleTransition.setAutoReverse(false); 
      
      //Playing the animation 
      scaleTransition.play(); 
         
      //Creating a Group object  
      Group root = new Group(circle); 
         
      //Creating a scene object  
      Scene scene = new Scene(root, 600, 300); 
      
      //Setting title to the Stage 
      stage.setTitle("Scale transition example"); 
         
      //Adding scene to the stage 
      stage.setScene(scene); 
         
      //Displaying the contents of the stage 
      stage.show(); 
   }      
   public static void main(String args[]){ 
      launch(args); 
   } 
}

Compile and execute the saved java file from the command prompt using the following commands.

javac ScaleTransitionExample.java 
java ScaleTransitionExample

On executing, the above program generates a JavaFX window as shown below.

Translate Transition

Following is the program which demonstrates Translate Transition in JavaFX. Save this code in a file with the name TranslateTransitionExample.java.

import javafx.animation.TranslateTransition; 
import javafx.application.Application; 
import javafx.scene.Group; 
import javafx.scene.Scene; 
import javafx.scene.paint.Color; 
import javafx.scene.shape.Circle; 
import javafx.stage.Stage; 
import javafx.util.Duration; 
         
public class TranslateTransitionExample extends Application { 
   @Override 
   public void start(Stage stage) {  
      //Drawing a Circle 
      Circle circle = new Circle(); 
      
      //Setting the position of the circle 
      circle.setCenterX(150.0f); 
      circle.setCenterY(135.0f); 
      
      //Setting the radius of the circle 
      circle.setRadius(100.0f); 
      
      //Setting the color of the circle 
      circle.setFill(Color.BROWN); 
      
      //Setting the stroke width of the circle 
      circle.setStrokeWidth(20); 
       
      //Creating Translate Transition 
      TranslateTransition translateTransition = new TranslateTransition(); 
      
      //Setting the duration of the transition  
      translateTransition.setDuration(Duration.millis(1000)); 
      
      //Setting the node for the transition 
      translateTransition.setNode(circle); 
      
      //Setting the value of the transition along the x axis. 
      translateTransition.setByX(300); 
      
      //Setting the cycle count for the transition 
      translateTransition.setCycleCount(50); 
      
      //Setting auto reverse value to false 
      translateTransition.setAutoReverse(false); 
      
      //Playing the animation 
      translateTransition.play(); 
         
      //Creating a Group object  
      Group root = new Group(circle); 
         
      //Creating a scene object 
      Scene scene = new Scene(root, 600, 300);  
      
      //Setting title to the Stage 
      stage.setTitle("Translate transition example"); 
         
      //Adding scene to the stage 
      stage.setScene(scene); 
         
      //Displaying the contents of the stage 
      stage.show(); 
   }      
   public static void main(String args[]){ 
      launch(args); 
   } 
}

Compile and execute the saved java file from the command prompt using the following commands.

javac TranslateTransitionExample.java 
java TranslateTransitionExample 

On executing, the above program generates a JavaFX window as shown below.
In addition to these, JavaFX provides classes to apply more transitions on nodes. The following are the other kinds of transitions supported by JavaFX.

• Transitions that effects the attributes of the nodes Fade, Fill, Stroke
• Transition that involve more than one basic transitions Sequential, Parallel, Pause
• Transition that translate the object along the specified path Path Transition