Tween

Inherits: Node < Object

Smoothly animates a node’s properties over time.

Description

Tweens are useful for animations requiring a numerical property to be interpolated over a range of values. The name tween comes from in-betweening, an animation technique where you specify keyframes and the computer interpolates the frames that appear between them.

Tween is more suited than AnimationPlayer for animations where you don’t know the final values in advance. For example, interpolating a dynamically-chosen camera zoom value is best done with a Tween node; it would be difficult to do the same thing with an AnimationPlayer node.

Here is a brief usage example that makes a 2D node move smoothly between two positions:

var tween = get_node("Tween")
tween.interpolate_property($Node2D, "position",
        Vector2(0, 0), Vector2(100, 100), 1,
        Tween.TRANS_LINEAR, Tween.EASE_IN_OUT)
tween.start()

Many methods require a property name, such as "position" above. You can find the correct property name by hovering over the property in the Inspector. You can also provide the components of a property directly by using "property:component" (eg. position:x), where it would only apply to that particular component.

Many of the methods accept trans_type and ease_type. The first accepts an TransitionType constant, and refers to the way the timing of the animation is handled (see easings.net for some examples). The second accepts an EaseType constant, and controls where the trans_type is applied to the interpolation (in the beginning, the end, or both). If you don’t know which transition and easing to pick, you can try different TransitionType constants with EASE_IN_OUT, and use the one that looks best.

Tween easing and transition types cheatsheet

Properties

Methods

Signals

• tween_all_completed ( )

Emitted when all processes in a tween end.

• tween_completed ( Object object, NodePath key )

Emitted when a tween ends.

• tween_started ( Object object, NodePath key )

Emitted when a tween starts.

• tween_step ( Object object, NodePath key, float elapsed, Object value )

Emitted at each step of the animation.

Enumerations

enum TweenProcessMode:

• TWEEN_PROCESS_PHYSICS = 0 —- The tween updates with the _physics_process callback.
• TWEEN_PROCESS_IDLE = 1 —- The tween updates with the _process callback.

enum TransitionType:

• TRANS_LINEAR = 0 —- The animation is interpolated linearly.
• TRANS_SINE = 1 —- The animation is interpolated using a sine function.
• TRANS_QUINT = 2 —- The animation is interpolated with a quintic (to the power of 5) function.
• TRANS_QUART = 3 —- The animation is interpolated with a quartic (to the power of 4) function.
• TRANS_QUAD = 4 —- The animation is interpolated with a quadratic (to the power of 2) function.
• TRANS_EXPO = 5 —- The animation is interpolated with an exponential (to the power of x) function.
• TRANS_ELASTIC = 6 —- The animation is interpolated with elasticity, wiggling around the edges.
• TRANS_CUBIC = 7 —- The animation is interpolated with a cubic (to the power of 3) function.
• TRANS_CIRC = 8 —- The animation is interpolated with a function using square roots.
• TRANS_BOUNCE = 9 —- The animation is interpolated by bouncing at the end.
• TRANS_BACK = 10 —- The animation is interpolated backing out at ends.

enum EaseType:

• EASE_IN = 0 —- The interpolation starts slowly and speeds up towards the end.
• EASE_OUT = 1 —- The interpolation starts quickly and slows down towards the end.
• EASE_IN_OUT = 2 —- A combination of EASE_IN and EASE_OUT. The interpolation is slowest at both ends.
• EASE_OUT_IN = 3 —- A combination of EASE_IN and EASE_OUT. The interpolation is fastest at both ends.

Property Descriptions

• TweenProcessMode playback_process_mode

The tween’s animation process thread. See TweenProcessMode.

• float playback_speed

The tween’s speed multiplier. For example, set it to 1.0 for normal speed, 2.0 for two times normal speed, or 0.5 for half of the normal speed. A value of 0 pauses the animation, but see also set_active or stop_all for this.

• bool repeat

If true, the tween loops.

Method Descriptions

• bool follow_method ( Object object, String method, Variant initial_val, Object target, String target_method, float duration, TransitionType trans_type=0, EaseType ease_type=2, float delay=0 )

Follows method of object and applies the returned value on target_method of target, beginning from initial_val for duration seconds, delay later. Methods are called with consecutive values.

Use TransitionType for trans_type and EaseType for ease_type parameters. These values control the timing and direction of the interpolation. See the class description for more information.

• bool follow_property ( Object object, NodePath property, Variant initial_val, Object target, NodePath target_property, float duration, TransitionType trans_type=0, EaseType ease_type=2, float delay=0 )

Follows property of object and applies it on target_property of target, beginning from initial_val for duration seconds, delay seconds later.

Use TransitionType for trans_type and EaseType for ease_type parameters. These values control the timing and direction of the interpolation. See the class description for more information.

• float get_runtime ( ) const

Returns the total time needed for all tweens to end. If you have two tweens, one lasting 10 seconds and the other 20 seconds, it would return 20 seconds, as by that time all tweens would have finished.

• bool interpolate_callback ( Object object, float duration, String callback, Variant arg1=null, Variant arg2=null, Variant arg3=null, Variant arg4=null, Variant arg5=null )

Calls callback of object after duration. arg1-arg5 are arguments to be passed to the callback.

• bool interpolate_deferred_callback ( Object object, float duration, String callback, Variant arg1=null, Variant arg2=null, Variant arg3=null, Variant arg4=null, Variant arg5=null )

Calls callback of object after duration on the main thread (similar to Object.call_deferred). arg1-arg5 are arguments to be passed to the callback.

• bool interpolate_method ( Object object, String method, Variant initial_val, Variant final_val, float duration, TransitionType trans_type=0, EaseType ease_type=2, float delay=0 )

Animates method of object from initial_val to final_val for duration seconds, delay seconds later. Methods are called with consecutive values.

Use TransitionType for trans_type and EaseType for ease_type parameters. These values control the timing and direction of the interpolation. See the class description for more information.

• bool interpolate_property ( Object object, NodePath property, Variant initial_val, Variant final_val, float duration, TransitionType trans_type=0, EaseType ease_type=2, float delay=0 )

Animates property of object from initial_val to final_val for duration seconds, delay seconds later. Setting the initial value to null uses the current value of the property.

Use TransitionType for trans_type and EaseType for ease_type parameters. These values control the timing and direction of the interpolation. See the class description for more information.

• bool is_active ( ) const

Returns true if any tweens are currently running.

Note: This method doesn’t consider tweens that have ended.

• bool remove ( Object object, String key=”” )

Stops animation and removes a tween, given its object and property/method pair. By default, all tweens are removed, unless key is specified.

• bool remove_all ( )

Stops animation and removes all tweens.

• bool reset ( Object object, String key=”” )

Resets a tween to its initial value (the one given, not the one before the tween), given its object and property/method pair. By default, all tweens are removed, unless key is specified.

• bool reset_all ( )

Resets all tweens to their initial values (the ones given, not those before the tween).

• bool resume ( Object object, String key=”” )

Continues animating a stopped tween, given its object and property/method pair. By default, all tweens are resumed, unless key is specified.

• bool resume_all ( )

Continues animating all stopped tweens.

• bool seek ( float time )

Sets the interpolation to the given time in seconds.

• void set_active ( bool active )

Activates/deactivates the tween. See also stop_all and resume_all.

• bool start ( )

Starts the tween. You can define animations both before and after this.

• bool stop ( Object object, String key=”” )

Stops a tween, given its object and property/method pair. By default, all tweens are stopped, unless key is specified.

• bool stop_all ( )

Stops animating all tweens.

• bool targeting_method ( Object object, String method, Object initial, String initial_method, Variant final_val, float duration, TransitionType trans_type=0, EaseType ease_type=2, float delay=0 )

Animates method of object from the value returned by initial_method to final_val for duration seconds, delay seconds later. Methods are animated by calling them with consecutive values.

Use TransitionType for trans_type and EaseType for ease_type parameters. These values control the timing and direction of the interpolation. See the class description for more information.

• bool targeting_property ( Object object, NodePath property, Object initial, NodePath initial_val, Variant final_val, float duration, TransitionType trans_type=0, EaseType ease_type=2, float delay=0 )

Animates property of object from the current value of the initial_val property of initial to final_val for duration seconds, delay seconds later.

Use TransitionType for trans_type and EaseType for ease_type parameters. These values control the timing and direction of the interpolation. See the class description for more information.

• float tell ( ) const

Returns the current time of the tween.