# Visualizing a dynamic changing graph

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/visualizing-a-dynamic-changing-graph/80255>\
**Category:** Visualization\
**Tags:** lightgraphs, metagraphs, graphs\
**Created:** [April 29, 2022, 1:32pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/visualizing-a-dynamic-changing-graph/80255 "2022-04-29T13:32:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![flobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/977dab/32.png) [@flobe](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/flobe)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2022, 1:32pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/visualizing-a-dynamic-changing-graph/80255/1 "2022-04-29T13:32:25Z")

</div>

Hi all,

I am in the process of implementing a graph using MetaGraphs(Next).jl. The graph dynamically expands over time.  
Currently, I am using GraphRecipes to visualize the resulting graph at the end of my “time simulation”.  
But I actually want a fancy visualization that shows how the graph grows over time. Is there an elegant way? Or should I just save the graph of each time step with the corresponding node positions (since they change each time the graph is drawn) and “render” the video at the end by stitching the frames together?

I am looking forward to any helpful ideas 🙂

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![cormullion](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/cormullion/32/49131_2.png) [@cormullion](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/cormullion)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2022, 4:00pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/visualizing-a-dynamic-changing-graph/80255/2 "2022-04-29T16:00:05Z")

</div>

Animations can be easily built from lots of consecutive still images - ffmpeg is (eventually) your friend…! 🙂

Some experiments suggest that you might have to worry about changing layouts, and that indicating where the “growth” is taking place might help the viewer focus on the changes. And the frame rate should probably be quite low…

![graf](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/original/3X/8/3/835623e325eca20c017092362c953ce1726c8472.gif)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![gdalle](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/gdalle/32/27854_2.png) [@gdalle](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/gdalle)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2022, 6:45pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/visualizing-a-dynamic-changing-graph/80255/3 "2022-04-29T18:45:01Z")

</div>

I have done similar things with [Makie.jl](https://makie.juliaplots.org/stable/documentation/animation/)