godot-docs/tutorials/math/interpolation.rst

.. _doc_interpolation:

Interpolation
=============

Interpolation is a very basic operation in graphics programming. It's good to become familiar with it in order to expand your horizons as a graphics developer.

The basic idea is that you want to transition from A to B. A value ``t``, represents the states in-between.

As an example if ``t`` is 0, then the state is A. If ``t`` is 1, then the state is B. Anything in-between is an *interpolation*.

Between two real (floating-point) numbers, a simple interpolation is usually described as:

.. tabs::
 .. code-tab:: gdscript GDScript

    interpolation = A * (1 - t) + B * t

And often simplified to:

.. tabs::
 .. code-tab:: gdscript GDScript

    interpolation = A + (B - A) * t

The name of this type of interpolation, which transforms a value into another at *constant speed* is *"linear"*. So, when you hear about *Linear Interpolation*, you know they are referring to this simple formula.

There are other types of interpolations, which will not be covered here. A recommended read afterwards is the :ref:`Bezier <doc_beziers_and_curves>` page.

Vector interpolation
--------------------

Vector types (:ref:`Vector2 <class_Vector2>` and :ref:`Vector3 <class_Vector3>`) can also be interpolated, they come with handy functions to do it
:ref:`Vector2.linear_interpolate() <class_Vector2_method_linear_interpolate>` and :ref:`Vector3.linear_interpolate() <class_Vector3_method_linear_interpolate>`.

For cubic interpolation, there are also :ref:`Vector2.cubic_interpolate() <class_Vector2_method_linear_interpolate>` and :ref:`Vector3.cubic_interpolate() <class_Vector3_method_linear_interpolate>`, which do a :ref:`Bezier <doc_beziers_and_curves>` style interpolation.

Here is simple pseudo-code for going from point A to B using interpolation:

.. tabs::
 .. code-tab:: gdscript GDScript

    func _physics_process(delta):
        t += delta * 0.4

        $Sprite.position = $A.position.linear_interpolate($B.position, t)

It will produce the following motion:

.. image:: img/interpolation_vector.gif

Transform interpolation
-----------------------

It is also possible to interpolate whole transforms (make sure they have either uniform scale or, at least, the same non-uniform scale).
For this, the function :ref:`Transform.interpolate_with() <class_Transform_method_interpolate_with>` can be used.

Here is an example of transforming a monkey from Position1 to Position2:

.. image:: img/interpolation_positions.png

Using the following pseudocode:

.. tabs::
 .. code-tab:: gdscript GDScript

    var t = 0.0

    func _physics_process(delta):
        t += delta

        $Monkey.transform = $Position1.transform.interpolate_with($Position2.transform, t)

And again, it will produce the following motion:

.. image:: img/interpolation_monkey.gif


Smoothing motion
----------------

Interpolation can be used to smooth movement, rotation, etc. Here is an example of a circle following the mouse using smoothed motion:

.. tabs::
 .. code-tab:: gdscript GDScript

    const FOLLOW_SPEED = 4.0

    func _physics_process(delta):
        var mouse_pos = get_local_mouse_position()

        $Sprite.position = $Sprite.position.linear_interpolate(mouse_pos, delta * FOLLOW_SPEED)

Here is how it looks:

.. image:: img/interpolation_follow.gif

This useful for smoothing camera movement, allies following you (ensuring they stay within a certain range), and many other common game patterns.