Possible improvements related to animations

[Davide-sd]

• K3D version: 2.16.1
• Python version: 3.12.3
• Operating System: Ubuntu 24.04

Description

First of all, thank you again for this wonderful package, I'm always impressed by its capabilities. :)

If I create a time series animation, the related controls are positioned into the Control tab (play/stop button, time, fps). Would it be possible:

1. to create and move this control into a new section named Animation (only visible when time series are used)?
2. to make this section visible programmatically? This would focus user attention on animation rather than every other available control.
3. to create 2 new buttons, next frame and previous frame? This would be invaluable, for example, in visualizing locking mechanisms. The slider is good, but only if there are few time points.

What I Did

import k3d
import numpy as np

np.random.seed(2022)

x = np.random.randn(100,3).astype(np.float32)

plt_points = k3d.points(x,
                        color=0x528881,
                        point_size=0.2)

plot = k3d.plot()
plot += plt_points
plot.display()

plt_points.positions = {str(t):x - t/5*x/np.linalg.norm(x,axis=-1)[:,np.newaxis] for t in range(10)}
plot.start_auto_play()

[spanag]

The js object thankfully exposes methods to start/stop from external js code, there is some added effort to sync the lil.gui controls as well.
This implementation might help: k3d_enhancements.js