camcorder 
{camcorder} is an R package to track and automatically save
graphics generated with {ggplot2} that are created across one or
multiple sessions with the eventual goal of creating a GIF showing all
the plots saved sequentially during the design process.
After installation, the package enables you to:
- save a ggplot automatically every time you run
ggplot()in any format with given specifications - generate a GIF that showcases every step of the design process using those image files
- inspect the ggplot output directly with your specifications in the RStudio IDE—you’ll get what you see1
Installation
{camcorder} can be installed from CRAN:
install.packages("camcorder")Alternatively, you can install the development version:
remotes::install_github("thebioengineer/camcorder")Goal End Product
The idea of tracking your plots as part of your development process and generating a making-of movie was popularized by two contributors to this project: Georgios Karamanis and Cédric Scherer. They have wowed the R community weekly with their “how its made” videos. Below are a few examples of the goal end products.
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TidyTuesday
2020/28 
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TidyTuesday
2020/15 
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How To
To get started, load {camcorder} and initialize recording using the
gg_record() function. This function has several options, such as where
to save the recordings, device to use to save the recordings, and the
height/width of the image to create. By default it will save to a
temporary directory so recordings will go away once the R session is
closed.
library(ggplot2)
library(camcorder)
gg_record(
dir = file.path(tempdir(), "recording100"), # where to save the recording
device = "png", # device to use to save images
width = 4, # width of saved image
height = 6, # height of saved image
units = "in", # units for width and height
dpi = 300 # dpi to use when saving image
)Once the recorder is initialized, any ggplot that is made and printed will be automatically (or automagically2) recorded.
ggplot(mtcars, aes(x = mpg, y = hp)) +
geom_point()
ggplot(mtcars, aes(x = mpg, y = hp)) +
geom_point(aes(shape = as.factor(gear)))
ggplot(mtcars, aes(x = mpg, y = hp)) +
geom_point(aes(color = as.factor(gear)))
ggplot(mtcars, aes(x = mpg, y = hp)) +
geom_point(aes(color = as.factor(gear))) +
geom_path()
ggplot(mtcars, aes(x = mpg, y = hp)) +
geom_point(aes(color = disp)) +
geom_smooth()
ggplot(mtcars, aes(x = mpg, y = hp)) +
geom_smooth() +
geom_point(aes(color = disp))
ggplot(mtcars, aes(x = mpg, y = hp)) +
geom_smooth() +
geom_point(aes(color = disp)) +
scale_color_viridis_c() +
theme_light()
ggplot(mtcars, aes(x = mpg, y = hp)) +
geom_smooth() +
geom_point(aes(color = disp)) +
scale_color_viridis_c() +
theme_light() +
labs(
title = "MPG vs Horse Power!",
subtitle = "Power and economy, the classic compromise!"
)
ggplot(mtcars, aes(x = mpg, y = hp)) +
geom_smooth() +
geom_point(aes(color = disp)) +
scale_color_viridis_c() +
theme_light(base_family = "Roboto Mono") +
labs(
title = "MPG vs Horse Power!",
subtitle = "Power and economy, the classic compromise!"
)
ggplot(mtcars, aes(x = mpg, y = hp)) +
geom_smooth() +
geom_point(aes(color = disp)) +
scale_color_viridis_c() +
theme_light(base_family = "Roboto Mono") +
labs(
title = "MPG vs Horse Power!",
subtitle = "Power and economy, the classic compromise!",
x = "Efficiency (Miles/Gallon)",
y = "Power (Horsepower)",
color = "Displacement\n(Cubic Inch)"
)If at any point, that you want to save your plots in a different format
than what the recorder was initialized with this can be done through the
gg_resize_film() function. This will set the size and dpi of all plots
going forward.
gg_resize_film(
height = 4,
width = 6,
units = "in",
dpi = 350
)ggplot(mtcars, aes(x = mpg, y = hp)) +
geom_smooth() +
geom_point(aes(color = disp)) +
scale_color_viridis_c() +
theme_light(base_family = "Roboto Mono") +
labs(
title = "MPG vs Horse Power!",
subtitle = "Power and economy, the classic compromise!",
x = "Efficiency (Miles/Gallon)",
y = "Power (Horsepower)",
color = "Displacement\n(Cubic Inch)"
) +
theme(
plot.title.position = "plot",
plot.title = element_text(face = "bold")
)
ggplot(mtcars, aes(x = mpg, y = hp)) +
geom_smooth() +
geom_point(aes(color = disp)) +
scale_color_viridis_c() +
theme_light(base_family = "Roboto Mono") +
labs(
title = "MPG vs Horse Power!",
subtitle = "Power and economy, the classic compromise!",
x = "Efficiency (Miles/Gallon)",
y = "Power (Horsepower)",
color = "Displacement\n(Cubic Inch)"
) +
theme(
plot.title.position = "plot",
plot.title = element_text(face = "bold"),
panel.background = element_rect(colour = "turquoise", fill = "turquoise")
)Finally, to generate the final GIF, use the gg_playback() function.
The user can define: - where the final GIF gets saved by setting the
name argument, - duration of the first and last images with
first_image_duration or last_image_duration - delay between frames
in seconds with frame_duration
gg_playback(
name = file.path(tempdir(), "recording", "vignette_gif.gif"),
first_image_duration = 5,
last_image_duration = 15,
frame_duration = .4,
image_resize = 800
)Once rendering is complete, a GIF is opened in your viewer.
