Call actor.set_scale() to increase or decrease the apparent size of the actor. Note that this will not change the result of actor.get_width() and actor.get_height() because it only changes the size of the actor as seen by the user. Calling actor.set_scale() again will replace the first scale rather than multiplying it.

Call actor.set_rotation() to rotate the actor around an axis, specifying either X_AXIS, Y_AXIS or Z_AXIS and the desired angle. Only two of the x, y, and z coordinates are used, depending on the specified axis. For instance, when using X_AXIS, the y and z parameters specify the center of rotation on the plane of the x axis.

Like the actor.set_scale(), this does not affect the position, width, or height of the actor as returned by functions such as actor.get_x().

Actors may be "clipped" so that only one rectangular part of the actor is visible, by calling actor.set_clip(), providing a position relative to the actor, along with the size. For instance, you might implement scrolling by creating a large container actor and setting a clip rectangle so that only a small part of the whole is visible at any one time. Scrolling up could then be implemented by moving the actor down while moving the clip up. Clipping can be reverted by calling actor.remove_clip().

The area outside of the clip does not consume video memory and generally does not require much processing.

PyClutter does not have a translation function that behaves similarly to actor.set_scale() and actor.set_rotation(), but you can move the actor by calling actor.move_by() or actor.set_depth.

Unlike the scaling and rotation functions, actor.move_by() does change the result of functions such as actor.get_x().

The following example demonstrates two unmoving actors in a stage, using rotation, scaling and movement:

Source Code

File: main.py

import sys

import clutter

def main():
    stage_color = clutter.Color(0, 0, 0, 255)
    actor_color = clutter.Color(255, 255, 255, 153)

    # Get the stage and set its size and color
    stage = clutter.Stage()
    stage.set_size(200, 200)
    stage.set_color(stage_color)

    # Add a rectangle to the stage
    rect = clutter.Rectangle(actor_color)
    rect.set_size(100, 100)
    rect.set_position(20, 20)
    stage.add(rect)
    rect.show()

    # Rotate it 20 degrees away from us around the x axis
    # (around its top edge)
    rect.set_rotation(clutter.X_AXIS, -20, 0, 0, 0)

    # Add a label to the stage
    label = clutter.Text("Sans 12", "Some Text", actor_color)
    label.set_size(500, 500)
    label.set_position(20, 150)
    stage.add(label)
    label.show()

    # Scale it 300% along the x axis
    label.set_scale(3., 1.)

    # Move it up and to the right
    label.move_by(10, -10)

    # Move it along the z axis, further from the viewer
    label.set_depth(-20)

    # Show the stage
    stage.connect("destroy", clutter.main_quit)
    stage.show_all()

    # Start the main loop, so we can respond to events
    clutter.main()

    return 0

if __name__ == '__main__':
    sys.exit(main())