---
name: "ct2-make-movie"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "ctioga2"
version: "0.14.1-2"
release: "Debian 12 (Bookworm)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/ct2-make-movie"
---

# ct2-make-movie(1)

manual page for ct2-make-movie

## NAME

ct2-make-movie - manual page for ct2-make-movie

## SYNOPSIS

**ct2-make-movie** \[*options*\] *file.ct2 arguments*...

## DESCRIPTION

Automates the creation of movies from a single  **ctioga2** command file.

Running  *ct2-make-movie plot.ct2 file1.dat file2.dat file3.dat ...* runs  **ctioga2** repeatedly with the value of the variable *$(arg)* taking the arguments given on the command-line, ie. *file1.dat,* then  *file2.dat,* and so on.

It is also possible to have  **ct2-make-movie** generate its arguments itself: *ct2-make-movie plot.ct2 0..10:101* will have  *$(arg)* going from 0 to 10 through 101 steps.

In each case, the variable *$(index)* is set to the current number of the frame being drawn, starting from 0. For instance, in the above example, it would range from 0 to 100.

The PDF files produced by  **ctioga2** are converted by ImageMagick's **convert** and fed to a **ffmpeg** encoding pipe.

## OPTIONS

- **-t**, **--target** FILE

  Target video file. Defaults to the  **ctioga2** file name given, with the suffix  *.ct2* replaced by *.avi.*

- **--dir** DIR

  Temporary directory for storage

- **--version**

  Prints the version of **ct2-make-movie.**

- **-p**, **--\[no-\]pdftoppm**

  Using **pdftoppm** to rasterize the PDF file rather than  **convert** can lead to very significant speed improvements, depending on your version of **gs.** Using this option enables the use of **pdftoppm.** **convert** remains necessary for the processing, though.

- **--page-size** SIZE

  All *page-size* instructions in the  **ctioga2** command file are ignored. Using this option allow you to set the target page size (in TeX dimensions).

- **--resolution** RES

  Set target resolution (overridden to some extent by page-size)

- **--\[no-\]store**

  When on (by default),  **ct2-make-movie** gives a different name to all the generated PDF files, which can be handy to see what has happened, but can take up quite a lot of disk space too. When this option is disabled, the same PDF file is rewritten over and over again.

- **-b**, **--bitrate** RATE

  Bitrate (indicative). Passed directly to **ffmpeg**.

- **--codec** CODEC

  Target codec.

- **--ffmpeg-args** ARGS

  Extra ffmpeg args.

## SEE ALSO

[**convert**(1)](/convert/1.md), [**pdftoppm**(1)](/pdftoppm/1.md), [**ffmpeg**(1)](/ffmpeg/1.md), [**ctioga2**(1)](/ctioga2/1.md)