Try out Makie.jl instead of Plots.jl

[luisaforozco]

Plot.jl is a heavy dependency. We would like to explore if using Makie.jl can be a better option.

What are the biggest differences between Makie.jl and Plots.jl?

[luisaforozco]

I found that with Makie.jl you cannot directly create a gif but an mp4 and then convert it using ffmpeg.

[SCiarella]

Performance could be improved by using Makie instead of Plots due to its quick loading time and better speed in generating animations.

Consider for example the following snipped from 03.01

using Plots
anim = Animation()
fig = plot(layout = (3, 1), size = (800, 300))
@gif for i in 1:2:size(u_dns, 3)
    p1 = plot(grid_u_dns.x, u_dns[:, 1, i], xlabel = "x", ylabel = "u",
        linetype = :steppre, label = "DNS")
    plot!(grid_u_les.x, u_les[:, 1, i], linetype = :steppre, label = "LES")
    p2 = plot(grid_u_dns.x, u_dns[:, 2, i], xlabel = "x", ylabel = "u",
        linetype = :steppre, legend = false)
    plot!(grid_u_les.x, u_les[:, 2, i], linetype = :steppre, legend = false)
    p3 = plot(grid_u_dns.x, u_dns[:, 3, i], xlabel = "x", ylabel = "u",
        linetype = :steppre, legend = false)
    plot!(grid_u_les.x, u_les[:, 3, i], linetype = :steppre, legend = false)
    title = "Time: $(round((i - 1) * saveat_shock, digits = 2))"
    fig = plot(p1, p2, p3, layout = (3, 1), title = title)
    frame(anim, fig)
end
if isdir("./plots")
    gif(anim, "plots/03.01_Burgers.gif", fps = 10)
else
    gif(anim, "examples/plots/03.01_Burgers.gif", fps = 10)
end

It can be replaced by

using GLMakie 
Makie.inline!(false)
fig = Figure(resolution = (400, 600))
ax1 = Axis(fig[1, 1], xlabel = "x", ylabel = "u")
ax2 = Axis(fig[2, 1], xlabel = "x", ylabel = "u")
ax3 = Axis(fig[3, 1], xlabel = "x", ylabel = "u")
lines1 = lines!(ax1, grid_u_dns.x, u_dns[:, 1, 1], color = :blue)
lines2 = lines!(ax1, grid_u_les.x, u_les[:, 1, 1], color = :red)
lines3 = lines!(ax2, grid_u_dns.x, u_dns[:, 2, 1], color = :blue)
lines4 = lines!(ax2, grid_u_les.x, u_les[:, 2, 1], color = :red)
lines5 = lines!(ax3, grid_u_dns.x, u_dns[:, 3, 1], color = :blue)
lines6 = lines!(ax3, grid_u_les.x, u_les[:, 3, 1], color = :red)
if isdir("./plots")
    plotname = "plots/03.01_Burgers.gif"
else
    plotname = "examples/plots/03.01_Burgers.gif"
end
display(fig)
record(fig, plotname, 1:2:size(u_dns, 3), visible=true, loop=0, framerate=10) do i
    lines1[1] = grid_u_dns.x
    lines1[2] = u_dns[:, 1, i]
    lines2[1] = grid_u_les.x
    lines2[2] = u_les[:, 1, i]
    lines3[1] = grid_u_dns.x
    lines3[2] = u_dns[:, 2, i]
    lines4[1] = grid_u_les.x
    lines4[2] = u_les[:, 2, i]
    lines5[1] = grid_u_dns.x
    lines5[2] = u_dns[:, 3, i]
    lines6[1] = grid_u_les.x
    lines6[2] = u_les[:, 3, i]
    ax1.title = "Time: $(round((i - 1) * saveat_shock, digits = 2))"
end

or

using GLMakie
Makie.inline!(false)

fig = Figure(resolution = (400, 600))
ax1 = Axis(fig[1, 1], xlabel = "x", ylabel = "u")
ax2 = Axis(fig[2, 1], xlabel = "x", ylabel = "u")
ax3 = Axis(fig[3, 1], xlabel = "x", ylabel = "u")

# Create observables for the y data of the lines
y1 = Observable(u_dns[:, 1, 1])
y2 = Observable(u_les[:, 1, 1])
y3 = Observable(u_dns[:, 2, 1])
y4 = Observable(u_les[:, 2, 1])
y5 = Observable(u_dns[:, 3, 1])
y6 = Observable(u_les[:, 3, 1])

lines1 = lines!(ax1, grid_u_dns.x, y1, color = :blue)
lines2 = lines!(ax1, grid_u_les.x, y2, color = :red)
lines3 = lines!(ax2, grid_u_dns.x, y3, color = :blue)
lines4 = lines!(ax2, grid_u_les.x, y4, color = :red)
lines5 = lines!(ax3, grid_u_dns.x, y5, color = :blue)
lines6 = lines!(ax3, grid_u_les.x, y6, color = :red)

if isdir("./plots")
    plotname = "plots/03.01_Burgers.gif"
else
    plotname = "examples/plots/03.01_Burgers.gif"
end
display(fig)
record(fig, plotname, 1:2:10, visible=true) do i
    y1[] = u_dns[:, 1, i]
    y2[] = u_les[:, 1, i]
    y3[] = u_dns[:, 2, i]
    y4[] = u_les[:, 2, i]
    y5[] = u_dns[:, 3, i]
    y6[] = u_les[:, 3, i]
    ax1.title = "Time: $(round((i - 1) * saveat_shock, digits = 2))"
end

However there are the following problems:

• [ ] GLMakie opens the figure in separate windows (outside the repl/vscode)
• [ ] the gif does not loop in the window It is also possible to replace GLMakie with CairoMakie, but I find that it is even less compatible with this approach since it opens static windows

So this basically means that the Makie implementation shown here would not be well integrated into the example notebooks.

If we are able to fix the problem above, I think that using Makie would be a significant improvement.