Learn LaTeX, Manim & manim-slides
completely offline
A free course that takes you from zero to animated math presentations — with live playgrounds, real rendered animations and click-through slide decks. No internet, no account, no installs needed to read it.
🛠 Setup (once, ~20 min)
Python, Manim, manim-slides, LaTeX and VS Code — the most efficient fully-offline toolchain, with an installer-checklist you can tick off.
Set up my machine →1 · LaTeX
The language of mathematical writing. 10 topics, from first symbol to Maxwell's equations — every example is a live playground, every topic ends with a “your turn to write” challenge.
Start LaTeX →2 · Manim
Programmatic animation. 11 topics, 32 real rendered animations — from your first circle to camera work, 3D surfaces and production rendering flags. Every topic ends with a “your turn to write” code challenge with a live requirements checklist.
Start Manim →🔁 Practice
49 spaced-repetition flashcards across all three domains. 5 minutes a day — the single most evidence-backed way to make it stick.
Review today's cards →📖 Reference
Every command from all three tools on one filterable, printable page. Your companion after the course.
Look something up →3 · manim-slides
Turn animations into presentations. 6 topics with click-through interactive decks — up to canvas headers, wipe/zoom transitions, speaker notes and every export target. Each topic ends with a “your turn to write” challenge, down to the exact CLI commands.
Start manim-slides →How this course keeps your brain fresh
Learning three tools at once is usually overwhelming. This course is engineered against that:
| Principle | How it's applied here |
|---|---|
| One idea per topic | Each topic teaches exactly one concept. No topic depends on anything you haven't seen yet. |
| 2 easy → 2 harder | Every topic has two gentle examples, then two that stretch the same idea further. You always know which is which — look for the EASY / LEVEL UP badge. |
| Do, don't just read | LaTeX examples are editable live. Manim examples show the real video. Slide examples are decks you click through yourself. |
| Test yourself | Every chapter ends with self-check exercises: quizzes that respond instantly, and open problems with hidden solutions. |
| Track progress | The HUD on every page: XP, level, daily goal, 🔥 streak and overall course % — all stored only in your browser. |
🎮 XP, levels, streaks — the game layer
Everything you do earns (or costs) XP, stored only in your browser. The bar at the very top of every page is your scoreboard.
| Action | XP |
|---|---|
| Finish a topic — automatic: read to its end and clear its exercises | +15 to +25 |
| Solve a “your turn to write” challenge (LaTeX, Manim or manim-slides code) | +10 |
| Answer a quiz correctly (first time) | +5 |
| Remember a practice flashcard | +3 (every day — reviewing IS the work) |
| Wrong quiz answer | −2 |
| Forget a flashcard | −1 |
| Give up on a challenge (“show solution”) | −5 |
🎯 Daily minimum: 30 XP. Hit it and the day counts toward your 🔥 streak — miss a day and the streak resets. 30 XP is deliberately small: ten flashcards, or one topic — about 10 minutes. Consistency beats bingeing; that is the entire science of spaced practice in one rule.
Levels climb from Newcomer through Formula Wrangler and Scene Director to Academy Legend (1400 XP). The green bar shows your course progress % — every trackable item across every chapter, challenge and quiz. 80% completed means exactly that.
Backup: progress lives only in this browser. — export before clearing browser data or switching machines; import restores XP, streak, ticks, challenges and flashcards.
Anti-cheat, sort of: each topic/challenge/quiz pays out once ever, and topics complete themselves — only when you’ve actually scrolled to the end and solved everything inside, so there’s nothing to tick (or to cheat). Flashcard XP repeats daily because re-reviewing genuinely is the work. Everything lives in localStorage — use the export button above so your legend survives a browser reset.
The path — a complete learning system
This is not just reading material. It's a full loop based on how memory actually works: guess first (pretests) → learn by doing (chapters) → keep it forever (spaced practice) → look things up (reference).
Setup ──▶ LaTeX ──▶ Manim ──▶ manim-slides
~20 min ~4 h ~6 h ~2.5 h
│
🔁 Practice (5 min/day, spaced cards) ──▶ 📖 Reference (forever)