What is the difference between Scene.wait() and Wait() (Animation) ?

[ubaldot]

Other than one is a class method and another is a class, in practice, what is the difference between the two, i.e. when to use one and when the other?

[MrDiver]

Just convenience for calling it similar to self.play() because self.play(Wait(...)) is longer than self.wait(...)

[VladislavKorecky]

Wait() can be used with other class animations. This could be useful when using a Succession or AnimationGroup, where an instance HAS to be used because the animation doesn't get played immediately. You'd use self.wait() in all the other cases as it is shorter and more readable.

✅ Here is an example of how it could look like:

my_animation = Succession(dot1.animate.move_to(dot2), Wait(1), dot2.animate.move_to(dot3))

❌ This wouldn't work:

my_animation = Succession(dot1.animate.move_to(dot2), self.wait(1), dot2.animate.move_to(dot3))

self.wait() is defined like this in Manim's code:

  def wait(
      self,
      duration: float = DEFAULT_WAIT_TIME,
      stop_condition: Callable[[], bool] | None = None,
      frozen_frame: bool | None = None,
  ):
      """Plays a "no operation" animation.

      Parameters
      ----------
      duration
          The run time of the animation.
      stop_condition
          A function without positional arguments that is evaluated every time
          a frame is rendered. The animation only stops when the return value
          of the function is truthy, or when the time specified in ``duration``
          passes.
      frozen_frame
          If True, updater functions are not evaluated, and the animation outputs
          a frozen frame. If False, updater functions are called and frames
          are rendered as usual. If None (the default), the scene tries to
          determine whether or not the frame is frozen on its own.

      See also
      --------
      :class:`.Wait`, :meth:`.should_mobjects_update`
      """
      self.play(
          Wait(
              run_time=duration,
              stop_condition=stop_condition,
              frozen_frame=frozen_frame,
          )
      )