It took me 3 projects but I finally realized why my Java swing animations look choppy and stuttery. I was using swing's paint() method.
If this is as simple as a JFrame (swing) application gets:
public class Main extends JFrame
{
public Main()
{
setSize(640, 480);
}
@Override
public void paint(Graphics g)
{
g.setColor(new Color( (int) System.currentTimeMillis() % 255 ));
g.fillRect(0, 0, 640, 480);
}
public static void main(String args[])
{
Main launcher = new Main();
launcher.setVisible(true);
while(true)
{
launcher.repaint();
}
}
}
This will do the same thing but more consistently and smoothly:
public class Main extends JFrame
{
public Main()
{
setSize(640, 480);
}
public static void main(String args[])
{
Main launcher = new Main();
launcher.setVisible(true);
while(true)
{
Graphics g = launcher.getGraphics();
g.setColor(new Color( (int) System.currentTimeMillis() % 255 ));
g.fillRect(0, 0, 640, 480);
}
}
}
Swing's repaint() system does extra things every so often, and it visibly trips up animation, especially motion animation.
Don't override swing's paint() method. Manually grab the canvas and draw to it when you want to
searches:
java animation stuttering
java smooth animation
java swing laggy
smooth rendering in swing
