How to make a sphere move in a circle in 3d plane in manim?

Question

A sphere is moving in a circle. Later the camera is tilted so as to see this from a side. From side, it looks like a to and fro motion.

To animate this, I have to make a sphere go in a circle in a 3d plane. But can't use MoveAlongPath because i have to have control over the angle.

This is for a Physics class. I have to show that circular motion, viewed from sideways is to and fro motion. I also have to do calculations on the angle , that is why I have to control the angle.

Any suggestions?

I tried to do this

from manim import *

class ThreeDCameraRotation(ThreeDScene):
    def construct(self):
        self.camera.background_color = WHITE

        self.set_camera_orientation(phi=0 * DEGREES, theta=0* DEGREES)

        axes = ThreeDAxes()
        circle = Circle(radius=1, color=RED)

        self.add(circle, axes)

        sphere = Sphere(radius=0.1,color=RED).shift(RIGHT)
        #completed the setup

        self.play(MoveAlongPath(sphere, circle), run_time=3, rate_func=linear)
        #circular motion

        self.move_camera(phi=90 * DEGREES, theta=0 * DEGREES,run_time =2)
        #Camera movement

        self.wait()

        self.move_camera(phi=0 * DEGREES, theta=0 * DEGREES)
        #again camera movement
        self.wait()

But the problem with this code is that

1. The rotation does not continue when the camera view is changed

   Is there a way to simultaneously run the animation while the angle is changing?

2. The angle cant be adjusted.

   I want the rotation to stop when the radius is at 45 degrees from the x axis....

Is there any way to do that?

Answer 1

    self.set_camera_orientation(phi=0 * DEGREES, theta=0* DEGREES)

    axes = ThreeDAxes()
    circle = Circle(radius=1, color=RED)
    path = Arc(radius=1, angle=45*DEGREES,stroke_width=0.1)
    self.add(circle, axes)


    sphere = Sphere(radius=0.1,color=RED).shift(RIGHT)
    
    Everything = VGroup()
    Everything.add(axes)
    Everything.add(circle)
    Everything.add(sphere)
    Everything.add(path)
    
    self.play(Rotate(Everything,90*DEGREES,np.array([0,1,0])),MoveAlongPath(sphere, path), run_time=3, rate_func=linear)

    self.wait()

instead of a camera movement, just put everything in a VGroup and rotate it. This allows you to play it along other animations. Also for MoveAlongPath, just use an Arc of a circle if you don't want the full rotation.