SceneKit / ARKit updating a node every frame - swift

I'm working with ARKit / SceneKit and I'm trying to have an arrow point to an arbitrary position I set in the world, but I'm having a bit of trouble. In my sceneView I have a scene set up to load in my arrow.
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
// Set the view's delegate
sceneView.delegate = self
guard let arrowScene = SCNScene(named: "art.scnassets/arrowScene.scn") else {
fatalError("Scene arrow.scn not found")
}
let worldAnchor = ARAnchor(name: "World Anchor", transform: simd_float4x4(1))
sceneView.session.add(anchor: worldAnchor)
sceneView.scene = (arrowScene)
}
I wish to then use SCNNode.look(at:) to point my arrow at the specified anchor, however, I am unsure how to get this to occur every frame. I know that I have access to special delegates provided by ARSCNView such as renderer(willUpdate node:), but I am unsure how to use these when the anchor is not changing positions whereas the arrow is.
Thanks for the help!

You could do so by using the updateAtTime delegate function, but I strongly recommend you to use a SCNConstraint.
let lookAtConstraint = SCNLookAtConstraint(target: myLookAtNode)
lookAtConstraint.isGimbalLockEnabled = true // useful for cameras, probably also for your arrow.
// in addition you can use a position constraint
let positionConstraint = SCNReplicatorConstraint(target: myLookAtNode)
positionConstraint.positionOffset = yourOffsetSCNVector3
positionConstraint.replicatesOrientation = false
positionConstraint.replicatesScale = false
positionConstraint.replicatesPosition = true
// then add the constraints to your arrow node
arrowNode.constraints = [lookAtConstraint, positionConstraint ]
This will automatically adjust your node for each rendered frame.

Related

ARKit – How to display the feed from a virtual SCNCamera placed on SCNPlane?

I put some objects in AR space using ARKit and SceneKit. That works well. Now I'd like to add an additional camera (SCNCamera) that is placed elsewhere in the scene attached and positioned by a common SCNNode. It is oriented to show me the current scene from an other (fixed) perspective.
Now I'd like to show this additional SCNCamera feed on i.Ex. a SCNPlane (as the diffuse first material) - Like a TV screen. Of course I am aware that it will only display the SceneKit content which stays in the camera focus and not rest of the ARKit image (which is only possible by the main camera of course). A simple colored background then would be fine.
I have seen tutorials that describes, how to play a video file on a virtual display in ARSpace, but I need a realtime camera feed from my own current scene.
I defined this objects:
let camera = SCNCamera()
let cameraNode = SCNNode()
Then in viewDidLoad I do this:
camera.usesOrthographicProjection = true
camera.orthographicScale = 9
camera.zNear = 0
camera.zFar = 100
cameraNode.camera = camera
sceneView.scene.rootNode.addChildNode(cameraNode)
Then I call my setup function to place the virtual Display next to all my AR stuff, position the cameraNode as well (pointing in the direction where objects stay in the scene)
cameraNode.position = SCNVector3(initialStartPosition.x, initialStartPosition.y + 0.5, initialStartPosition.z)
let cameraPlane = SCNNode(geometry: SCNPlane(width: 0.5, height: 0.3))
cameraPlane.geometry?.firstMaterial?.diffuse.contents = cameraNode.camera
cameraPlane.position = SCNVector3(initialStartPosition.x - 1.0, initialStartPosition.y + 0.5, initialStartPosition.z)
sceneView.scene.rootNode.addChildNode(cameraPlane)
Everything compiles and loads... The display shows up at the given position, but it stays entirely gray. Nothing is displayed at all from the SCNCamera I put in the scene. Everything else in the AR scene works well, I just don't get any feed from that camera.
Hay anyone an approach to get this scenario working?
To even better visualize, I add some more print screens.
The following shows the Image trough the SCNCamera according to ARGeo's input. But it takes the whole screen, instead of displaying its contents on a SCNPlane, like I need.
The next Print screen actually shows the current ARView result as I got it using my posted code. As you can see, the gray Display-Plane remains gray - it shows nothing.
The last print screen is a photomontage, showing the expected result, as I'd like to get.
How could this be realized? Am I missing something fundamental here?
After some research and sleep, I came to the following, working solution (including some inexplainable obstacles):
Currently, the additional SCNCamera feed is not linked to a SCNMaterial on a SCNPlane, as it was the initial idea, but I will use an additional SCNView (for the moment)
In the definitions I add an other view like so:
let overlayView = SCNView() // (also tested with ARSCNView(), no difference)
let camera = SCNCamera()
let cameraNode = SCNNode()
then, in viewDidLoad, I setup the stuff like so...
camera.automaticallyAdjustsZRange = true
camera.usesOrthographicProjection = false
cameraNode.camera = camera
cameraNode.camera?.focalLength = 50
sceneView.scene.rootNode.addChildNode(cameraNode) // add the node to the default scene
overlayView.scene = scene // the same scene as sceneView
overlayView.allowsCameraControl = false
overlayView.isUserInteractionEnabled = false
overlayView.pointOfView = cameraNode // this links the new SCNView to the created SCNCamera
self.view.addSubview(overlayView) // don't forget to add as subview
// Size and place the view on the bottom
overlayView.frame = CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: self.view.bounds.width * 0.8, height: self.view.bounds.height * 0.25)
overlayView.center = CGPoint(x: self.view.bounds.width * 0.5, y: self.view.bounds.height - 175)
then, in some other function, I place the node containing the SCNCamera to my desired position and angle.
// (exemplary)
cameraNode.position = initialStartPosition + SCNVector3(x: -0.5, y: 0.5, z: -(Float(shiftCurrentDistance * 2.0 - 2.0)))
cameraNode.eulerAngles = SCNVector3(-15.0.degreesToRadians, -15.0.degreesToRadians, 0.0)
The result, is a kind of window (the new SCNView) at the bottom of the screen, displaying the same SceneKit content as in the main sceneView, viewed trough the perspective of the SCNCamera plus its node position, and that very nicely.
In a common iOS/Swift/ARKit project, this construct generates some side effects, that one may struggle into.
1) Mainly, the new SCNView shows SceneKit content from the desired perspective, but the background is always the actual physical camera feed. I could not figure out, how to make the background a static color, by still displaying all the SceneKit content. Changing the new scene's background property affects also the whole main scene, what is actually NOT desired.
2) It might sound confusing, but as soon as the following code get's included (which is essential to make it work):
overlayView.scene = scene
the animation speed of the entire scenes (both) DOUBLES! (Why?)
I got this corrected by adding/changing the following property, which restores the animation speed behavour almost like normal (default):
// add or change this in the scene setup
scene.physicsWorld.speed = 0.5
3) If there are actions like SCNAction.playAudio in the project, all the effects will no longer play - as long as I don't do this:
overlayView.scene = nil
Of course, the additional SCNView stops working but everything else gets gets back to its normal.
Use this code (as a starting point) to find out how to setup a virtual camera.
Just create a default ARKit project in Xcode and copy-paste my code:
import UIKit
import SceneKit
import ARKit
class ViewController: UIViewController, ARSCNViewDelegate {
#IBOutlet var sceneView: ARSCNView!
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
sceneView.delegate = self
sceneView.showsStatistics = true
let scene = SCNScene(named: "art.scnassets/ship.scn")!
sceneView.scene = scene
let cameraNode = SCNNode()
cameraNode.camera = SCNCamera()
cameraNode.position = SCNVector3(0, 0, 1)
cameraNode.camera?.focalLength = 70
cameraNode.camera?.categoryBitMask = 1
scene.rootNode.addChildNode(cameraNode)
sceneView.pointOfView = cameraNode
sceneView.allowsCameraControl = true
sceneView.backgroundColor = UIColor.darkGray
let plane = SCNNode(geometry: SCNPlane(width: 0.8, height: 0.45))
plane.position = SCNVector3(0, 0, -1.5)
// ASSIGN A VIDEO STREAM FROM SCENEKIT-RECORDER TO YOUR MATERIAL
plane.geometry?.materials.first?.diffuse.contents = capturedVideoFromSceneKitRecorder
scene.rootNode.addChildNode(plane)
}
override func viewWillAppear(_ animated: Bool) {
super.viewWillAppear(animated)
let configuration = ARWorldTrackingConfiguration()
sceneView.session.run(configuration)
}
}
UPDATED:
Here's a SceneKit Recorder App that you can tailor to your needs (you don't need to write a video to disk, just use a CVPixelBuffer stream and assign it as a texture for a diffuse material).
Hope this helps.
I'm a little late to the party, but I've had a similar issue recently.
As far as I can tell, you cannot directly connect a camera to a node's material. You can, however, use a scene's layer as a texture for a node.
The code below is not verified, but should be more or less ok:
class MyViewController: UIViewController {
override func loadView() {
let projectedScene = createProjectedScene()
let receivingScene = createReceivingScene()
let projectionPlane = receivingScene.scene?.rootNode.childNode(withName: "ProjectionPlane", recursively: true)!
// Here's the important part:
// You can't directly connect a camera to a material's diffuse texture.
// But you can connect a scene's layer as a texture.
projectionPlane.geometry?.firstMaterial?.diffuse.contents = projectedScene.layer
projectedScene.layer.contentsScale = 1
// Note how we only need to connect the receiving view to the controller.
// The projected view is not directly connected as a subview,
// but updates in projectedScene will still be reflected in receivingScene.
self.view = receivingScene
}
func createProjectedScene() -> SCNView {
let view = SCNView()
// ... set up scene ...
return view
}
func createReceivingScene() -> SCNView {
let view = SCNView()
// ... set up scene ...
let projectionPlane = SCNNode(geometry: SCNPlane(width: 2, height: 2)
projectionPlane.name = "ProjectionPlane"
view.scene.rootNode.addChildNode(projectionPlane)
return view
}
}

How use vertical detection in ARKit?

How can I insert a SCNScene with a vertical hold on ARKit? I can not do the detention and insert the object in a vertical position.
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
// Set the view's delegate
sceneView?.delegate = self
// Show statistics such as fps and timing information
sceneView?.showsStatistics = true
// Create a new scene
let scene = SCNScene(named: "art.scnassets/tabellone.scn")
sceneView?.debugOptions = [SCNDebugOptions.showFeaturePoints]
// Set the scene to the view
sceneView?.scene = scene!
}
override func viewWillAppear(_ animated: Bool) {
super.viewWillAppear(animated)
// Create a session configuration
let configuration = ARWorldTrackingConfiguration()
configuration.planeDetection = .vertical
configuration.isLightEstimationEnabled = true
// Run the view's session
sceneView?.session.run(configuration)
}
You need an appropriate vertical surface for tracking. Wall with a solid color (with no distinguishable features on it) is very bad instance (you can see such a vertical surface on the left image). The most robust approach for tracking of a vertical surface is a well-lit brick wall, or a wall with pictures on it, or a wall with a distinguishable pattern, etc.
So the right image is quite good example for tracking and vertical plane detection.
If you want to explore how to place 3D object onto detected plane, look at Apple's Handling 3D Interaction and UI Controls in AR project.
Hope this helps.

ARKit 1.5 – Vertical objects detection

I use ARKit 1.5 and this func to highlight vertical surfaces, but it doesn't work really well.
func createPlaneNode(planeAnchor: ARPlaneAnchor) -> SCNNode {
let scenePlaneGeometry = ARSCNPlaneGeometry(device: metalDevice!)
scenePlaneGeometry?.update(from: planeAnchor.geometry)
let planeNode = SCNNode(geometry: scenePlaneGeometry)
planeNode.name = "\(currPlaneId)"
planeNode.opacity = 0.25
if planeAnchor.alignment == .vertical {
planeNode.geometry?.firstMaterial?.diffuse.contents = UIColor.red
}
currPlaneId += 1
return planeNode
}
It always finds some FeaturePoints on vertical objects but very rare it actually highlights the surface using the planeNode that I created.
I want to be able to detect and highlight things like a pillar or even a man. How would you approach this?
Image of object with featurePoints
Image with the result in best case scenario
In ARKit 1.5 and ARKit 2.0 there's .planeDetection instance property allowing you to enable .horizontal, .vertical, or both simultaneously .horizontal and .vertical detections.
var planeDetection: ARWorldTrackingConfiguration.PlaneDetection { get set }
ViewController's code:
let configuration = ARWorldTrackingConfiguration()
configuration.planeDetection = .vertical
//configuration.planeDetection = [.vertical, .horizontal]
sceneView.session.run(configuration)
If you want to successfully detect and track vertical objects in your environment, you need good lighting conditions and rich non-repetitive texture. Look at the picture below:

AR with iOS: putting a light in the scene makes everything black?

Ok, I am trying desperately to achieve this sort of warm lighting on my objects when added to my ARScene in Swift/Xcode - warm lighting and little glowing lights around:
To be clear, I do NOT want the objects I add to my scene to look like they belong in the surrounding room. I want them to stand out/ look warm and glow.All the tutorials on ARKit teach you how to mimic the lighting of the actual room.
Xcode has several lighting options, pulling from the surroundings gathered by the camera because with:
if let lightEstimate = session.currentFrame?.lightEstimate
I can print out the warmth, intensity, etc. And I also have these properties currently set to match the light of room:
sceneView.automaticallyUpdatesLighting = true
extension ARSCNView {
func setup() { //SCENE SETUP
antialiasingMode = .multisampling4X
autoenablesDefaultLighting = true
preferredFramesPerSecond = 60
contentScaleFactor = 1.3
if let camera = pointOfView?.camera {
camera.wantsHDR = true
camera.wantsExposureAdaptation = true
camera.exposureOffset = -1
camera.minimumExposure = -1
camera.maximumExposure = 3
}
}
}
I have tried upping the emission on my object's textures and everything but nothing achieves the effect. Adding a light just turns the objects black/no color.
What is wrong here?
To create this type of glowing red neon light result in ARKit. You can do the following.
You need to create a reactor.scnp (scenekit particle System File) and make the following changes to create the glowing red halo. This should be place in your Resources directory of the playground along with the file spark.png
These are the settings to change from the default reactor type. Leave all the other settings alone.
Change the Image animate color to red/orange/red/black
speed factor = 0.1
enable lighting checked
Emitter Shape = Sphere
Image Size = 0.5
Image Intensity = 0.1
Simulation Speed Factor = 0.1
Note: The code below is playground app I use for testing purposes. You just tap anywhere to add the Neon light into the scene. You can place as many neon lights as you like.
import ARKit
import SceneKit
import PlaygroundSupport
import SceneKit.ModelIO
class ViewController: NSObject {
var sceneView: ARSCNView
init(sceneView: ARSCNView) {
self.sceneView = sceneView
super.init()
self.setupWorldTracking()
self.sceneView.addGestureRecognizer(UITapGestureRecognizer(target: self, action: #selector(ViewController.handleTap(_:))))
}
private func setupWorldTracking() {
if ARWorldTrackingConfiguration.isSupported {
let configuration = ARWorldTrackingConfiguration()
configuration.planeDetection = .horizontal
configuration.isLightEstimationEnabled = true
self.sceneView.session.run(configuration, options: [])
}
}
#objc func handleTap(_ gesture: UITapGestureRecognizer) {
let results = self.sceneView.hitTest(gesture.location(in: gesture.view), types: ARHitTestResult.ResultType.featurePoint)
guard let result: ARHitTestResult = results.first else {
return
}
let cylinder = SCNCylinder(radius: 0.05, height: 1)
cylinder.firstMaterial?.emission.contents = UIColor.red
cylinder.firstMaterial?.emission.intensity = 1
let spotLight = SCNNode()
spotLight.light = SCNLight()
spotLight.scale = SCNVector3(1,1,1)
spotLight.light?.intensity = 1000
spotLight.castsShadow = true
spotLight.position = SCNVector3Zero
spotLight.light?.type = SCNLight.LightType.directional
spotLight.light?.color = UIColor.white
let particleSystem = SCNParticleSystem(named: "reactor", inDirectory: nil)
let systemNode = SCNNode()
systemNode.addParticleSystem(particleSystem!)
let node = SCNNode(geometry: cylinder)
let position = SCNVector3Make(result.worldTransform.columns.3.x, result.worldTransform.columns.3.y, result.worldTransform.columns.3.z)
systemNode.position = position
node.position = position
self.sceneView.scene.rootNode.addChildNode(spotLight)
self.sceneView.scene.rootNode.addChildNode(node)
self.sceneView.scene.rootNode.addChildNode(systemNode)
}
}
let sceneView = ARSCNView()
let viewController = ViewController(sceneView: sceneView)
sceneView.autoenablesDefaultLighting = false
PlaygroundPage.current.needsIndefiniteExecution = true
PlaygroundPage.current.liveView = viewController.sceneView
If your looking for a neon/glowing effect in your scene... these previous answers to a similar question asked about glowing/neon lighting should give you some guidance.
As you will see from the answers provided sceneKit does not have built-in support for volumetric lighting, all the approaches are more hacks to achieve a similar effect to a glowing light.
iOS SceneKit Neon Glow
To add a "red" directional light effect to your scene... which is an alternative to using sceneView.autoenablesDefaultLighting = true
let myLight = SCNNode()
myLight.light = SCNLight()
myLight.scale = SCNVector3(1,1,1)
myLight.intensity = 1000
myLight.position = SCNVector3Zero
myLight.light?.type = SCNLight.LightType.directional
myLight.light?.color = UIColor.red
// add the light to the scene
sceneView.scene.rootNode.addChildNode(myLight)
note: This effect makes all the objects in the scene more reddish.

How do I programmatically move an ARAnchor?

I'm trying out the new ARKit to replace another similar solution I have. It's pretty great! But I can't seem to figure out how to move an ARAnchor programmatically. I want to slowly move the anchor to the left of the user.
Creating the anchor to be 2 meters in front of the user:
var translation = matrix_identity_float4x4
translation.columns.3.z = -2.0
let transform = simd_mul(currentFrame.camera.transform, translation)
let anchor = ARAnchor(transform: transform)
sceneView.session.add(anchor: anchor)
later, moving the object to the left/right of the user (x-axis)...
anchor.transform.columns.3.x = anchor.transform.columns.3.x + 0.1
repeated every 50 milliseconds (or whatever).
The above does not work because transform is a get-only property.
I need a way to change the position of an AR object in space relative to the user in a way that keeps the AR experience intact - meaning, if you move your device, the AR object will be moving but also won't be "stuck" to the camera like it's simply painted on, but moves like you would see a person move while you were walking by - they are moving and you are moving and it looks natural.
Please note the scope of this question relates only to how to move an object in space in relation to the user (ARAnchor), not in relation to a plane (ARPlaneAnchor) or to another detected surface (ARHitTestResult).
Thanks!
You don't need to move anchors. (hand wave) That's not the API you're looking for...
Adding ARAnchor objects to a session is effectively about "labeling" a point in real-world space so that you can refer to it later. The point (1,1,1) (for example) is always the point (1,1,1) — you can't move it someplace else because then it's not the point (1,1,1) anymore.
To make a 2D analogy: anchors are reference points sort of like the bounds of a view. The system (or another piece of your code) tells the view where it's boundaries are, and the view draws its content relative to those boundaries. Anchors in AR give you reference points you can use for drawing content in 3D.
What you're asking is really about moving (and animating the movement of) virtual content between two points. And ARKit itself really isn't about displaying or animating virtual content — there are plenty of great graphics engines out there, so ARKit doesn't need to reinvent that wheel. What ARKit does is provide a real-world frame of reference for you to display or animate content using an existing graphics technology like SceneKit or SpriteKit (or Unity or Unreal, or a custom engine built with Metal or GL).
Since you mentioned trying to do this with SpriteKit... beware, it gets messy. SpriteKit is a 2D engine, and while ARSKView provides some ways to shoehorn a third dimension in there, those ways have their limits.
ARSKView automatically updates the xScale, yScale, and zRotation of each sprite associated with an ARAnchor, providing the illusion of 3D perspective. But that applies only to nodes attached to anchors, and as noted above, anchors are static.
You can, however, add other nodes to your scene, and use those same properties to make those nodes match the ARSKView-managed nodes. Here's some code you can add/replace in the ARKit/SpriteKit Xcode template project to do that. We'll start with some basic logic to run a bouncing animation on the third tap (after using the first two taps to place anchors).
var anchors: [ARAnchor] = []
override func touchesBegan(_ touches: Set<UITouch>, with event: UIEvent?) {
// Start bouncing on touch after placing 2 anchors (don't allow more)
if anchors.count > 1 {
startBouncing(time: 1)
return
}
// Create anchor using the camera's current position
guard let sceneView = self.view as? ARSKView else { return }
if let currentFrame = sceneView.session.currentFrame {
// Create a transform with a translation of 30 cm in front of the camera
var translation = matrix_identity_float4x4
translation.columns.3.z = -0.3
let transform = simd_mul(currentFrame.camera.transform, translation)
// Add a new anchor to the session
let anchor = ARAnchor(transform: transform)
sceneView.session.add(anchor: anchor)
anchors.append(anchor)
}
}
Then, some SpriteKit fun for making that animation happen:
var ballNode: SKLabelNode = {
let labelNode = SKLabelNode(text: "🏀")
labelNode.horizontalAlignmentMode = .center
labelNode.verticalAlignmentMode = .center
return labelNode
}()
func startBouncing(time: TimeInterval) {
guard
let sceneView = self.view as? ARSKView,
let first = anchors.first, let start = sceneView.node(for: first),
let last = anchors.last, let end = sceneView.node(for: last)
else { return }
if ballNode.parent == nil {
addChild(ballNode)
}
ballNode.setScale(start.xScale)
ballNode.zRotation = start.zRotation
ballNode.position = start.position
let scale = SKAction.scale(to: end.xScale, duration: time)
let rotate = SKAction.rotate(toAngle: end.zRotation, duration: time)
let move = SKAction.move(to: end.position, duration: time)
let scaleBack = SKAction.scale(to: start.xScale, duration: time)
let rotateBack = SKAction.rotate(toAngle: start.zRotation, duration: time)
let moveBack = SKAction.move(to: start.position, duration: time)
let action = SKAction.repeatForever(.sequence([
.group([scale, rotate, move]),
.group([scaleBack, rotateBack, moveBack])
]))
ballNode.removeAllActions()
ballNode.run(action)
}
Here's a video so you can see this code in action. You'll notice that the illusion only works as long as you don't move the camera — not so great for AR. When using SKAction, we can't adjust the start/end states of the animation while animating, so the ball keeps bouncing back and forth between its original (screen-space) positions/rotations/scales.
You could do better by animating the ball directly, but it's a lot of work. You'd need to, on every frame (or every view(_:didUpdate:for:) delegate callback):
Save off the updated position, rotation, and scale values for the anchor-based nodes at each end of the animation. You'll need to do this twice per didUpdate callback, because you'll get one callback for each node.
Work out position, rotation, and scale values for the node being animated, by interpolating between the two endpoint values based on the current time.
Set the new attributes on the node. (Or maybe animate it to those attributes over a very short duration, so it doesn't jump too much in one frame?)
That's kind of a lot of work to shoehorn a fake 3D illusion into a 2D graphics toolkit — hence my comments about SpriteKit not being a great first step into ARKit.
If you want 3D positioning and animation for your AR overlays, it's a lot easier to use a 3D graphics toolkit. Here's a repeat of the previous example, but using SceneKit instead. Start with the ARKit/SceneKit Xcode template, take the spaceship out, and paste the same touchesBegan function from above into the ViewController. (Change the as ARSKView casts to as ARSCNView, too.)
Then, some quick code for placing 2D billboarded sprites, matching via SceneKit the behavior of the ARKit/SpriteKit template:
// in global scope
func makeBillboardNode(image: UIImage) -> SCNNode {
let plane = SCNPlane(width: 0.1, height: 0.1)
plane.firstMaterial!.diffuse.contents = image
let node = SCNNode(geometry: plane)
node.constraints = [SCNBillboardConstraint()]
return node
}
// inside ViewController
func renderer(_ renderer: SCNSceneRenderer, didAdd node: SCNNode, for anchor: ARAnchor) {
// emoji to image based on https://stackoverflow.com/a/41021662/957768
let billboard = makeBillboardNode(image: "⛹️".image())
node.addChildNode(billboard)
}
Finally, adding the animation for the bouncing ball:
let ballNode = makeBillboardNode(image: "🏀".image())
func startBouncing(time: TimeInterval) {
guard
let sceneView = self.view as? ARSCNView,
let first = anchors.first, let start = sceneView.node(for: first),
let last = anchors.last, let end = sceneView.node(for: last)
else { return }
if ballNode.parent == nil {
sceneView.scene.rootNode.addChildNode(ballNode)
}
let animation = CABasicAnimation(keyPath: #keyPath(SCNNode.transform))
animation.fromValue = start.transform
animation.toValue = end.transform
animation.duration = time
animation.autoreverses = true
animation.repeatCount = .infinity
ballNode.removeAllAnimations()
ballNode.addAnimation(animation, forKey: nil)
}
This time the animation code is a lot shorter than the SpriteKit version.
Here's how it looks in action.
Because we're working in 3D to start with, we're actually animating between two 3D positions — unlike in the SpriteKit version, the animation stays where it's supposed to. (And without the extra work for directly interpolating and animating attributes.)