LibAnimate

A keyframe-driven animation library for World of Warcraft addons, inspired by animate.css.

Overview

LibAnimate is a standalone, LibStub-based animation library that provides smooth, keyframe-driven animations for any WoW frame. It uses an OnUpdate-based rendering engine rather than WoW's built-in Animation/AnimationGroup system, which suffers from long-standing bugs with alpha persistence and Translation offset semantics. See the Wiki for full documentation.

Features

OnUpdate-driven - Avoids WoW AnimationGroup bugs entirely
Single shared driver frame - All animations run through one OnUpdate handler
Keyframe interpolation - Define animations as keyframes with translate, scale, and alpha
Per-segment easing - Named presets or custom cubic-bezier curves per keyframe segment
77 built-in animations - Entrance, exit, and attention-seeker animations
Extensible - Register custom animations via RegisterAnimation
Delay & repeat - Start after a delay, loop animations with repeatCount
Animation queues - Chain animations in sequence with per-step callbacks

Supported Versions

Version	Interface
Retail	110207
TBC Anniversary	20505
MoP Classic	50503

Installation

Via .pkgmeta (recommended)

For addon authors using BigWigsMods/packager, add the following to your .pkgmeta:

externals:
  Libs/LibStub: https://repos.wowace.com/wow/libstub/trunk
  Libs/LibAnimate: https://github.com/Xerrion/LibAnimate

Then in your .toc file:

Libs\LibAnimate\lib.xml

Manual

Download the library and place it in your addon's Libs/ folder. Load lib.xml after LibStub in your .toc:

Libs\LibAnimate\lib.xml

Quick Start

local LibAnimate = LibStub("LibAnimate")

-- Animate a frame sliding in from the top
local myFrame = CreateFrame("Frame", nil, UIParent)
myFrame:SetSize(200, 50)
myFrame:SetPoint("CENTER", 0, 0)

-- Play entrance animation
LibAnimate:Animate(myFrame, "slideInDown", {
    duration = 0.5,
    distance = 300,
    onFinished = function()
        print("Animation complete!")
    end,
})

-- Later, play exit animation
LibAnimate:Animate(myFrame, "slideOutUp", {
    duration = 0.4,
    distance = 200,
    onFinished = function()
        myFrame:Hide()
    end,
})

-- Play an attention-seeker animation (returns to original state)
LibAnimate:Animate(myFrame, "heartBeat")

-- Stop animation and restore frame to its base state
LibAnimate:Stop(myFrame)

API Overview

Method	Description
`Animate(frame, name, opts?)`	Play an animation on a frame
`Stop(frame)`	Stop and restore to pre-animation state
`UpdateAnchor(frame, x, y)`	Update base anchor during animation
`IsAnimating(frame)`	Check if a frame is animating
`GetAnimationInfo(name)`	Get an animation's definition table
`GetAnimationNames()`	List all registered animation names
`GetEntranceAnimations()`	List entrance animation names
`GetExitAnimations()`	List exit animation names
`GetAttentionAnimations()`	List attention seeker names
`Queue(frame, entries, opts?)`	Queue a sequence of animations on a frame
`ClearQueue(frame)`	Cancel an animation queue and stop
`IsQueued(frame)`	Check if a frame has a pending queue
`RegisterAnimation(name, def)`	Register a custom animation

For detailed parameters, return types, and examples, see the API Reference.

Built-in Animations

Category	Count
Attention Seekers	10
Back	8
Bouncing	10
Fading	26
Sliding	8
Zooming	10
Specials	1
Utility	4
Total	77

Browse the full catalog with descriptions in the Animation Catalog.

Documentation

For comprehensive documentation, visit the LibAnimate Wiki:

Getting Started - Installation, first animation, key concepts
API Reference - Complete method documentation
Animation Catalog - All 77 built-in animations
Custom Animations - Create your own animations
Easing Functions - Presets and cubic-bezier curves

License

MIT - See LICENSE file.