SVG Tiny 1.2 – 20080915

16 Animation

Contents

16.1 Introduction

SVG supports the ability to change vector graphics over time. SVG content can be animated in the following ways:

16.2 Animation elements

16.2.1 Overview

SVG's animation elements were developed in collaboration with the W3C Synchronized Multimedia (SYMM) Working Group, developers of the Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL) 2.1 Specification [SMIL21].

SVG incorporates the animation features defined in the SMIL 2.1 specification and provides some SVG-specific extensions.

For an introduction to the approach and features available in any language that supports SMIL 2.1 Animation, see SMIL 2.1 Animation overview and SMIL 2.1 animation model. For the list of animation features which go beyond SMIL Animation, see SVG extensions to SMIL 2.1 Animation.

16.2.2 Relationship to SMIL 2.1 Animation

SVG is a host language in terms of SMIL 2.1 Animation and therefore introduces additional constraints and features as permitted by that specification. Except for any SVG-specific rules explicitly mentioned in this specification, the normative definition for SVG's animation elements and attributes are the SMIL 2.1 Animation Modules. Note that the SMIL timing engine is orthogonal to the rendering tree.

SVG supports the following four animation elements which are defined in the SMIL 2.1 Animation Modules:

   'animate'    allows scalar attributes and properties to be assigned different values over time
   'set'    a convenient shorthand for 'animate', which is useful for assigning animation values to non-numeric attributes and properties, such as the 'visibility' property
   'animateMotion'          moves an element along a motion path
   'animateColor'    modifies the color value of particular attributes or properties over time

Additionally, SVG includes the following compatible extensions to SMIL 2.1:

   'animateTransform'    modifies one of SVG's transformation attributes over time, such as the 'transform' attribute
   'path' attribute    SVG allows any feature from SVG's path data syntax to be specified in a 'path' attribute to the 'animateMotion' element (SMIL 2.1 Animation only allows a subset of SVG's path data syntax within a 'path' attribute)
   'mpath' element    SVG allows an 'animateMotion' element to contain a child 'mpath' element which references an SVG 'path' element as the definition of the motion path
   'keyPoints' attribute    SVG adds a 'keyPoints' attribute to the 'animateMotion' to provide precise control of the velocity of motion path animations
   'rotate' attribute    SVG adds a 'rotate' attribute to the 'animateMotion' to control whether an object is automatically rotated so that its x-axis points in the same direction (or opposite direction) as the directional tangent vector of the motion path

For compatibility with other aspects of the language, SVG uses IRI references via an 'xlink:href' attribute to identify the elements which are to be targets of the animations.

SMIL 2.1 Animation requires that the host language define the meaning for document begin and document end.

16.2.3 Animation elements example

Example anim01 below demonstrates each of SVG's five animation elements.

Example: 19_01.svg
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<svg width="8cm" height="3cm"  viewBox="0 0 800 300"
     xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.2" baseProfile="tiny">
  <desc>Example anim01 - demonstrate animation elements</desc>
  <rect x="1" y="1" width="798" height="298" 
        fill="none" stroke="blue" stroke-width="2" />
  <!-- The following illustrates the use of the 'animate' element
        to animate a rectangles x, y, and width attributes so that
        the rectangle grows to ultimately fill the viewport. -->
  <rect xml:id="RectElement" x="300" y="100" width="300" height="100"
        fill="rgb(255,255,0)"  >
    <animate attributeName="x" 
             begin="0s" dur="9s" fill="freeze" from="300" to="0" />
    <animate attributeName="y" 
             begin="0s" dur="9s" fill="freeze" from="100" to="0" />
    <animate attributeName="width" 
             begin="0s" dur="9s" fill="freeze" from="300" to="800" />
    <animate attributeName="height" 
             begin="0s" dur="9s" fill="freeze" from="100" to="300" />
  </rect>
  <!-- Set up a new user coordinate system so that
        the text string's origin is at (0,0), allowing
        rotation and scale relative to the new origin -->
  <g transform="translate(100,100)" >
    <!-- The following illustrates the use of the 'set', 'animateMotion',
         'animateColor' and 'animateTransform' elements. The 'text' element 
         below starts off hidden (i.e., invisible). At 3 seconds, it:
           * becomes visible
           * continuously moves diagonally across the viewport
           * changes color from blue to dark red
           * rotates from -30 to zero degrees
           * scales by a factor of three. -->
    <text xml:id="TextElement" x="0" y="0"
          font-family="Verdana" font-size="35.27" visibility="hidden"  > 
      It's alive!
      <set attributeName="visibility" to="visible"
           begin="3s" dur="6s" fill="freeze" />
      <animateMotion path="M 0 0 L 100 100" 
           begin="3s" dur="6s" fill="freeze" />
      <animateColor attributeName="fill"
           from="rgb(0,0,255)" to="rgb(128,0,0)"
           begin="3s" dur="6s" fill="freeze" />
      <animateTransform attributeName="transform" 
           type="rotate" from="-30" to="0"
           begin="3s" dur="6s" fill="freeze" />
      <animateTransform attributeName="transform" 
           type="scale" from="1" to="3" additive="sum"
           begin="3s" dur="6s" fill="freeze" />
    </text>
  </g>
</svg>
Example 19_01 - at zero seconds At zero seconds   Example 19_01 - at three seconds At three seconds
Example 19_01 - at six seconds At six seconds   Example 19_01 - at nine seconds At nine seconds

The sections below describe the various animation attributes and elements.

16.2.4 Attributes to identify the target element for an animation

The following attributes are common to all animation elements and identify the target element for the animation. If the target element is not capable of being a target of the animation, then the animation is ignored.

Refer to the descriptions of the individual animation elements for any restrictions on what types of elements can be targets of particular types of animations.

Schema: animatecommon
    <define name='svg.AnimateCommon.attr'>
      <ref name='svg.XLink.attr'/>
      <ref name='svg.Conditional.attr'/>
    </define>

Attribute definitions:

xlink:href = "<IRI>"
An IRI reference to the element which is the target of this animation and which therefore will be modified over time.
The target element must be part of the current SVG document fragment. If the target element is not part of the current SVG document fragment, then the animation is ignored. If the IRI reference is otherwise an invalid IRI reference, for example by being a reference to a non-existent element, then the animation timing will still run but no animation effect will be applied to the target attribute.
If the 'xlink:href' attribute is not provided, then the target element will be the immediate parent element of the current animation element.
'xlink:href' must point to exactly one target element. If 'xlink:href' points to multiple target elements then it shall be treated as an unsupported value and processed as if the attribute had not been specified. If xlink:href="" (empty string), it shall be treated as if the 'xlink:href' attribute was not specified.
Except for any SVG-specific rules explicitly mentioned in this specification, the normative definition for this attribute is the SMIL 2.1 specification. In particular, see SMIL 2.1 Animation Modules: Specifying the animation target.
Animatable: no.

16.2.5 Attributes to identify the target attribute or property for an animation

The following attributes identify the target attribute or property for the given target element whose value changes over time.

Schema: animateattributecommon
    <define name='svg.AnimateAttributeCommon.attr'>
      <optional>
        <attribute name='attributeName' svg:animatable='false' svg:inheritable='false'>
          <ref name='QName.datatype'/>
        </attribute>
      </optional>
      <optional>
        <attribute name='attributeType' svg:animatable='false' svg:inheritable='false'>
          <choice>
            <value>XML</value>
            <value>CSS</value>
            <value>auto</value>
          </choice>
        </attribute>
      </optional>
    </define>

Attribute definitions:

attributeName = "<QName>"
Specifies the name of the target attribute. A qualified name, if used, indicates the XML namespace for the attribute. The prefix will be resolved to a namespace name in the scope of the current (i.e. the referencing) animation element. Note that while the 'attributeName' attribute is optional, there is no lacuna value. When no value is specified the animation still runs, and events related to the animation element (e.g. beginEvent) are still fired, but the animation doesn't apply to any attribute.
Except for any SVG-specific rules explicitly mentioned in this specification, the normative definition for this attribute is the SMIL 2.1 specification. In particular, see SMIL 2.1 Animation Modules: Specifying the animation target.
Animatable: no.
attributeType = "CSS" | "XML" | "auto"
Specifies the namespace in which the target attribute and its associated values are defined. The attribute value is one of the following (values are case-sensitive):
"CSS"
This specifies that the value of 'attributeName' is the name of a property defined as animatable in this specification.
"XML"
This specifies that the value of 'attributeName' is the name of an XML attribute defined in the default XML namespace for the target element. If the value for 'attributeName' has a prefix, the implementation must use the associated namespace name as defined in the scope of the target element. The attribute must be defined as animatable in this specification.
"auto"
The implementation should match the 'attributeName' to an attribute for the target element. The implementation must first search through its list of supported CSS properties for a matching property name (all properties supported by the implementation, not just those defined by SVG), and if none is found, search the default XML namespace for the element.

The lacuna value is auto.

Except for any SVG-specific rules explicitly mentioned in this specification, the normative definition for this attribute is the SMIL 2.1 specification. In particular, see SMIL 2.1 Animation Modules: Specifying the animation target.

In the absence of style sheets (external style sheets, style element, style attribute) animation of presentation attributes is equivalent to animating the corresponding property. Thus, for properties listed in SVG Tiny 1.2, the same effect occurs from animating the presentation attribute with attributeType="XML" as occurs with animating the corresponding property with attributeType="CSS".

16.2.6 Animation with namespaces

Example animns01 below shows a namespace prefix being resolved to a namespace name in the scope of the referencing element, and that namespace name being used (regardless of the prefix which happens to be used in the target scope) to identify the attribute being animated.

Example: animns01.svg
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<svg version="1.2" baseProfile="tiny" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
    xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">
    <title>Demonstration of the resolution of namespaces for animation</title>
    <!-- at the point of definition, the QName a:href resolves to the namespace 
        name "http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" and the local name "href" -->
    <g xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">
        <animate attributeName="a:href" xlink:href="#foo" dur="2s" to="two.png" fill="freeze"/>
    </g>
    <!-- at the point of use, the namespace name "http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" 
      happens to be bound to the namespace prefix 'b'  while the prefix
      'xlink' is bound to a different namespace name-->
    <g xmlns:b="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns:xlink="http://example.net/bar">
        <image xml:id="foo" b:href="one.png" x="35" y="50" width="410" height="160"/>
    </g>
</svg>

16.2.7 Paced animation and complex types

Paced animations assume a notion of distance between the various animation values defined by the 'to', 'from', 'by' and 'values' attributes. The following table explains how the distance between values of different types should be computed.

Distance is defined for types which can be expressed as a list of values, where each value is a vector of scalars in an n-dimensional space. For example, an angle value is a list of one value in a 1-dimensional space and a color is a list of 1 value in a 3-dimensional space.

Animation is based on the computed value of properties. Thus, keywords such as inherit which yield a computed value may be animated because the computed value is a scalar or list of scalars. For example, fill="inherit" may be animated if the computed value of fill is a color.

The following table uses the following notation to describe two values for which a distance should be computed:
Va = {va0, va1, ..., van}
Vb = {vb0, vb1, ..., vbn}


Value Type Description Distance Examples
<coordinate> <integer> <length> <number> single 1-dimensional value. va0[0] = scalarA
vb0[0] = scalarB
||VaVb|| = abs(scalarA- scalarB) 'x' attribute on 'rect'
stroke-width on <circle>
<color> single 3-dimensional value.
va0[0] = colorA
vb0[0] = colorB
||VaVb|| = sqrt((colorA.getRed() - colorB.getRed())^2 + (colorA.getGreen() - colorB.getGreen())^2 + (colorA.getBlue() - colorB.getBlue())^2) 'fill' attribute on 'ellipse'
<list-of-lengths>
<list-of-coordinates>
<list-of-numbers>
n 1-dimensional values. ||VaVb|| = sum(for i = 1 to n, abs(vai[0] - vbi[0])) / n 'stroke-dasharray' on 'path'
<list-of-points> n 2-dimensional values There is no defined formula to pace a list of points. The request to pace should be ignored and the value of linear used instead. 'points' attribute on 'polygon'
<path-data> n 2-dimensional values where each value is a point in the path definition. ||VaVb|| = sum(for i = 1 to n, dist(vai,vbi)) / n
dist(vai,vbi) = sqrt((vai[0] - vbi[0])^2 + (vai[1] - vbi[1])^2))
'd' on 'path'
<transform-list> type: translate
one 2-dimensional value
va0[0] = txa
va0[1] = tya
vb0[0] = txb
vb0[1] = tyb
type: rotate one 1-dimensional value and 1 2-dimensional value
va0[0] = angleA
va1[0] = cxa
va1[1] = cya

vb0[0] = angleB
vb1[0] = cxb
vb1[1] = cyb

type: scale
two 1-dimensional values
va0[0] = scaleXa
va1[0] = scaleYa
vb0[0] = scaleXb
vb1[0] = scaleYb

type: skewX, skewY
single 1-dimension value
va0[0] = skewXorYa
vb0[0] = skewXorYb
type: translate
||VaVb|| = dist(v_a0 ,v_b0 ) = sqrt((v_a0 [0] - v_b0 [0])^2 + (v_a0 [1] - v_b0 [1])^2))

type: rotate
||VaVb|| = (abs(angleA - angleB))

type: scale
||VaVb|| = sqrt((scaleXa - scaleXb)^2 + (scaleYa - scaleYb)^2)

type: skewX, skewY
||VaVb|| = abs(skewXorYa- skewXorYb)
'transform' attribute on 'g' using 'animateTransform'

16.2.8 Attributes to control the timing of the animation

The following attributes are common to all animation elements and control the timing of the animation, including what causes the animation to start and end, whether the animation runs repeatedly, and whether to retain the end state the animation once the animation ends.

The timing attributes also applies to Media Elements.

Schema: animatetiming
    <define name='svg.AnimateTiming.attr' combine='interleave'>
      <ref name='svg.AnimateTimingNoMinMax.attr'/>
      <optional><attribute name='min' svg:animatable='false' svg:inheritable='false'><text/></attribute></optional>
      <optional><attribute name='max' svg:animatable='false' svg:inheritable='false'><text/></attribute></optional>
    </define>

    <define name='svg.AnimateTimingNoMinMax.attr' combine='interleave'>
      <ref name='svg.AnimateTimingNoFillNoMinMax.attr'/>
      <optional>
        <attribute name='fill' svg:animatable='false' svg:inheritable='false'>
          <choice>
            <value>remove</value>
            <value>freeze</value>
          </choice>
        </attribute>
      </optional>
    </define>

    <define name='svg.AnimateTimingNoFillNoMinMax.attr' combine='interleave'>
      <ref name='svg.AnimateBegin.attr'/>
      <optional><attribute name='dur' svg:animatable='false' svg:inheritable='false'><text/></attribute></optional>
      <optional><attribute name='end' svg:animatable='false' svg:inheritable='false'><text/></attribute></optional>
      <optional><attribute name='repeatCount' svg:animatable='false' svg:inheritable='false'><text/></attribute></optional>
      <optional><attribute name='repeatDur' svg:animatable='false' svg:inheritable='false'><text/></attribute></optional>
      <optional>
        <attribute name='restart' svg:animatable='false' svg:inheritable='false'>
          <choice>
            <value>always</value>
            <value>never</value>
            <value>whenNotActive</value>
          </choice>
        </attribute>
      </optional>
    </define>

    <define name='svg.AnimateBegin.attr' combine='interleave'>
      <optional><attribute name='begin' svg:animatable='false' svg:inheritable='false'><text/></attribute></optional>
    </define>

In the syntax specifications that follow, optional white space is indicated as "S", defined as follows:

S ::= (#x20 | #x9 | #xD | #xA)*

Attribute definitions:

begin = "begin-value-list"
Defines when the element should begin (i.e. become active). The attribute value is a semicolon separated list of values.
The definition of begin-value-list is as follows:
begin-value-list ::= begin-value (S? ";" S? begin-value-list )?
A semicolon separated list of begin values. The interpretation of a list of begin times is detailed in SMIL 2.1 section on "Evaluation of begin and end time lists".
begin-value : ( offset-value | syncbase-value | event-value | repeat-value | accessKey-value | "indefinite" )
Describes the element begin.
offset-value ::= ( S? "+" | "-" S? )? ( <Clock-value> )
For SMIL 2.1, this describes the element begin as an offset from an implicit syncbase. For SVG, the implicit syncbase begin is defined to be relative to the document begin. Negative begin times are entirely valid and easy to compute, as long as there is a resolved document begin time.
syncbase-value ::= ( Id-value "." ( "begin" | "end" ) ) ( S? ("+"|"-") S? <Clock-value> )?
Describes a syncbase and an optional offset from that syncbase. The element begin is defined relative to the begin or active end of another animation. A syncbase consists of an ID reference to another animation element followed by either begin or end to identify whether to synchronize with the beginning or active end of the referenced animation element.
event-value ::= ( Id-value "." )? ( event-ref ) ( S? ("+"|"-") S? <Clock-value> )?
Describes an event and an optional offset that determine the element begin. The animation begin is defined relative to the time that the event is raised. The list of event-symbols available for a given event-base element is listed in the 'Animation event name' column in Complete list of supported events. Details of event-based timing are described in SMIL 2.1: Unifying Event-based and Scheduled Timing.
repeat-value ::= ( Id-value "." )? "repeat(" integer ")" ( S? ("+"|"-") S? <Clock-value> )?
Describes a qualified repeat event. The element begin is defined relative to the time that the repeat event is raised with the specified iteration value.
accessKey-value ::= "accessKey(" character ")" ( S? ("+"|"-") S? <Clock-value> )?
Describes an accessKey that determines the element begin. The element begin is defined relative to the time of the keydown event corresponding to the specified key. From a formal processing model perspective, accessKey is a keydown event listener on the document which behaves as if stopPropagation() and preventDefault() have both been invoked in the capture phase. (See Event flow for consequences of this behavior.)

The "character" value can be one of two types. It can be any of the keyboard event identifier strings listed in the key identifiers set. Alternatively, this value can be a single Unicode character [UNICODE]. In this case, the "character" value is mapped to a keyboard identifier for the purpose of processing the accessKey event listener. For example, 'accessKey(Q)' will translate into a keydown event listener using "U+0051" as the target keyboard identifier string, as if 'accessKey(U+0051)' were used.
"indefinite"
The begin of the animation will be determined by a beginElement() method call or a hyperlink targeted to the element. (Hyperlink-based timing is described in SMIL 2.1 Timing and Synchronization: Hyperlinks and timing.)
In SVG, if no 'begin' is specified, the default timing of the time container is equivalent to an offset value of 0. If the 'begin' attribute is syntactically invalid, in the list itself or in any of the individual list values, it is equivalent to a single 'begin' value of indefinite. Except for any SVG-specific rules explicitly mentioned in this specification, the normative definition for this attribute is the SMIL 2.1 specification. In particular, see SMIL 2.1: 'begin' attribute and the special parsing rules for Id-value and event-ref as described in SMIL 2.1: Parsing timing specifiers.
Animatable: no.
dur = "<Clock-value>" | "media" | "indefinite"
Specifies the simple duration. The attribute value can be either of the following:
<Clock-value>
Specifies the length of the simple duration in document time. Value must be greater than 0.
media
Specifies the simple duration as the intrinsic media duration. This is only valid for elements that define media.
(For SVG's animation elements, if media is specified, the attribute will be ignored.)
indefinite
Specifies the simple duration as indefinite.
If the animation does not have a 'dur' attribute, the simple duration is indefinite. Note that interpolation will not work if the simple duration is indefinite (although this may still be useful for 'set' elements). Except for any SVG-specific rules explicitly mentioned in this specification, the normative definition for this attribute is the SMIL 2.1 specification. In particular, see SMIL 2.1: 'dur' attribute.
Animatable: no.
end = "end-value-list"
Defines an end value for the animation that can constrain the active duration. The attribute value is a semicolon separated list of values.
end-value-list ::= end-value (S? ";" S? end-value-list )?
A semicolon separated list of end values. The interpretation of a list of end times is detailed below.
end-value : ( offset-value | syncbase-value | event-value | repeat-value | accessKey-value | "indefinite" )
Describes the active end of the animation.
A value of indefinite specifies that the end of the animation will be determined by an endElement() method call.
Except for any SVG-specific rules explicitly mentioned in this specification, the normative definition for this attribute is the SMIL 2.1 specification. In particular, see description of SMIL 2.1: 'end' attribute and the special parsing rules for Id-value and event-ref as described in SMIL 2.1: Parsing timing specifiers.
Animatable: no.
min = "<Clock-value>" | "media"
Specifies the minimum value of the active duration. The attribute value can be either of the following:
<Clock-value>
Specifies the length of the minimum value of the active duration, measured in local time.
Value must be greater than 0.
media
Specifies the minimum value of the active duration as the intrinsic media duration. This is only valid for elements that define media. (For SVG's animation elements, if media is specified, the attribute will be ignored.)
The lacuna value for 'min' is 0. This does not constrain the active duration at all.
Except for any SVG-specific rules explicitly mentioned in this specification, the normative definition for this attribute is the SMIL 2.1 specification. In particular, see SMIL 2.1: 'min' attribute.
Animatable: no.
max = "<Clock-value>" | "media"
Specifies the maximum value of the active duration. The attribute value can be either of the following:
<Clock-value>
Specifies the length of the maximum value of the active duration, measured in local time.
Value must be greater than 0.
media
Specifies the maximum value of the active duration as the intrinsic media duration. This is only valid for elements that define media. (For SVG's animation elements, if media is specified, the attribute will be ignored.)
There is no lacuna value for 'max'. This does not constrain the active duration at all.
Except for any SVG-specific rules explicitly mentioned in this specification, the normative definition for this attribute is the SMIL 2.1 specification. In particular, see SMIL 2.1: 'max' attribute.
Animatable: no.
restart = "always" | "whenNotActive" | "never"
always
The animation can be restarted at any time. 
This is the lacuna value.
whenNotActive
The animation can only be restarted when it is not active (i.e. after the active end). Attempts to restart the animation during its active duration are ignored.
never
The element cannot be restarted for the remainder of the current simple duration of the parent time container. (In the case of SVG, since the parent time container is the SVG document fragment, then the animation cannot be restarted for the remainder of the document duration.)
Except for any SVG-specific rules explicitly mentioned in this specification, the normative definition for this attribute is the SMIL 2.1 specification. In particular, see SMIL 2.1: 'restart' attribute.
Animatable: no.
repeatCount = "<number>" | "indefinite"
Specifies the number of iterations of the animation function. It can have the following attribute values:
<number>
This is a (base 10) "floating point" numeric value that specifies the number of iterations. It can include partial iterations expressed as fraction values. A fractional value describes a portion of the simple duration. Values must be greater than 0.
indefinite
The animation is defined to repeat indefinitely (i.e. until the document ends).
Except for any SVG-specific rules explicitly mentioned in this specification, the normative definition for this attribute is the SMIL 2.1 specification. In particular, see SMIL 2.1: 'repeatCount' attribute.
Animatable: no.
repeatDur = "<Clock-value>" | "indefinite"
Specifies the total duration for repeat. It can have the following attribute values:
<Clock-value>
Specifies the duration in document time to repeat the animation function f(t).
"indefinite"
The animation is defined to repeat indefinitely (i.e. until the document ends).
Except for any SVG-specific rules explicitly mentioned in this specification, the normative definition for this attribute is the SMIL 2.1 specification. In particular, see SMIL 2.1: 'repeatDur' attribute.
Animatable: no.
fill = "freeze" | "remove"
This attribute can have the following values:
freeze
The animation effect f(t) is defined to freeze the effect value at the last value of the active duration. Note that in the case of discrete animation, the frozen value that is used is the value of the animation just before the end of the active duration. The animation effect is "frozen" for the remainder of the document duration (or until the animation is restarted - see SMIL 2.1: Restarting animation).
remove
The animation effect is removed (no longer applied) when the active duration of the animation is over. After the active end of the animation, the animation no longer affects the target (unless the animation is restarted - see SMIL 2.1: Restarting animation). This is the lacuna value.
Except for any SVG-specific rules explicitly mentioned in this specification, the normative definition for this attribute is the SMIL 2.1 specification. In particular, see SMIL 2.1: 'fill' attribute.
Animatable: no.

The SMIL 2.1 specification defines the detailed processing rules associated with the above attributes. Except for any SVG-specific rules explicitly mentioned in this specification, the SMIL 2.1 specification is the normative definition of the processing rules for the above attributes.

event-base element

This section is informative. For a normative reference of event-base element, see the SMIL 2.1 Animation Modules and the multimedia section of this specification. For declarative animation or 'discard' elements, the default event-base element is the animation target, which for elements with an 'xlink:href' attribute is the target IRI, and is otherwise the parent element. The default event-base element for all SVG Media elements (e.g. 'audio', 'video', 'animation') is the element itself. For all event-values that are prefaced with an Id-value, the event-base element is the element indicated by that id. Authoring Note: non-rendered elements such as the 'audio' element cannot receive user-initiated pointer events, so it is recommended that authors specify a rendered element as the event-base element for such cases.

Clock values

Clock values have a subsetted syntax of the clock values syntax in SMIL 2.1: Clock values:

Clock-val         ::= Timecount-val
Timecount-val     ::= Timecount ("." Fraction)? (Metric)?
Metric            ::= "s" | "ms"
Fraction          ::= DIGIT+
Timecount         ::= DIGIT+
DIGIT             ::= [0-9]

For Timecount values, the default metric suffix is "s" (for seconds). No embedded white space is allowed in clock values, although leading and trailing white space characters will be ignored.

Clock values describe document time.

The following are examples of legal clock values:

Fractional values are just (base 10) floating point definitions of seconds. Thus:

00.5s = 500 milliseconds

16.2.9 Attributes that define animation values over time

The following attributes are common to elements 'animate', 'animateMotion', 'animateColor' and 'animateTransform'. These attributes define the values that are assigned to the target attribute or property over time. The attributes below provide control over the relative timing of keyframes and the interpolation method between discrete values.

Schema: animatevalue
    <define name='svg.AnimateToCommon.attr' combine='interleave'>
      <optional><attribute name='to' svg:animatable='false' svg:inheritable='false'><text/></attribute></optional>
    </define>

    <define name='svg.AnimateValueCommon.attr'>
      <ref name='svg.AnimateToCommon.attr'/>
      <optional>
        <attribute name='calcMode' svg:animatable='false' svg:inheritable='false'>
          <choice>
            <value>discrete</value>
            <value>linear</value>
            <value>paced</value>
            <value>spline</value>
          </choice>
        </attribute>
      </optional>
      <optional><attribute name='values' svg:animatable='false' svg:inheritable='false'><text/></attribute></optional>
      <optional><attribute name='keyTimes' svg:animatable='false' svg:inheritable='false'><text/></attribute></optional>
      <optional><attribute name='keySplines' svg:animatable='false' svg:inheritable='false'><text/></attribute></optional>
      <optional><attribute name='from' svg:animatable='false' svg:inheritable='false'><text/></attribute></optional>
      <optional><attribute name='by' svg:animatable='false' svg:inheritable='false'><text/></attribute></optional>
    </define>

Attribute definitions:

calcMode = "discrete" | "linear" | "paced" | "spline"
Specifies the interpolation mode for the animation. This can take any of the following values. The default mode is linear, however if the attribute does not support linear interpolation (e.g. for strings), the 'calcMode' attribute is ignored and discrete interpolation is used.
discrete
This specifies that the animation function will jump from one value to the next without any interpolation.
linear
Simple linear interpolation between values is used to calculate the animation function. Except for 'animateMotion', this is the default 'calcMode'.
paced
Defines interpolation to produce an even pace of change across the animation. This is only supported for values that define a linear numeric range, and for which some notion of "distance" between points can be calculated (e.g. position, width, height, etc.). If paced is specified, any 'keyTimes' or 'keySplines' will be ignored. For 'animateMotion', this is the default 'calcMode'.
spline
Interpolates from one value in the 'values' list to the next according to a time function defined by a cubic Bézier spline. The points of the spline are defined in the 'keyTimes' attribute, and the control points for each interval are defined in the 'keySplines' attribute.
Except for any SVG-specific rules explicitly mentioned in this specification, the normative definition for this attribute is the SMIL 2.1 specification. In particular, see SMIL 2.1: 'calcMode' attribute.
Animatable: no.
values = "<list>"

A semicolon-separated list of one or more values. Vector-valued attributes are supported using the vector syntax of the 'attributeType' domain. Except for any SVG-specific rules explicitly mentioned in this specification, the normative definition for this attribute is the SMIL 2.1 specification. In particular, see SMIL 2.1: 'values' attribute and note that, per the SMIL specification, leading and trailing white space, and white space before and after semi-colon separators, is allowed and will be ignored.

For compatibility with existing content, SVG extends the syntax of this attribute to allow a trailing semicolon (with optional surrounding whitespace) without creating a new value in the list. Thus, for example, "10; 20; 30;" has the same meaning as "10; 20; 30" and specifies a list of three values. Note that a zero-length string is a valid value for IRIs, which means that to use such a value as the final value in a 'values' attribute an addition semicolon is required. For example, "/a.txt; ; /b.txt;" is a list of three IRI values (the second of which is a zero-length string, i.e. a reference to the current document), while "/a.txt; ; /b.txt; ;" is a list of four values (where the second and fourth are both zero-length strings).

Animatable: no.
keyTimes = "<list>"
A semicolon-separated list of time values used to control the pacing of the animation. Each time in the list corresponds to a value in the 'values' attribute list, and defines when the value is used in the animation function. Each time value in the 'keyTimes' list is specified as a floating point value between 0 and 1 (inclusive), representing a proportional offset into the simple duration of the animation element.  

If a list of 'keyTimes' is specified, there must be exactly as many values in the 'keyTimes' list as in the 'values' list. 

Each successive time value must be greater than or equal to the preceding time value. 

The 'keyTimes' list semantics depends upon the interpolation mode:

  • For linear and spline animation, the first time value in the list must be 0, and the last time value in the list must be 1. The 'keyTimes' value associated with each value defines when the value is set; values are interpolated between the 'keyTimes'.
  • For discrete animation, the first time value in the list must be 0. The time associated with each value defines when the value is set; the animation function uses that value until the next time defined in 'keyTimes'.
If the interpolation mode is paced, the 'keyTimes' attribute is ignored.

If the 'keyTimes' attribute has a value that doesn't conform to the above requirements the 'keyTimes' attribute has an unsupported value and is processed as if the attribute had not been specified.

If the simple duration is indefinite, any 'keyTimes' specification will be ignored.

Except for any SVG-specific rules explicitly mentioned in this specification, the normative definition for this attribute is the SMIL 2.1 specification. In particular, see SMIL 2.1: 'keyTimes' attribute.
Animatable: no.
keySplines = "<list>"
A set of Bézier control points associated with the 'keyTimes' list, defining a cubic Bézier function that controls interval pacing. The attribute value is a semicolon separated list of control point descriptions. Each control point description is a set of four values: x1 y1 x2 y2, describing the Bézier control points for one time segment. Note: SMIL allows these values to be separated either by commas with optional whitespace, or by whitespace alone. The 'keyTimes' values that define the associated segment are the Bézier "anchor points", and the 'keySplines' values are the control points. Thus, there must be one fewer sets of control points than there are 'keyTimes'

The values must all be in the range 0 to 1.

This attribute is ignored unless the 'calcMode' is set to spline.

If the 'keySplines' attribute has a value that doesn't conform to the above requirements the 'keySplines' attribute has an unsupported value and is processed as if the attribute had not been specified.

Except for any SVG-specific rules explicitly mentioned in this specification, the normative definition for this attribute is the SMIL 2.1 specification. In particular, see SMIL 2.1: 'keySplines' attribute.
Animatable: no.
from = "<value>"
Specifies the starting value of the animation.
Except for any SVG-specific rules explicitly mentioned in this specification, the normative definition for this attribute is the SMIL 2.1 specification. In particular, see SMIL 2.1: 'from' attribute.
Animatable: no.
to = "<value>"
Specifies the ending value of the animation.
Except for any SVG-specific rules explicitly mentioned in this specification, the normative definition for this attribute is the SMIL 2.1 specification. In particular, see SMIL Animation: 'to' attribute.
Animatable: no.
by = "<value>"
Specifies a relative offset value for the animation.
Except for any SVG-specific rules explicitly mentioned in this specification, the normative definition for this attribute is the SMIL 2.1 specification. In particular, see SMIL 2.1: 'by' attribute.
Animatable: no.

The SMIL 2.1 specification defines the detailed processing rules associated with the above attributes. Except for any SVG-specific rules explicitly mentioned in this specification, the SMIL 2.1 specification is the normative definition of the processing rules for the above attributes.

The animation values specified in the animation element must be legal values for the specified attribute. Leading and trailing white space, and white space before and after semicolon separators, will be ignored.

All values specified must be legal values for the specified attribute (as defined in the associated namespace). If any values are not legal, they are considered to be unsupported and is processed as if they had not been specified.

If a list of 'values' is used, the animation will apply the values in order over the course of the animation. If a list of 'values' is specified, any 'from', 'to' and 'by' attribute values are ignored.

The processing rules for the variants of 'from'/ 'to'/'by' animations are described in Animation function values.

If a 'by' value is used on a non-scalar data type ( such as color or transform ), the starting 0 delta value is to be conceptually considered as ‘identity’.

The following figure illustrates the interpretation of the 'keySplines' attribute. Each diagram illustrates the effect of 'keySplines' settings for a single interval (i.e. between the associated pairs of values in the 'keyTimes' and 'values' lists.). The horizontal axis can be thought of as the input value for the unit progress of interpolation within the interval - i.e. the pace with which interpolation proceeds along the given interval. The vertical axis is the resulting value for the unit progress, yielded by the 'keySplines' function. Another way of describing this is that the horizontal axis is the input unit time for the interval, and the vertical axis is the output unit time. See also the section Timing and real-world clock times.

Examples of 'keySplines'
  Example keySplines01 - keySplines of 0 0 1 1 (the default) keySplines="0 0 1 1" (the default)   Example keySplines01 - keySplines of .5 0 .5 1 keySplines=".5 0 .5 1"
 
  Example keySplines01 - keySplines of 0 .75 .25 1 keySplines="0 .75 .25 1"   Example keySplines01 - keySplines of 1 0 .25 .25 keySplines="1 0 .25 .25"

To illustrate the calculations, consider the simple example:

<animate dur="4s" values="10; 20" keyTimes="0; 1"
     calcMode="spline" keySplines={as in table} />

Using the 'keySplines' values for each of the four cases above, the approximate interpolated values as the animation proceeds are:

keySplines values  Initial value After 1s After 2s After 3s Final value
0 0 1 1 10.0 12.5 15.0 17.5 20.0
.5 0 .5 1 10.0 11.0 15.0 19.0 20.0
0 .75 .25 1 10.0 18.0 19.3 19.8 20.0
1 0 .25 .25 10.0 10.1 10.6 16.9 20.0

For a formal definition of Bézier spline calculation, see [FOLEY-VANDAM], pp. 488-491.

16.2.10 Attributes that control whether animations are additive

It is frequently useful to define animation as an offset or delta to an attribute's value, rather than as absolute values. A simple "grow" animation can increase the width of an object by 10 units:

<rect width="20" ...>
  <animate attributeName="width" from="0" to="10" dur="10s"
           additive="sum"/>
</rect>

It is frequently useful for repeated animations to build upon the previous results, accumulating with each iteration. The following example causes the rectangle to continue to grow with each repeat of the animation:

<rect width="20" ...>
  <animate attributeName="width" from="0" to="10" dur="10s"
           additive="sum" accumulate="sum" repeatCount="5"/>
</rect>

At the end of the first repetition, the rectangle has a width of 30 units. At the end of the second repetition, the rectangle has a width of 40 units. At the end of the fifth repetition, the rectangle has a width of 70 units.

For more information about additive animations, see SMIL 2.1: Additive animation. For more information on cumulative animations, see SMIL 2.1: Controlling behavior of repeating animation - Cumulative animation.

The following attributes are common to elements 'animate', 'animateMotion', 'animateColor' and 'animateTransform'.

Schema: animateaddition
    <define name='svg.AnimateAdditionCommon.attr'>
      <optional>
        <attribute name='additive' svg:animatable='false' svg:inheritable='false'>
          <choice>
            <value>replace</value>
            <value>sum</value>
          </choice>
        </attribute>
      </optional>
      <optional>
        <attribute name='accumulate' svg:animatable='false' svg:inheritable='false'>
          <choice>
            <value>none</value>
            <value>sum</value>
          </choice>
        </attribute>
      </optional>
    </define>

Attribute definitions:

additive = "replace" | "sum"
Controls whether or not the animation is additive. 
sum
Specifies that the animation will add to the underlying value of the attribute and other lower priority animations.
replace
Specifies that the animation will override the underlying value of the attribute and other lower priority animations. This is the default, however the behavior is also affected by the animation value attributes 'by' and 'to', as described in SMIL 2.1: Simple animation functions specified by from, to and by.

Except for any SVG-specific rules explicitly mentioned in this specification, the normative definition for this attribute is the SMIL 2.1 specification. In particular, see SMIL 2.1: 'additive' attribute.
Animatable: no.
accumulate = "none" | "sum"
Controls whether or not the animation is cumulative. 
sum
Specifies that each repeat iteration after the first builds upon the last value of the previous iteration.
none
Specifies that repeat iterations are not cumulative. This is the default.

This attribute is ignored if the target attribute value does not support addition, or if the animation element does not repeat.

This attribute will be ignored if the animation function is specified with only the 'to' attribute.

Except for any SVG-specific rules explicitly mentioned in this specification, the normative definition for this attribute is the SMIL 2.1 specification. In particular, see SMIL 2.1: 'accumulate' attribute.
Animatable: no.

16.2.11 Inheritance

SVG allows both attributes and properties to be animated. If a given attribute or property is inheritable by descendants, then animations on a parent element such as a 'g' element has the effect of propagating the attribute or property animation values to descendant elements as the animation proceeds; thus, descendant elements can inherit animated attributes and properties from their ancestors.

16.2.12 The 'animate' element

The 'animate' element is used to animate a single attribute or property over time. For example, to make a rectangle repeatedly fade away over 5 seconds, you can specify:

<rect>
  <animate attributeType="CSS" attributeName="fill-opacity"
         from="1" to="0" dur="5s" repeatCount="indefinite" />
</rect>

Except for any SVG-specific rules explicitly mentioned in this specification, the normative definition for this element is the SMIL 2.1 specification. In particular, see SMIL 2.1: 'animate' element.

Schema: animate
    <define name='animate'>
      <element name='animate'>
        <ref name='animate.AT'/>
        <zeroOrMore><ref name='animateCommon.CM'/></zeroOrMore>
      </element>
    </define>

    <define name='animate.AT' combine='interleave'>
      <ref name='svg.Core.attr'/>
      <ref name='svg.AnimateCommon.attr'/>
      <ref name='svg.AnimateAttributeCommon.attr'/>
      <ref name='svg.AnimateTiming.attr'/>
      <ref name='svg.AnimateValueCommon.attr'/>
      <ref name='svg.AnimateAdditionCommon.attr'/>
    </define>

For a list of attributes and properties that can be animated using the 'animate' element, see Attributes and properties that can be animated.

In the case where an 'animate' element is animating a color value, the same calculation method as the 'animateColor' element is used. That is, 'animate' and 'animateColor' have identical behavior when animating colors.

16.2.13 The 'set' element

The 'set' element provides a simple means of just setting the value of an attribute for a specified duration. It supports most attribute types, including those that cannot reasonably be interpolated, such as string and boolean values. The 'set' element is non-additive. The 'additive' and 'accumulate' attributes are not allowed, and will be ignored if specified.

Except for any SVG-specific rules explicitly mentioned in this specification, the normative definition for this element is the SMIL 2.1 specification. In particular, see SMIL 2.1: 'set' element.

Schema: set
    <define name='set'>
      <element name='set'>
        <ref name='set.AT'/>
        <zeroOrMore><ref name='animateCommon.CM'/></zeroOrMore>
      </element>
    </define>

    <define name='set.AT' combine='interleave'>
      <ref name='svg.Core.attr'/>
      <ref name='svg.AnimateCommon.attr'/>
      <ref name='svg.AnimateAttributeCommon.attr'/>
      <ref name='svg.AnimateTiming.attr'/>
      <ref name='svg.AnimateToCommon.attr'/>
    </define>

Attribute definitions:

to = "<value>"
Specifies the value for the attribute during the duration of the 'set' element. The argument value must match the attribute type.
Animatable: no.

For a list of attributes and properties that can be animated using the 'set' element, see Attributes and properties that can be animated.


16.2.14 The 'animateMotion' element

The 'animateMotion' element causes a referenced element to move along a motion path.

Any element that can take a transform attribute may have animateMotion applied to it. See the transform attribute for a list of these elements.

Except for any SVG-specific rules explicitly mentioned in this specification, the normative definition for this element is the SMIL 2.1 specification. In particular, see SMIL 2.1: 'animateMotion' element.

Schema: animateMotion
    <define name='animateMotion'>
      <element name='animateMotion'>
        <ref name='animateMotion.AT'/>
        <zeroOrMore>
          <ref name='animateCommon.CM'/>
        </zeroOrMore>
        <optional>
          <ref name='mpath'/>
        </optional>
        <zeroOrMore>
          <ref name='animateCommon.CM'/>
        </zeroOrMore>
      </element>
    </define>

    <define name='animateMotion.AT' combine='interleave'>
      <ref name='svg.Core.attr'/>
      <ref name='svg.AnimateCommon.attr'/>
      <ref name='svg.AnimateTiming.attr'/>
      <ref name='svg.AnimateAdditionCommon.attr'/>
      <ref name='svg.AnimateValueCommon.attr'/>
      <optional><attribute name='path' svg:animatable='false' svg:inheritable='false'><text/></attribute></optional>
      <optional><attribute name='keyPoints' svg:animatable='false' svg:inheritable='false'><text/></attribute></optional>
      <optional><attribute name='rotate' svg:animatable='false' svg:inheritable='false'><text/></attribute></optional>
      <optional><attribute name='origin' svg:animatable='false' svg:inheritable='false'><text/></attribute></optional>
    </define>

Attribute definitions:

calcMode = "discrete" | "linear" | "paced" | "spline"
Specifies the interpolation mode for the animation. Refer to general description of the 'calcMode' attribute above. The only difference is that the lacuna value for the 'calcMode' for 'animateMotion' is paced. See SMIL 2.1: 'calcMode' attribute for 'animateMotion'.
Animatable: no.
path = <path-data>
The motion path, expressed in the same format and interpreted the same way as the 'd' attribute on the 'path' element. The effect of a motion path animation is to add a supplemental transformation matrix onto the CTM for the referenced object which causes a translation along the x- and y-axes of the current user coordinate system by the computed X and Y values computed over time.
Animatable: no.
keyPoints = "<list-of numbers>"
Takes a semicolon-separated list of floating point values between 0 and 1 and indicates how far along the motion path the object shall move at the moment in time specified by corresponding 'keyTimes' value. Distance calculations use the user agent's distance along the path algorithm. Each progress value in the list corresponds to a value in the 'keyTimes' attribute list.
If a list of 'keyPoints' is specified, there must be exactly as many values in the 'keyPoints' list as in the 'keyTimes' list. 
If the 'keyPoints' attribute has a value that doesn't conform to the above requirements the 'keyPoints' attribute has an unsupported value and is processed as if the attribute had not been specified
Animatable: no.
rotate = "<angle>" | "auto" | "auto-reverse"
auto
Indicates that the object is rotated over time by the angle of the direction (i.e., directional tangent vector) of the motion path.
auto-reverse
Indicates that the object is rotated over time by the angle of the direction (i.e., directional tangent vector) of the motion path plus 180 degrees.
<angle>
Represents an angle relative to the x-axis of current user coordinate system.
The 'rotate' attribute adds a supplemental transformation matrix onto the CTM to apply a rotation transformation about the origin of the current user coordinate system. The rotation transformation is applied after the supplemental translation transformation that is computed due to the 'path' attribute. The lacuna value is 0.
Animatable: no.
origin = "default"
See definition in SMIL 2.1: 'origin'. It has no effect in SVG.
Animatable: no.

For 'animateMotion', the specified values for 'from', 'by', 'to' and 'values' consists of x, y coordinate pairs, with a single comma and/or white space separating the x coordinate from the y coordinate. For example, from="33,15" specifies an x coordinate value of 33 and a y coordinate value of 15.

If provided, the 'values' attribute must consists of a list of x, y coordinate pairs. Coordinate values are separated by at least one white space character or a comma. Additional white space around the separator is allowed. For example, values="10,20;30,20;30,40" or values="10mm,20mm;30mm,20mm;30mm,40mm". Each coordinate represents a <length>. Attributes 'from', 'by', 'to' and 'values' specify a shape on the current canvas which represents the motion path.

Two options are available which allow definition of a motion path using any of SVG's path data commands:

Note that SVG's path data commands can only contain values in user space, whereas 'from', 'by', 'to' and 'values' can specify coordinates in user space or using unit identifiers. See Units.

Note that any styling on the 'animateMotion' or 'mpath' elements does not affect the defined path. For example specifying a dashed stroke won't cause the animation to jump from dash to dash.

The various (x,y) points of the shape provide a supplemental transformation matrix onto the CTM for the referenced object which causes a translation along the x- and y-axes of the current user coordinate system by the (x,y) values of the shape computed over time. Thus, the referenced object is translated over time by the offset of the motion path relative to the origin of the current user coordinate system. The supplemental transformation is applied on top of any transformations due to the target element's 'transform' attribute or any animations on that attribute due to 'animateTransform' elements on the target element.

The 'additive' and 'accumulate' attributes apply to 'animateMotion' elements. Multiple 'animateMotion' elements all simultaneously referencing the same target element can be additive with respect to each other; however, the transformations which result from the 'animateMotion' elements are always supplemental to any transformations due to the target element's 'transform' attribute or any 'animateTransform' elements.

The default calculation mode ('calcMode') for 'animateMotion' is paced. This will produce constant velocity motion along the specified path. Note that while 'animateMotion' elements can be additive, it is important to observe that the addition of two or more paced (constant velocity) animations might not result in a combined motion animation with constant velocity.

When a 'path' is combined with discrete, linear or spline 'calcMode' settings, and if attribute 'keyPoints' is not provided, the number of values is defined to be the number of points defined by the path, unless there are "move to" commands within the 'path'. A "move to" command within the 'path' (i.e. other than at the beginning of the 'path' description) does not count as an additional point when dividing up the duration, or when associating 'keyTimes', 'keySplines' and 'keyPoints' values. When a 'path' is combined with a paced 'calcMode' setting, all "move to" commands are considered to have 0 length (i.e. they always happen instantaneously), and is not considered in computing the pacing.

For more flexibility in controlling the velocity along the motion path, the 'keyPoints' attribute provides the ability to specify the progress along the motion path for each of the 'keyTimes' specified values. If specified, 'keyPoints' causes 'keyTimes' to apply to the values in 'keyPoints' rather than the points specified in the 'values' attribute array or the points on the 'path' attribute.

The override rules for 'animateMotion' are as follows. Regarding the definition of the motion path, the 'mpath' element overrides the the 'path' attribute, which overrides 'values', which overrides 'from'/'by'/'to'. Regarding determining the points which correspond to the 'keyTimes' attributes, the 'keyPoints' attribute overrides 'path' , which overrides 'values', which overrides 'from'/'by'/'to'.

At any time t within a motion path animation of duration dur, the computed coordinate (x,y) along the motion path is determined by finding the point (x,y) which is t/dur distance along the motion path using the user agent's distance along the path algorithm.

The following example demonstrates the supplemental transformation matrices that are computed during a motion path animation.

Example animMotion01 shows a triangle moving along a motion path.

Example: 19_02.svg
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<svg width="5cm" height="3cm"  viewBox="0 0 500 300"
     xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.2" baseProfile="tiny"
     xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" >
  <desc>Example animMotion01 - demonstrate motion animation computations</desc>
  <rect x="1" y="1" width="498" height="298"
        fill="none" stroke="blue" stroke-width="2" />
  <!-- Draw the outline of the motion path in blue, along
          with three small circles at the start, middle and end. -->
  <path xml:id="path1" d="M100,250 C 100,50 400,50 400,250"
        fill="none" stroke="blue" stroke-width="7.06"  />
  <circle cx="100" cy="250" r="17.64" fill="blue"  />
  <circle cx="250" cy="100" r="17.64" fill="blue"  />
  <circle cx="400" cy="250" r="17.64" fill="blue"  />
  <!-- Here is a triangle which will be moved about the motion path.
       It is defined with an upright orientation with the base of
       the triangle centered horizontally just above the origin. -->
  <path d="M-25,-12.5 L25,-12.5 L 0,-87.5 z"
        fill="yellow" stroke="red" stroke-width="7.06"  >
    <!-- Define the motion path animation -->
    <animateMotion dur="6s" repeatCount="indefinite" rotate="auto" >
       <mpath xlink:href="#path1"/>
    </animateMotion>
  </path>
</svg>
Rendering of 19_02.svg
Example 19_02 - at zero seconds At zero seconds   Example 19_02 - at three seconds At three seconds   Example 19_02 - at six seconds At six seconds

The following table shows the supplemental transformation matrices that are applied to achieve the effect of the motion path animation.

  After 0s After 3s After 6s
Supplemental transform
due to movement
along motion path
translate(100,250) translate(250,100) translate(400,250)
Supplemental transform
due to
rotate="auto"
rotate(-90) rotate(0) rotate(90)


16.2.15 The 'mpath' element

The 'mpath' element is a sub element to the 'animateMotion' element (its only place in the document tree is as a child of an 'animateMotion'). 'mpath' reference an external 'path' element that will serve as the definition of the motion path.
Example:

Example: mpath01.svg
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<svg version="1.2" baseProfile="tiny" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" 
        xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"  
        width="100%" height="100%" viewBox="0 0 80 60">
        <desc>mpath example</desc>
        <path xml:id="mpathRef" d="M15,43 C15,43 36,20 65,33" fill="none" stroke="black" stroke-width="1"/>
        <animateMotion begin="0s" dur="6s" calcMode="linear" fill="freeze">
                <mpath xlink:href="#mpathRef"/>
        </animateMotion>        
</svg>
Schema: mpath
    <define name='mpath'>
      <element name='mpath'>
        <ref name='mpath.AT'/>
        <zeroOrMore><ref name='svg.Desc.group'/></zeroOrMore>
      </element>
    </define>

    <define name='mpath.AT' combine='interleave'>
      <ref name='svg.Core.attr'/>
      <ref name='svg.XLinkRequired.attr'/>
    </define>

Attribute definitions:

xlink:href = "<IRI>"
An IRI reference to the 'path' element which defines the motion path. An invalid IRI reference is an unsupported value. The lacuna value is the empty string. An empty attribute value results in the animation timing still running but no motion animation will be applied to the target element.
Animatable: no.

16.2.16 The 'animateColor' element

The 'animateColor' element specifies a color transformation over time.

Except for any SVG-specific rules explicitly mentioned in this specification, the normative definition for this element is the SMIL 2.1 specification. In particular, see SMIL 2.1: 'animateColor' element.

Schema: animateColor
    <define name='animateColor'>
      <element name='animateColor'>
        <ref name='animateColor.AT'/>
        <zeroOrMore><ref name='animateCommon.CM'/></zeroOrMore>
      </element>
    </define>

    <define name='animateColor.AT' combine='interleave'>
      <ref name='svg.Core.attr'/>
      <ref name='svg.AnimateCommon.attr'/>
      <ref name='svg.AnimateAttributeCommon.attr'/>
      <ref name='svg.AnimateTiming.attr'/>
      <ref name='svg.AnimateValueCommon.attr'/>
      <ref name='svg.AnimateAdditionCommon.attr'/>
    </define>

The 'from', 'by' and 'to' attributes take color values, where each color value is expressed using the following syntax (the same syntax as used in SVG's properties that can take color values):

<color> |  currentColor | none | inherit

In the case of 'currentColor' and 'inherit', if these evaluate to a color then all animation modes may be used. Otherwise, and in the case where 'none' is specified, only discrete animation may be used.

The 'values' attribute for the 'animateColor' element consists of a semicolon-separated list of color values, with each color value expressed in the above syntax.

Out of range color values can be provided, but user agent processing will be implementation dependent. User agents should clamp color values to allow color range values as late as possible, but note that system differences might preclude consistent behavior across different systems.

For a list of attributes and properties that can be animated using the 'animateColor' element, see Attributes and properties that can be animated.


16.2.17 The 'animateTransform' element

The 'animateTransform' element animates a transformation attribute on a target element, thereby allowing animations to control translation, scaling, rotation and/or skewing.

Schema: animateTransform
    <define name='animateTransform'>
      <element name='animateTransform'>
        <ref name='animateTransform.AT'/>
        <zeroOrMore><ref name='animateCommon.CM'/></zeroOrMore>
      </element>
    </define>

    <define name='animateTransform.AT' combine='interleave'>
      <ref name='svg.Core.attr'/>
      <ref name='svg.AnimateCommon.attr'/>
      <ref name='svg.AnimateAttributeCommon.attr'/>
      <ref name='svg.AnimateTiming.attr'/>
      <ref name='svg.AnimateValueCommon.attr'/>
      <ref name='svg.AnimateAdditionCommon.attr'/>
      <ref name='svg.AnimateTypeCommon.attr'/>
    </define>

Attribute definitions:

type = "translate" | "scale" | "rotate" | "skewX" | "skewY"
Indicates the type of transformation which is to have its values change over time. If 'type' has an unsupported value (e.g. type="foo" or type="ref(svg)") the 'animateTransform' element is ignored.
Animatable: no.

The 'from', 'by' and 'to' attributes take a value expressed using the same syntax that is available for the given transformation type:

(See The 'transform' attribute.)

The 'values' attribute for the 'animateTransform' element consists of a semicolon-separated list of values, where each individual value is expressed as described above for 'from', 'by' and 'to'.

The underlying value of transform animations (see SMIL discussion of animation function values) is the corresponding identity transformation value. Thus, the underlying value for

Note that this results in counter-intuitive results for a to animation. Since the underlying value is identity, and the 'additive' attribute is ignored on to animations according to SMIL, such animations will behave like a non-additive from-to animation where the "from" value is identity.

If 'calcMode' has the value paced, then the "distance" for the transformation is calculated consisting of the sum of the absolute values of the differences between each pair of values as further described in Paced animations and complex types.

When an animation is active, the effect of non-additive 'animateTransform' (i.e. additive="replace") is to replace the given attribute's value with the transformation defined by the 'animateTransform'. The effect of additive (i.e. additive="sum") is to post-multiply the transformation matrix corresponding to the transformation defined by this 'animateTransform'. To illustrate:

<rect transform="skewX(30)"...>
  <animateTransform attributeName="transform" attributeType="XML"
                    type="rotate" from="0" to="90" dur="5s"
                    additive="replace" fill="freeze"/>
  <animateTransform attributeName="transform" attributeType="XML"
                    type="scale" from="1" to="2" dur="5s"
                    additive="replace" fill="freeze"/>
</rect>

In the code snippet above, because the both animations have additive="replace", the first animation overrides the transformation on the rectangle itself and the second animation overrides the transformation from the first animation; therefore, at time 5 seconds, the visual result of the above two animations would be equivalent to the following static rectangle:

<rect transform="scale(2)" ... />

whereas in the following example:

<rect transform="skewX(30)"...>
  <animateTransform attributeName="transform" attributeType="XML"
                    type="rotate" from="0" to="90" dur="5s"
                    additive="sum" fill="freeze"/>
  <animateTransform attributeName="transform" attributeType="XML"
                    type="scale" from="1" to="2" dur="5s"
                    additive="sum" fill="freeze"/>
</rect>

In this code snippet, because both animations have additive="sum", the first animation post-multiplies its transformation to any transformations on the rectangle itself and the second animation post-multiplies its transformation to any transformation from the first animation; therefore, at time 5 seconds, the visual result of the above two animations would be equivalent to the following static rectangle:

<rect transform="skewX(30) rotate(90) scale(2)" ... />

For a list of attributes and properties that can be animated using the 'animateTransform' element, see Attributes and properties that can be animated.


16.2.18 Attributes and properties that can be animated

Each attribute or property within this specification indicates whether or not it can be animated by SVG's animation elements. Animatable attributes and properties are designated as follows:

     Animatable: yes.

whereas attributes and properties that cannot be animated are designated:

     Animatable: no.

SVG has a defined set of basic data types for its various supported attributes and properties. For those attributes and properties that can be animated, the following table indicates which animation elements can be used to animate each of the basic data types.

If the computed value of a given attribute or property and the values specified in an animation can all be converted to numeric values, then additive animations are possible; however, if the animation or base value uses one or more keyword values which cannot be converted to a numeric value, additive animation is not possible.

In the example below, the fill has a base value of "currentColor" and is animated from "red" to "#DDF". The value of the color property is yellow.

<rect color="yellow" fill="currentColor">
    <animateColor attributeName="fill" from="red" to="#DDF" 
       begin="1s" dur="5s" fill="freeze"/>
</rect>
    

The animation can be additive, because the computed value of the fill is yellow, which can be converted to an RGB color which is a triple of numeric values (255, 255, 0); the keyword "red" can likewise be converted to an RGB color which is a triple of numeric values (255, 0, 0) as can the value "#DDF" which corresponds to(221, 221, 255). Had any of these values been keywords which could not be converted to a numeric representation - for example "none" or "url(#foo)" - then the animation could not have been additive.

Note: all animations that are additive are also cumulative.

Data type Additive? 'animate' 'set' 'animate
Color'
'animate
Transform'
Notes
<color> yes yes yes yes no Only additive if each value can be converted an RGB color.
<coordinate> yes yes yes no no  
<integer> yes yes yes no no  
<length> yes yes yes no no  
<list-of-T>s no yes yes no no  
<number> yes yes yes no no  
<paint> yes yes yes yes no Only additive if each value can be converted an RGB color.
<transform> yes no no no yes Additive means that a transformation is post-multiplied to the base set of transformations.
<IRI> no yes yes no no  
All other data types used in animatable attributes and properties no yes yes no no  

Any deviation from the above table or other special note about the animation capabilities of a particular attribute or property is included in the section of the specification where the given attribute or property is defined.

16.3 Animation using the SVG DOM

Example dom_animate shows a simple animation using the DOM.

Example: dom_animate.svg
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<svg width="4cm" height="2cm" viewBox="0 0 400 200" xml:id="root"
     xmlns:ev="http://www.w3.org/2001/xml-events"   
     xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.2" baseProfile="tiny">
  <desc>A simple animation using the uDOM and the Timer interface of the uDOM.</desc>
  <script type="application/ecmascript"><![CDATA[
    var timeValue = 0;
    var timerIncrement = 50;
    var maxTime = 5000;
    var textElement;
    var svgRoot;
    var mytimer;
    
    // We need a "class" that "implements" the EventListener interface
    // (i.e. have an handleEvent method)
    SomeListenerClass.prototype = new Object();
    function SomeListenerClass() {}
    SomeListenerClass.prototype.handleEvent = function(evt) {
  	  if (evt.target == mytimer) {
        showAndGrowElement();
	  }
    }

    function init() {
      textElement = document.getElementById("svgtext");
      svgRoot = document.getElementById("root");

      launchTimer();
    }

       function launchTimer() {
         // Fire timer event as soon as possible, initialInterval = 0
         // Timer event must be sent every 50 ms, repeatInterval = 50
         someTimer = createTimer(0 , 50);
	    
         // Instantiate the listener object
         var someListenerObject = new SomeListenerClass();
        
         // Add a listener for the "SVGTimer" event
         someTimer.addEventListener("SVGTimer", someListenerObject, false);
        
         // Start the timer. Which will fire the first event immediately as initialInterval is 0.
         someTimer.start();
       }

    function showAndGrowElement() {
      timeValue += timerIncrement;
      
      // Scale the text string gradually until it is 20 times larger
      scalefactor = (timeValue * 20.) / maxTime;
      var matrix = svgRoot.createSVGMatrixComponents(scalefactor, 0, 0, scalefactor, 0, 0);
      textElement.setMatrixTrait("transform", matrix);
      
      // Make the string more opaque
      var opacityFactor = timeValue / maxTime;
      textElement.setFloatTrait("fill-opacity", opacityFactor);
      
      if (timeValue >= maxTime)
      	someTimer.stop();
    }
  ]]></script>
  
  <handler type="application/ecmascript" ev:event="load">
        init();
  </handler>
  
  <rect x="1" y="1" width="398" height="198" fill="none" stroke="blue" stroke-width="2"/>
  <g transform="translate(50,150)" font-size="7" stroke="none">
    <text fill="red" fill-opacity="0" xml:id="svgtext">SVG</text>
  </g>
  
</svg>

Example dom_animate - at zero seconds At zero seconds   Example dom_animate - at three seconds At 2.5 seconds   Example dom_animate - at six seconds At five seconds

The above SVG file contains a 'text' element that says "SVG". The animation loops for 5 seconds. The text string starts out small and transparent and grows to be large and opaque. Here is an explanation of how this example works:

If an attribute/property value is modified while an animation element is animating the same attribute/property, the animations are required to adjust dynamically to the new value.

16.4 Animation and the bounding box

The effects of animation may affect the bounding box of animated elements. For details on this, see the definition for the bounding box.