Animation controllers provide interactive control over animations. They are created when a new animation is started using one of the StartAnimation-methods of the IAnimationService. Animation controllers can also be created explicitly by calling one of the CreateController-methods. Using the animation controller the user can:

• Start the animation by calling Start, if the animation is not already running.
• Pause the animation by calling Pause. (The animation will hold its current animation value, but won't advance.)
• Continue a previously paused animation by calling Resume.
• Stop an animation by calling Stop.
• Query the state of the animation using the property State.
• Query the current time of the animation by reading the property Time.
• Jump to a certain point in time by setting the property Time.
• Etc.

Animation State and Timing: The property State returns the current state of the animation. The animation can be Delayed, Playing, Filling or Stopped. But the state does not indicate whether the animation timing is active. The property IsPaused indicates whether the animation timing is active or paused.

Memory Management: The following information is relevant for users who want to reduce garbage collector (GC) overhead, in particular on the Xbox 360.

The type AnimationController is a value type (struct). It is a lightweight handle that stores a reference to the IAnimationService and the AnimationInstance.

Objects of type AnimationInstance are automatically created when a new animation controller is created. The animation instances maintain the runtime-state of the animations. Animation instances can be recycled when they are no longer used. They can then be reused by the animation system for future animations.

It is recommended to recycle animation instances in order to reduce the number of memory allocations at runtime. Animation instances can be recycled explicitly by calling Recycle. Or, they can be recycled automatically by calling AutoRecycle or setting the property AutoRecycleEnabled to . If AutoRecycleEnabled is set, then the animation system will automatically recycle the animation instances once the animation has stopped. The property AutoRecycleEnabled is by default.

The method Recycle can be called at any time, regardless of whether AutoRecycleEnabled is set. The property AutoRecycleEnabled can also be changed at any time - it will only take effect when the animation stops.

Once the animation instance has been recycled the struct AnimationController becomes invalid. The property IsValid indicates whether the animation instance is still alive or has already been recycled.

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