Animated WebP, WebM, APNG support

[fwn0]

Please add animated WebP, WebM, APNG support to be able to display "animated album covers" (like live wallpapers) - (morphing, lighting, blending, etc. effects).

Would be great, thanks !

[TheQwertiest]

Not possible due to the script-driven nature of SMP rendering.

For animations to work, the corresponding animated image needs to be repainted after each animation frame. In SMP all the drawing is handled by user script and backend has no idea what is actually rendered. Rendering process looks like this:

• Backend generates render surface.
• Backend sends surface to script.
• Script renders all the stuff it wants on the provided surface.
• Backend finalizes the render.

So, at best it will be only possible to retrieve some frame delay data from corresponding image in the script, and user will have to repaint each frame manually, but even then it will be almost impossible to make animation speed accurate.

Browsers employ a different method of rendering: there is HTML layout that describes all the elements that are present on the screen, so browser is aware of all elements. Thus rendering process works very differently:

• Backend parses layout.
• Backend renders everything (and repaints all the elements that require it).