Using dot-lottie player programatically,

[martinstender]

In the documentation, it says that the Lottie-player can be set and loaded programmatically. For better (or maybe worse), we still use requirejs, and using the 'bodymovin' player, this works just fine:

require(['https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/bodymovin/5.9.6/lottie.min.js'], (bodymovin) => {
        const player = bodymovin.loadAnimation({
        container: document.getElementById('abc123'),
        autoplay: false,
        renderer: 'svg',
        loop: false,
        animationData: 'some-json-here'});
});

I'm trying to do something similar with the dotlottie-player - something like this:

require(['https://unpkg.com/@dotlottie/[email protected]/dist/dotlottie-player.js'], (player) => {
            console.log('player is available - here:', player); <-- I see the player in the console ({PlayerState: {…}, PlayMode: {…} etc)
            player = document.querySelector('dotlottie-player-element'); <-- this exists
            player.load('url-to-dot-lottie-file.lottie');
            player.play();
});

But it doesn't seem to work. What am I missing? And is there more documentation available somewhere for programmatic use?

TIA :)
Martin

[martinstender]

Anyone?

For layout reasons, I need to change the inner svg's 'preserveAspectRatio'-attribute to 'xMidYMid slice'.

So in order to know when the dotlottie-player is ready, I now have to use a mutationobserver on the <dotlottie-player> node, looking for attribute changes. Then start a short interval, that continuously check if that node contains the '_lottie' object, and if that objects 'isLoaded' property is 'true'.
First then, I can get to the svg-element.
Isn't there a better way?

[zsmithjc]

@martinstender

I am using a Vue 2.6 app and attempting to grab the dotlottie-player element on component load also does not work for me - it returns the HTML element, but none of the methods or events that the documentation says.

I am seeing the same thing as what you said - I have to load the lottie animation first (using the src prop) before I can grab the lottie object from the element - which essentially makes the entire "programmatic loading" feature worthless.

Quick mockup:

AnimationComponent.vue

<template>
  <dotlottie-player
    v-if="renderAnimationElement"
    ref="lottieAnimationElement"
    :src="animationURL"
  </dotlottie-player>
</template>

<script>
export default {
  data: () => ({
    animationURL: '',
    renderAnimationElement: false,
  }),

  mounted() {
    this.handleLottieAnimationLoad();
  },

  methods: {
    handleLottieAnimationLoad() {
      const lottieFileURL = "https://my-animations.com/lottiefile.lottie";

      this.animationURL = lottieFileURL;
      this.renderAnimationElement = true;

      await this.$nextTick();
      const lottieElement = this.$refs.lottieAnimationElement;

      // at this point you need to "wait" for the lottie data to be populated
      await this.waitForLottieAnimationLoaded();

      // now, you should be able to hook in to the methods and events
      // initially advertised
    },

    async waitForLottieAnimationLoaded() {
      return new Promise(resolve => {
        // in here, create an `setInterval` that attempts to grab the lottie instance
        // using `lottieElement.getLottie()` and then the `isLoaded` field off of that.

        // Inspect the object returned from `lottieElement.getLottie()` for more info
        // Once you get `true` for `lottieElement.getLottie()`, you can resolve the promise
        // and clear the `setInterval`

        resolve();
      });
    }
  }
};
</script>

Honestly, the documentation for this lottie module and many others is poor. It's barebones at best and leaves out crucial implementation details and "gotchas" like this one.

You also can't supply a dummy URL to src in order to initialize lottie either - it needs to be a working lottie file URL.

[samuelOsborne]

hey @zsmithjc sorry for the frustration. I'll look in to bettering this.

But within your example, I think you can replace 'waitForLottieAnimationLoaded' with an event listener:

lottieElement.addEventListener('ready', () => {
 lottieElement.getLottie()
});

This is how I do it with React:

https://codesandbox.io/s/lotties-always-loop-false-forked-p70hnz?file=/src/App.tsx

[martinstender]

Thank you, @samuelOsborne - that helped me a lot as well :)

Maybe you could point me in the right direction with another small issue I have:

With the bodymovin-player, I can do something like this:

const player = bodymovin.loadAnimation({
container: container,
autoplay: true,
renderer: 'svg',
loop: true,
rendererSettings: {
preserveAspectRatio: 'xMidYMid slice'
},
path:'https://path-to-json.json'
});

Is it possible to reach the 'rendererSettings' object with dot-lottie player in the same manner?
Right now I wait for the 'ready' event to fire, and then I go:
lottieElement._lottie.wrapper.querySelector('svg').setAttribute('preserveAspectRatio','xMidYMid slice');

It would be nice to be able to set it up correctly before it is created in the page.

Best regards

[samuelOsborne]

hey @martinstender yes if you use the load method, you can pass an object that will be passed to the renderSettings:

For example:

      let firstPlayer = document.getElementById('one');

      firstPlayer.load('https://lottie.host/cba131d3-3e01-43be-b71c-2de700a12642/c5CK9Co8WD.json', {
        filterSize: {
          width: '200%',
          height: '200%',
          x: '-30%',
          y: '-30%',
        },
      });

[martinstender]

Thank you, @samuelOsborne - can I set autoplay, loop etc. the same way?

[zsmithjc]

@samuelOsborne so, trying out your suggestion to replace the setInterval with an event listener on the element:

async handleLottieAnimationLoad() {
  ...

  await this.waitForLottieAnimationLoaded();
},

...

async waitForLottieAnimationLoaded() {
  return new Promise(resolve => {
    // errors below, citing TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'addEventListener')
    this.$refs.lottieAnimationElement.addEventListener('ready', () => {
      console.log('ready');
      resolve();
    });
},

Attempting to use this.$refs.lottieAnimationElement.getLottie().addEventLister also does not work, citing the same error but on getLottie(). Using @dotlottie/player-component v1.3.1.

Using the pre-existing interval is the only way I've seen to know when the element is loaded in - as the loading of the animation determines when methods like addEventListener are available. Maybe this is just a Vue thing.

[samuelOsborne]

@zsmithjc Your listener shouldn't be on getLottie() but the lottieAnimationElement. Could you try that out?

[zsmithjc]

@samuelOsborne yes, I tried that in the code snippet.

this.$refs.lottieAnimationElement.addEventListener('ready', () => { ...

I was just saying neither option works before the animation loads in, and only lottieAnimationElement after the animation has loaded in.

[theashraf]

Please have a look at the dotlottie react player -> https://www.npmjs.com/package/@dotlottie/react-player