Lottie-web: Forcing `true` on `.playSegments` restricts future playing

[ZachSaucier]

If we do something like anim.playSegments([0, 10], true); and then later, after it finishes, try to do something like anim.play() to finish the animation, it does not play.

If we do anim.playSegments([0, 10], true); then later, after it finished, do anim.goToAndStop(0, true); then anim.play(), it only plays until the 10th frame, set by the .playSegments.

The only way to play the rest of the animation as it stands is to use anim.playSegments([10, endFrameNum], true);, essentially overriding the previous (though it is done playing already), which is a pain.

Can .playSegments be improved to where the animation can be finished using .play() after it? And also not restrict playback if an earlier frame is navigated to then played from?

[bodymovin]

playSegments works as if you were changing the "Work Area" in your composition in AE. So if you're looping or changing the speed / direction or controlling playback it will set the limits.
If you need to reset the segment to the original value, you should use resetSegments or as you suggest, set a new segment to play.

[ZachSaucier]

I wasn't aware resetSegments existed! Haha. Maybe that should be in the "Usage" section

[ZachSaucier]

But in any case, from a JS animator perspective I expect it to work as I commented above. Maybe both functionalities could be had, changing the name of one?

[bodymovin]

I think this should be handled with events and play - pause actions, otherwise it might get confusing having two similar behaviors that don't work well together.
I'll have a look into it.

[ZachSaucier]

To be more clear, my idea is to have:

• A playSegments([start, end], true) which jumps to the starting frame, plays until the end and allows more playing to occur afterwards if later commanded (without resetting)
• A setAnimationArea([start, end], true) (or something named similarly) which restricts playback to those frames (likely changing the current play time to the beginning of that section for convenience but leaving it paused)

[bodymovin]

done in the latest release
setSegment(init,end)