Optimizing Lottie Animations in Web Projects: Tips for Preloading Image Frames

When enhancing website interactivity with animations, smooth performance is key to delivering an engaging user experience. Recently, I encountered a common challenge while replacing a Lottie animation with CSS-based alternatives — specifically, the difficulty of preloading image frames to prevent initial loading flashes.

In a personal project, I’m reconstructing a site originally built with Webflow using pure HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. One feature involves a 3D rotation effect on energy drink cans triggered by hover. The original Lottie animation created a sleek, rotating effect, but the first hover causes all image frames to load simultaneously, resulting in flickering and layout shifts that detract from the experience.

To address this, I attempted to preload all animation frames via JavaScript, aiming to have them ready before user interaction. Unfortunately, these efforts didn’t fully resolve the issue. The challenge lies in ensuring all frames are loaded efficiently prior to animation playback so the interaction appears seamless.

If you’re facing a similar situation—trying to replicate Lottie animations without the performance hiccups—consider strategies such as:

• Preloading all image assets during page load.
• Using CSS sprites or image strips for smoother frame transitions.
• Leveraging JavaScript to cache images upfront with event listeners.
• Optimizing asset sizes to reduce load times.

Here’s a preview of the project for reference:
https://mitchangus.design/LiftOff

Achieving fluid, high-quality animations without flicker can be challenging, but with careful asset management and preloading techniques, you can significantly improve the user experience.

Have you encountered similar animation preload issues? Share your insights and solutions in the comments!