WPF: Animating TranslateTransform from code

Question

I have a WPF canvas on which I\'m dynamically creating objects from code. These objects are being transformed by setting the RenderTransform property, and an animation needs to

Answer 1

Seems that after a bit of Googling I solved the problem myself. Many thanks to MSDN documentation and a post in MSDN forums by Antares19.

In summary:

• For a Freezable object (like TranslateTransform) to be targetable by an Storyboard, it must have a registered name. This can be done by calling FrameworkElement.RegisterName(..).

• I added the Storyboard object to the ResourceDictionary of the same Framework element to which I registered the TranslateTransform. This can be done by calling ResourceDictionary.Add(..)

Here's the updated code, which now animates nicely, and registers/deregisters the added resources:

using System;
using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Controls;
using System.Windows.Input;
using System.Windows.Media;
using System.Windows.Media.Animation;
using System.Windows.Shapes;

namespace AnimationCompletedTest {

    public partial class MainWindow : Window {

        Canvas panel;
        public MainWindow() {
            InitializeComponent();
            MouseDown += DoDynamicAnimation;

            Content = panel = new Canvas();
        }

        void DoDynamicAnimation(object sender, MouseButtonEventArgs args) {
            for (int i = 0; i < 12; ++i) {
                var e = new Ellipse { Width = 16, Height = 16, Fill = SystemColors.HighlightBrush };
                Canvas.SetLeft(e, Mouse.GetPosition(this).X);
                Canvas.SetTop(e, Mouse.GetPosition(this).Y);

                var tg = new TransformGroup();
                var translation = new TranslateTransform(30, 0);
                var translationName = "myTranslation" + translation.GetHashCode();
                RegisterName(translationName, translation);
                tg.Children.Add(translation);
                tg.Children.Add(new RotateTransform(i * 30));
                e.RenderTransform = tg;

                panel.Children.Add(e);

                var anim = new DoubleAnimation(3, 100, new Duration(new TimeSpan(0, 0, 0, 1, 0))) {
                    EasingFunction = new PowerEase { EasingMode = EasingMode.EaseOut }
                };

                var s = new Storyboard();
                Storyboard.SetTargetName(s, translationName);
                Storyboard.SetTargetProperty(s, new PropertyPath(TranslateTransform.YProperty));
                var storyboardName = "s" + s.GetHashCode();
                Resources.Add(storyboardName, s);

                s.Children.Add(anim);

                s.Completed +=
                    (sndr, evtArgs) => {
                        panel.Children.Remove(e);
                        Resources.Remove(storyboardName);
                        UnregisterName(translationName);
                    };
                s.Begin();
            }
        }

        [STAThread]
        public static void Main() {
            var app = new Application();
            app.Run(new MainWindow());
        }
    }
}