iOS CAKeyFrameAnimation Scaling Flickers at animation end

Question

In another test of Key Frame animation I am combining moving a UIImageView (called theImage) along a bezier path and scaling larger it as it moves, resulting in a 2x larger image at the end of the path. My initial code to do this has these elements in it to kick off the animation:

UIImageView* theImage = ....
float scaleFactor = 2.0;
....

theImage.center = destination;
theImage.transform = CGAffineTransformMakeScale(1.0,1.0);

CABasicAnimation *resizeAnimation = [CABasicAnimation animationWithKeyPath:@"bounds.size"];
[resizeAnimation setToValue:[NSValue valueWithCGSize:CGSizeMake(theImage.image.size.height*scaleFactor, theImage.image.size.width*scaleFactor)]];
resizeAnimation.fillMode = kCAFillModeBackwards;
resizeAnimation.removedOnCompletion = NO;  

CAKeyframeAnimation *pathAnimation = [CAKeyframeAnimation animationWithKeyPath:@"position"];
pathAnimation.path = [jdPath path].CGPath;
pathAnimation.fillMode = kCAFillModeBackwards;
pathAnimation.removedOnCompletion = NO;

CAAnimationGroup* group = [CAAnimationGroup animation];
group.animations = [NSArray arrayWithObjects:pathAnimation, resizeAnimation, nil];
group.timingFunction = [CAMediaTimingFunction functionWithName:kCAMediaTimingFunctionEaseInEaseOut];
group.removedOnCompletion = NO;
group.duration = duration;
group.delegate = self;

[theImage.layer addAnimation:group forKey:@"animateImage"];

Then, when the animation completes I want to retain the image at the larger size, so I implement:

- (void)animationDidStop:(CAAnimation *)theAnimation finished:(BOOL)flag
{
   theImage.transform = CGAffineTransformMakeScale(scaleFactor,scaleFactor);
}

This all works .. sort of. The problem is that at the end of the animation theImage flickers for a brief moment - just enough to make it look bad. I am guessing that this is the transition at the end of the animation where I set the transform to the new size.

In experimenting with this I tried a slightly different form of the above, but still got the same flicker:

CAKeyframeAnimation *resizeAnimation = [CAKeyframeAnimation animationWithKeyPath:@"transform"];
NSValue* startSizeKey = [NSValue valueWithCATransform3D:CATransform3DScale (theImage.layer.transform, 1.0, 1.0, 1.0)];
NSValue* endSizeKey = [NSValue valueWithCATransform3D:CATransform3DScale (theImage.layer.transform, scaleFactor, scaleFactor, 1.0)]; 
NSArray* sizeKeys = [NSArray arrayWithObjects:startSizeKey, endSizeKey, nil];
[resizeAnimation setValues:sizeKeys];

....

theImage.transform = CGAffineTransformMakeScale(scaleFactor,scaleFactor);

But when I ended the animation at the same size as the original, there was NO flicker:

CAKeyframeAnimation *resizeAnimation = [CAKeyframeAnimation animationWithKeyPath:@"transform"];
NSValue* startSizeKey = [NSValue valueWithCATransform3D:CATransform3DScale (theImage.layer.transform, 1.0, 1.0, 1.0)];
NSValue* middleSizeKey = [NSValue valueWithCATransform3D:CATransform3DScale (theImage.layer.transform, scaleFactor, scaleFactor, 1.0)];
NSValue* endSizeKey = [NSValue valueWithCATransform3D:CATransform3DScale (theImage.layer.transform, 1.0, 1.0, 1.0)]; 
NSArray* sizeKeys = [NSArray arrayWithObjects:startSizeKey, middleSizeKey, endSizeKey, nil];
[resizeAnimation setValues:sizeKeys];

....

theImage.transform = CGAffineTransformMakeScale(1.0,1.0);

So my big question is how can I animate this image without the flicker, and end up with a different size at the end of the animation?

---

Edit March 2nd

My initial tests were with scaling the image up. I just tried scaling it down (IE scaleFactor = 0.4) and the flickering was a lot more visible, and a lot more obvious as to what I am seeing. This was the sequence of events:

1. Original sized image is painted on the screen at the starting location.
2. As the image moves along the path it shrinks smoothly.
3. The fully shrunk image arrives at the end of the path.
4. The image is then painted at its original size.
5. The image is finally painted at its shrunken size.

So it seems to be step 4 that is the flickering that I am seeing.

---

Edit March 22

I have just uploaded to GitHub a demo project that shows off the moving of an object along a bezier path. The code can be found at PathMove

I also wrote about it in my blog at Moving objects along a bezier path in iOS

Answer 1

It can be tricky to animate a view's layer using Core Animation. There are several things that make it confusing:

• Setting an animation on a layer doesn't change the layer's properties. Instead, it changes the properties of a “presentation layer” that replaces the original “model layer” on the screen as long as the animation is applied.

• Changing a layer's property normally adds an implicit animation to the layer, with the property name as the animation's key. So if you want to explicitly animate a property, you usually want to set the property to its final value, then add an animation whose key is the property name, to override the implicit animation.

• A view normally disables implicit animations on its layer. It also mucks around with its layer's properties in other somewhat mysterious ways.

Also, it's confusing that you animate the view's bounds to scale it up, but then switch to a scale transformation at the end.

I think the easiest way to do what you want is to use the UIView animation methods as much as possible, and only bring in Core Animation for the keyframe animation. You can add the keyframe animation to the view's layer after you've let UIView add its own animation, and your keyframe animation will override the animation added by UIView.

This worked for me:

- (IBAction)animate:(id)sender {
    UIImageView* theImage = self.imageView;
    CGFloat scaleFactor = 2;
    NSTimeInterval duration = 1;

    UIBezierPath *path = [self animationPathFromStartingPoint:theImage.center];
    CGPoint destination = [path currentPoint];

    [UIView animateWithDuration:duration animations:^{
        // UIView will add animations for both of these changes.
        theImage.transform = CGAffineTransformMakeScale(scaleFactor, scaleFactor);
        theImage.center = destination;

        // Prepare my own keypath animation for the layer position.
        // The layer position is the same as the view center.
        CAKeyframeAnimation *positionAnimation = [CAKeyframeAnimation animationWithKeyPath:@"position"];
        positionAnimation.path = path.CGPath;

        // Copy properties from UIView's animation.
        CAAnimation *autoAnimation = [theImage.layer animationForKey:@"position"];
        positionAnimation.duration = autoAnimation.duration;
        positionAnimation.fillMode = autoAnimation.fillMode;

        // Replace UIView's animation with my animation.
        [theImage.layer addAnimation:positionAnimation forKey:positionAnimation.keyPath];
    }];
}