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SVG LIMITATIONS WITH CSS

MORPHING & PATH ANIMATION IN SVG

Morphing and Path Animation Are Uniquely SVG

• Most animations so far could be done with HTML elements.
• Morphing shapes or animating paths is where SVG excels and can't be easily replicated with HTML/CSS alone.

Animating the points Attribute Enables Shape Morphing

• Morphing a <polyline> involves changing its points attribute.
• This changes the actual shape of the element over time.

Not All SVG Attributes Are Animatable with CSS

• Only presentation attributes (e.g. fill, stroke) and some geometry attributes (e.g. x, y) are CSS-animatable.
• points is neither, so CSS can’t animate it.

Transform Hacks Don’t Achieve True Morphing

• Using transform: rotateX(...) might create a visual effect but does not truly morph the shape.
• These are workarounds, not real solutions.

CSS Has Limitations for SVG Animations

• CSS can't animate most SVG-specific properties.
• For advanced or true morphing animations, CSS alone is not enough.

Two Alternatives to CSS for SVG Animation

Approach	Use When...	Trade-offs
SMIL	You want simple, native SVG animations	Limited control, not fully supported in all tools
JavaScript	You need fine-grained control over timing and shape transitions	More flexible but more complex and potentially slower

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