# Animation and frame timing

[Programming guides](README.md)

A **frame** is one picture in an animation. **FPS** means frames per second. Changing a position is an update; drawing the new position is rendering. They can happen at different rates. [Frames and timing](../concepts/frames-and-fps.md) explains the units and why a wait does not guarantee an exact frame rate.

Pliro has no hidden animation syntax or animation runtime language. Animation
uses ordinary lists, loops, retained sprites, and waits. Each entry can pair an
asset with its frame duration. This example requires a project containing
the referenced assets:

```pliro
# language: en
let walkFrames = [
    ["assets/hero-1.png", 0.10],
    ["assets/hero-2.png", 0.14],
    ["assets/hero-3.png", 0.10],
]

for frame in walkFrames:
    showSprite("hero", frame[0], 100, 220, 48, 64)
    wait(frame[1])

hideSprite("hero")
```

For a game, physics may update 25–60 times per second while a pose remains
visible for roughly 0.10–0.20 seconds. Keep motion position and animation pose
on separate clocks instead of changing the image on every physics tick.

```pliro
# language: en
let x = 300
let y = 160
let speed = 4
let running = true

while running:
    if keyDown("left"):
        set x = x - speed
    if keyDown("right"):
        set x = x + speed
    if keyDown("up"):
        set y = y - speed
    if keyDown("down"):
        set y = y + speed
    if keyDown("space"):
        exitApp()

    clearCanvas("#0f172a")
    circle(x, y, 18, "#22d3ee")
    drawText(320, 20, "Arrows move · Space exits", 20, "#ffffff", "sans", "center")
    wait(0.04)
```

## Related entries

[Syntax and values](../syntax/README.md) · [Built-ins](../builtins/README.md) · [Programming guides](README.md)