AnimationTimeIndex
is an option to Animator and related functions that specifies the current time index for the animator.
Details

- AnimationTimeIndex runs from 0 to the duration of the animation, in seconds.
- AnimationTimeIndex is 0 at the animator's minimum value and duration at the maximum.
- The typical default setting of AnimationTimeIndex -> Automatic will calculate the appropriate value from the animation.
- While Animator[Dynamic[var],…] is running, changing var outside the animator will have no effect on AnimationTimeIndex.
- AnimationTimeIndex varies continuously, even for discrete animations.
- AnimationDirection has no impact on AnimationTimeIndex.
Examples
open allclose allBasic Examples (2)Summary of the most common use cases
With default option settings, AnimationTimeIndex runs from 0 to 5:

https://wolfram.com/xid/0k730ywogzx3h-sygsbe

Changing the DefaultDuration will change the maximum time index:

https://wolfram.com/xid/0k730ywogzx3h-dkalc3

Scope (1)Survey of the scope of standard use cases
Interactively changing a paused animator will also change the value of AnimationTimeIndex:

https://wolfram.com/xid/0k730ywogzx3h-ptt2d3

Possible Issues (1)Common pitfalls and unexpected behavior
To change a running animator programmatically, change the value of AnimationTimeIndex, not the animation variable:

https://wolfram.com/xid/0k730ywogzx3h-ut34ap

Wolfram Research (2014), AnimationTimeIndex, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/AnimationTimeIndex.html.
Text
Wolfram Research (2014), AnimationTimeIndex, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/AnimationTimeIndex.html.
Wolfram Research (2014), AnimationTimeIndex, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/AnimationTimeIndex.html.
CMS
Wolfram Language. 2014. "AnimationTimeIndex." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/AnimationTimeIndex.html.
Wolfram Language. 2014. "AnimationTimeIndex." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/AnimationTimeIndex.html.
APA
Wolfram Language. (2014). AnimationTimeIndex. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/AnimationTimeIndex.html
Wolfram Language. (2014). AnimationTimeIndex. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/AnimationTimeIndex.html
BibTeX
@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_animationtimeindex, author="Wolfram Research", title="{AnimationTimeIndex}", year="2014", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/AnimationTimeIndex.html}", note=[Accessed: 04-June-2025
]}
BibLaTeX
@online{reference.wolfram_2025_animationtimeindex, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={AnimationTimeIndex}, year={2014}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/AnimationTimeIndex.html}, note=[Accessed: 04-June-2025
]}