Pro WPF in C# 2010: Windows Presentation Foundation in .NET 4

16.1. Animation Types Revisited

The first challenge in creating any animation is choosing the right property to animate. Making the leap between the result you want (for example, an element moving across the window) and the property you need to use (in this case, Canvas.Left and Canvas.Top) isn't always intuitive. Here are a few guidelines:

• If you want to use an animation to make an element appear or disappear, don't use the Visibility property(which allows you to switch only between completely visible or completely invisible). Instead, use the Opacity propertyto fade it in or out.

• If you want to animate the position of an element, consider using a Canvas. It provides the most direct properties (Canvas.Left and Canvas.Top) and requires the least ...