JSON versus Codegen

Whether you choose to use a Bodymovin JSON file with a LottieVisualSource or a codegen’ed C# or C++ class depends on your application’s requirements. Both types of sources are ultimately consumed by the AnimatedVisualPlayer element, but with slightly different workflows. Here’s an overview of how the pieces fit in:

Workflow

The tradeoffs between using JSON and Codegen are as follows:

JSON Codegen
Can be loaded from a URI at run-time — this enables Lottie animations to be updated over the network, without updating the application. Better performance: there is no need to parse and translate JSON at run-time on the application’s UI thread, and, since the resulting Windows.UI.Composition tree is generated ahead of time, it can be better optimized.
Allows dynamic modification of Lottie animations by editing the generated Windows.UI.Composition Visual tree. This is useful for theming, branding, accessibility, etc. (see related scenario sample).