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play

play( from:*, suppressEvents:Boolean ) : self

Begins playing forward, optionally from a specific time (by default playback begins from wherever the playhead currently is).

Parameters

  • from: *

    (default = null) — The time (or label for Time instances) from which the animation should begin playing (if none is defined, it will begin playing from wherever the playhead currently is).

  • suppressEvents: Boolean

    (default = true) — If true (the default), no events or callbacks will be triggered when the playhead moves to the new position defined in the from parameter.

Returns : self

self (makes chaining easier)

Details

Begins playing forward, optionally from a specific time (by default playback begins from wherever the playhead currently is). This also ensures that the instance is neither paused nor reversed.

If you define a "from" time (the first parameter, which could also be a label for Timeline instances), the playhead moves there immediately and if there are any events/callbacks inbetween where the playhead was and the new time, they will not be triggered because by default suppressEvents (the 2nd parameter) is true. Think of it like picking the needle up on a record player and moving it to a new position before placing it back on the record. If, however, you do not want the events/callbacks suppressed during that initial move, simply set the suppressEvents parameter to false.

//begins playing from wherever the playhead currently is:
tl.play();

//begins playing from exactly 2-seconds into the animation:
tl.play(2);

//begins playing from exactly 2-seconds into the animation but doesn't suppress events during the initial move:
tl.play(2, false);>

Note: if the Timeline's timeScale is exactly 0 when play() is called, it will be changed to 1 (otherwise it wouldn't play). If you're going to tween it up from 0 you can set it to a very small number before calling play() like tl.timeScale(tl.timeScale() || 0.001).play() so that it doesn't jump to 1.