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title: "Using CAnimateCtrl | Microsoft Docs"
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# Using CAnimateCtrl
An animation control, represented by the class [CAnimateCtrl](../mfc/reference/canimatectrl-class.md), is a window that displays a clip in Audio Video Interleaved (AVI) format — the standard Windows video/audio format. An AVI clip is a series of bitmap frames, like a movie.  
  
 Since your thread continues executing while the AVI clip is displayed, one common use for an animation control is to indicate system activity during a lengthy operation. For example, the Windows Find dialog box displays a moving magnifying glass as the system searches for a file.  
  
 Animation controls can only play simple AVI clips, and they do not support sound. (For a complete list of limitations, see [CAnimateCtrl](../mfc/reference/canimatectrl-class.md).) Since the capabilities of an animation control are severely limited and subject to change, you should use an alternative such as the MCIWnd control if you need a control to provide multimedia playback and/or recording capabilities. For more information about the MCIWnd control, see the multimedia documentation.  
  
## What do you want to know more about  
  
-   [Using an Animation Control](../mfc/using-an-animation-control.md)  
  
-   [Notifications Sent by Animation Controls](../mfc/notifications-sent-by-animation-controls.md)  
  
## See Also  
 [Controls](../mfc/controls-mfc.md)