Performance vs Aesthetics
Lottie animations are beautiful, but if implemented carelessly, they can completely destroy your website's performance score. A single unoptimized Lottie JSON file can be larger than your entire JavaScript bundle.
The first step in optimization happens back in After Effects. Avoid using complex effects, masks, or rasterized images within your composition. Keep everything vector-based and limit your keyframes.
Implementation Details
When loading Lottie on the web, never render it immediately on page load unless it's strictly above the fold. Use intersection observers to only initialize the animation player when the user scrolls near the element. Additionally, utilizing the new dotLottie format can compress your animation files by up to 80% without losing a single frame of quality.