How to animate svg path d attribute with animate tag

Question

Im trying to animate a svg path with animate tag, following this tutorial from css tricks. I could animate path with css keyframes, and the result is this:

#mySvg path{    
    animation: scale-path 10s ease-in-out infinite;
}

@keyframes scale-path {
    50% {
        d: path('M1036,540L883,540L883,693Z');
    }
}

<svg id="mySvg" xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" 
     xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" 
     version="1.1" 
     x="0"
     y="0"
     width="100%"
     height="100%" 
     viewBox="0 0 1920 1080" 
     preserveAspectRatio="none">
      
    	<path d="M1045,520L1173,558L1184,393Z"   
              fill="lightblue" 
              stroke="#eee9ea" 
              stroke-width="1.51" />
</svg>

But the problem is I cant achieve the same effect animation with animate tag (its supposed to will be there a lot of path tags with different animations). Im not sure if this is the correct syntax:

<svg id="mySvg" xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" 
     xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" 
     version="1.1" 
     x="0"
     y="0"
     width="100%"
     height="100%" 
     viewBox="0 0 1920 1080" 
     preserveAspectRatio="none">
      
    <path d="M1045,520L1173,558L1184,393Z" 
          fill="lightblue" 
          stroke="#eee9ea" 
          stroke-width="1.51">
          
            <animate 
            attributeName="d"
            from="M1045, 520L1173, 558L1184, 393Z"
            to="M1036; 540L883; 540L883; 693Z" 
            dur="10s"
            repeatCount="indefinite"
            values="M1036; 540L883; 540L883; 693Z"
            keyTimes="0.5;" />
     </path>
</svg>

Answer 1

You are writing the values wrongly, you should pay attention to , and ;. The whole value of the path use , as delimiter (ex : M1045, 520L1173, 558L1184, 393Z) and those values are delimited by ; inside the values attrbiute

<svg id="mySvg" xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" 
     xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" 
     version="1.1" 
     x="0"
     y="0"
     width="100%"
     height="100%" 
     viewBox="0 0 1920 1080" 
     preserveAspectRatio="none">
      
    <path d="M1045,520L1173,558L1184,393Z" 
          fill="lightblue" 
          stroke="#eee9ea" 
          stroke-width="1.51">
          
            <animate 
            attributeName="d"
            from="M1045, 520L1173, 558L1184, 393Z"
            to="M1036, 540L883, 540L883, 693Z" 
            dur="5s"
            values="M1045, 520L1173, 558L1184, 393Z;M1036, 540L883, 540L883, 693Z;M1045, 520L1173, 558L1184, 393Z"
            repeatCount="indefinite" />
     </path>
</svg>

Answer 2

Semi-colons (;) are used as separators in attributes like values and keyTimes, to mark the different keyframe values. The number of values in these two attributes should match.

You seem to have replaced commas with semicolons, which is not correct.

If you are animating between two values (A -> B), you only need from and to. If you need to animate between a series of three or more values you need to use values and keyTimes.

There is no automatic back and forth looping in SMIL animation. So if you were trying to go from A to B and then back to A, you would need to use values and keyTimes and list your values in the form "A; B; A"`.

Like this:

<svg id="mySvg" xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" 
     xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" 
     version="1.1" 
     x="0"
     y="0"
     width="100%"
     height="100%" 
     viewBox="0 0 1920 1080" 
     preserveAspectRatio="none">
      
    <path d="M 1045,520 L 1173,558 L 1184,393 Z" 
          fill="lightblue" 
          stroke="#eee9ea" 
          stroke-width="1.51">
          
            <animate 
            attributeName="d"
            dur="10s"
            repeatCount="indefinite"
            values="M 1045,520 L 1173,558 L 1184,393 Z;
                    M 1036,540 L 883,540 L 883,693 Z;
                    M 1045,520 L 1173,558 L 1184,393 Z"
            keyTimes="0; 0.5; 1" />
     </path>
</svg>

If your animation is linearly paced, and the keyTimes timings are evenly spaced, like they are here, you don't actually have to provide a keyTimes.