Here is a simple animation to check anime.js will work in your Xara Desktop Application: anime.js - Test Card.xar

It does nothing dramatic on purpose.
If in Preview and you see the centre image rotate then SUCCESS.
This is a thing that Xara has not managed to deliver as it never included 'repeat' or 'infinite' with its Animate.css implementation.
Animate.css and anime.js are two very different beasts.

For some reason anime.js seems to need any old SVG to be present on the page for it to work its magic in a Xara design.
In XDA, other that XPro+, Xara-native SVGs are not available.

My Acorn avatar is effecting that very thing for you.
It is a Placeholder that replaces the image when published, exported or previewed with the following code: <svg><path></path></svg>.
You could use <svg><path/></svg>, <svg></svg> or even <svg/>.
Don't ask me why, it just works.
I have tested back to Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 10 and it works.

Drag the avatar off the page, no animation.

Animations in the old Xara Preview work but are jerky so do check in a real browser.

Making your own requires patience and some understanding of CSS and JavaScript; the effort is worth it.
Search TG for my anime.js that are tagged 'nugget' - https://www.talkgraphics.com/tags.php?tag=nugget

Acorn