An example of the Android xml bundle format for creating an AnimatedVectorDrawable. See https://plus.google.com/+NickButcher/posts/A8KKxnJdg4r

avd_bundle.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!--
  Copyright 2016 Google Inc.

  Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
  You may obtain a copy of the License at

       http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
  limitations under the License.
  -->

<animated-vector
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:aapt="http://schemas.android.com/aapt">

    <aapt:attr name="android:drawable">

        <vector
            android:width="24dp"
            android:height="24dp"
            android:viewportWidth="24"
            android:viewportHeight="24">

            <path
                android:name="root"
                android:strokeWidth="2"
                android:strokeLineCap="square"
                android:strokeColor="?android:colorControlNormal"
                android:pathData="M4.8,13.4 L9,17.6 M10.4,16.2 L19.6,7" />

        </vector>

    </aapt:attr>

    <target android:name="root">

        <aapt:attr name="android:animation">

            <objectAnimator
                android:propertyName="pathData"
                android:valueFrom="M4.8,13.4 L9,17.6 M10.4,16.2 L19.6,7"
                android:valueTo="M6.4,6.4 L17.6,17.6 M6.4,17.6 L17.6,6.4"
                android:duration="300"
                android:interpolator="@android:interpolator/fast_out_slow_in"
                android:valueType="pathType" />

        </aapt:attr>

    </target>

</animated-vector>

This gist is an example of the new Android XML bundle format which lets you create more succinct AnimatedVectorDrawables.

Previously to create an AnimatedVectorDrawable you would need at least 3 xml files to specify it:

1. A VectorDrawable you're going to animate.
2. One or many Animators to run.
3. An animated-vector definition, essentially tying the drawable and animator(s) together.

The new bundle format lets you specify this in a single file. Notice the aapt namespace and usage; at build time, aapt will create the separate resources for you (1 & 2 in the list above) and reference them in the animated-vector. This requires Build Tools 24+ (currently in RC) but the output is backward compatible.

After a bunch of trial and error, the only time Animated Vector Drawables seem to work is if I use android:src on the ImageView and not app:srcCompat But there seems to be a huge difference in the rendering. The latter actually looks like a vector while the former looks like a very low res image.

As another form of trial I added
static { AppCompatDelegate.setCompatVectorFromResourcesEnabled(true); }
and it still didint make a difference

How do I achieve high res animated vector?

Wow, this is great! I first didn't get it to work because I did not upgrade my Build Tools to 24+. After reading the post again I see that Nick already mentioned it. Thanks.

I'm still getting a "Attribute missing on Android namespace" for line Line 22 which if I resolve compounds to error at the line in the beginning - 1. requires api 21 2. animated-vector doen't have required attribute android:drawable
AS 2.2.2
Build tool 25.0.0
Gradle Plugin 2.2.2

Getting the same problem as nycodes9. Anyone find a solution to this?

Found a decent example of how to get this working: https://blog.stylingandroid.com/animatedvectordrawable-bundles/

There were some missing attributes in the provided example above.