Programmed Animation or Frame-by-Frame

I was wondering before I go to deep into it..

Is it better to draw an animation then call it, or should programming it work as good.

For an example:

Let's say I want to make a reloading animation, which is better considering performance or other;

- Rotating body X degrees, hands Y degrees, etc.

- Animating it and call it when it's needed

A lot of cool stuff can be made while playing around with doing it "manually", and a lot of extra effects, but also bugs.

So my only worry is if it's gonna work fine, or should I reconsider it?

Are you doing physics on body parts?

Generally using fixed animations or loops is going to be faster an take less events.

I'm not using physics, mostly just rotations with it's speed.

I can see that, but for the most part it doesn't take many events.

And I don't really know if let's say I'd use customization would I have to do animation for every piece or is there an easier way?

Iamar, thank you a lot for the reply!

I would have to see your sprites and what you are planning for movements to tell you anything more.

If you want I can send it to your Inbox, but it's out of order, it's just for testing.

But I think I got your point.

Thank you!