jQuery smooth image change

Question

Hi there... I wonder how to make image change in my jQuery script smoother.

I also have an animate() chain, can I attach the "src" change into it or not? Sadly I can't use images as CSS backgrounds...

Here's a little sample...

    function growBigger(element) {
 $(element)
  .find(".inside")
  .animate({ width: curWidth, height: curHeight, marginTop:"0px" })
  .end()
  .find(".label")
  .animate({ fontSize:curTitleSize })
  .end()

  $(element + " .inside .thumbnail").attr("src","images/big_" + curPanel + ".jpg")
}

Answer 1

Solved by preloading the images. Take a look at http://engineeredweb.com/blog/09/12/preloading-images-jquery-and-javascript