Animation image incorporating infrared (6)
I believe the answer is:
spirit
'animation' is the definition.
(both can mean liveliness)
'image incorporating infrared' is the wordplay.
'image' becomes 'spit' (I've seen this in other clues).
'incorporating' indicates putting letters inside.
'infrared' becomes 'ri' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'spit' enclosing 'ri' is 'SPIRIT'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for spirit that I've seen before include "Typical mood; ghost" , "Scotch, maybe" , "Courage; ghost" , "Wraith" , "25 28 [MARS LANDER]" .)