Help writing efficient direct3d 2d code

[joelwenzel]

I want to make efficient code. Is it bad to use multiple LPD3DXSPRITE sprites, one for each animation? I know that I could use just one sprite and if my screen has several moving animations, I could use that sprite to draw each animation. Or, I could use a separate sprite for each animated object.

I'm also curious about loading a lot of textures for animations (ie, like loading 150 animation .tga's for the main character or something). Is this bad? Should I load textures just before rendering? It seems to me like this might be slow.