Skeletal Rig Editor

A Skeletal Rig moves Sprite parts through a bone hierarchy. For a waving character, you can rotate the arm around its shoulder without drawing every frame of the wave.

Prerequisites

Import the Sprite artwork for each visible part. Show Advanced resources and open a Skeletal Rig. The editor has Setup and Animate modes, a structure rail, a posing viewport, a timeline, and a selection Inspector.

Build the Rest Pose

1. In Setup, add a root bone in the Bones section. Add a child bone for the part that needs to move.
2. Select each bone and set its parent, Length, Offset X, Offset Y, and Rotation. Put the arm’s joint at the shoulder before recording motion.
3. Add a Part and choose its Sprite. Bind it to the intended bone and set its frame, pivot, offset, scale, alpha, and visibility.
4. Arrange Parts in back-to-front order. The hierarchy determines how movement propagates; part order determines which artwork covers other artwork.
5. Save and reopen the Rig. Confirm the hierarchy and artwork before adding animation.

Setup changes the rest pose. Animate records changes for the selected animation. Keep these two operations separate: moving a joint in Setup changes the basis of every animation using it.

Record and Check an Animation

Create an animation, choose its Duration in seconds, and decide whether it loops. In Animate, select that animation and move the playhead to its start. Record the starting pose, move to a later time, and rotate the arm. Record a final pose at the end.

Auto-key records posing gestures. With auto-key off, viewport drags preview a pose and return when released; typed Inspector edits still create keys. Check the timeline for actual keys before treating a pose as saved animation. Part Frame, Alpha, and Visible can also have animation tracks.

Use playback to inspect the result. On the focused canvas, Space plays or pauses, arrow keys move the playhead, Home and End jump, and Delete removes the selected key or Event. Shortcuts in a text field edit the field instead.

Expected result: the child arm follows its parent and interpolates between the recorded poses. A looping wave should return to a compatible starting pose. A pose held only by a temporary drag is not an animation key.

Connect the Rig to a Game

Use Set Rig on the target Object, then Control Rig Animation to play the named animation. Loop can follow the animation default, loop, or play once. Fade is in seconds, and Restart if playing determines whether repeating the play request begins again. Place one instance and check the rest pose, animation start, loop, and stop behavior in playtest. Set Rig Part Set substitutes artwork while keeping the same structure; check alternate Sprites for matching pivots and proportions.

IK Chains add target-driven posing. Begin with a valid connected chain and inspect the target and Mix before animating it. IK and recorded rotation can both affect a pose.

Troubleshooting

If a part is missing, check Sprite, Frame, Visible, Alpha, and draw order. If a joint moves incorrectly, check parentage and the part’s pivot in Setup. If playback snaps, compare the first and last keys and inspect whether the expected track actually has a key.

The animation Action reference supplies playback and skeletal controls. Imported 3D skeletons use IK Setups and Animators instead.