Rig

Every piece you add is a part that can move on its own in the Animate tab. Rig is the first row of the Animate list, under the Rig caption. Use it to say what the fig is, which part plays which role, what each part is attached to, and where each part turns. The preset moves and the ready-made poses use the parts you name here.

The Animate list

One line is under the ANIMATE caption: Animate the parts of this one fig. The list has five rows under four captions. Rig holds Rig. Moves holds Preset moves. Poses holds Pose by hand and Move sets. Playback holds Playback & physics. The form head shows the open row’s name and one line under it.

Four rows show a small tag. Rig shows the kind and the count (person · 3 of 6), or kind · parts · pivots before you set one. Preset moves shows how many moves are on (3 on), or walk · gesture · loop · hinge. Pose by hand shows the saved poses (2 saved), posed, or a part · the whole fig. Move sets shows the set’s name, a count (2 made), or poses · gestures · loops.

Preset moves holds four blocks: Walk & run, Gestures, Idle loops, and Hinge. See Preset moves and Walk & run and Gestures . Walk & run and Gestures use the parts named here. A move that needs a part you have not named stays in its list, greyed, and offers a link back to this page (Name them in Rig ›).

Set the kind

Under It’s a, select Person, Animal, Bird, or Thing. The choice sets which roles the fig has. A Thing has no roles; the page reads A thing has no named parts. Drag any part, or give a part a loop under Preset moves. Changing the kind forgets the parts you named; the app asks first: Changing what it is forgets the parts you picked. Change it?

A person has a body, a head, two arms, and two legs. An animal has a body, a head, a tail, and two front legs. A bird has a body, a head, two wings, and a tail.

Its body

Under Its body, every role of this kind of fig is a box. A box shows the role and the name of the part that plays it, or empty. Use a box to fill one role. Tap the box; it reads tap the part…. Tap the part on the fig. The line reads Cube 3 is its left arm. Tap the box again to leave it as it is.

A part holds one role. A role given to a new part leaves the old one. Once a body is named, a named part that is attached to nothing is attached to the body.

Name its parts

Use Name its parts to fill every role in turn. Selecting a kind starts it too. The page shows the walk-through. It asks for one part at a time and counts: Tap its body (1 of 6), Tap its head, Tap its LEFT arm. Tap the matching piece on the stage. If the fig has no such part, tap Skip this part. Tap ✕ Never mind to stop.

A part can be a chain. After tapping the arm, keep tapping outward (the forearm, then the hand); each is attached to the one before it. The line counts the chain: Its LEFT arm: 2 parts. More outward? (3 of 6). Tap Next part to move on. A posed arm carries its chain with it. A part cannot attach to a part that is attached to it. A tap that would loop the chain keeps the attachment it had, and the line at the end reads Parts named. One part was left out: parts cannot attach in a loop.

When the last part is named, every named part is attached to the body, and the body becomes the selected part. The line reads Parts named. Drag any part to pose it. The Name its parts row shows how many parts are named (none yet, 4 of 6). Tap it to name them again.

When you tap a part during naming, a coral dot appears at its pivot , the point it turns about. Drag the dot if it is in the wrong place. It slides across that part’s surface, snapped to the grid, and the part’s Pivot reads moved by you.

Which way it faces

Use Which way it faces to set the fig’s front. Select Toward you, Away, Right, or Left. A purple arrow on the stage points front. Walks, runs and routes in a scene go the way the arrow points. A scene shows the same arrow on its map. A fig with Roll faces across its wheels until you select a side.

Pivot dots

Use Pivot dots to show or hide the coral dots on the stage: Shown or Hidden. The eye in the form head is the same switch.

Its parts

Under Its parts, every part is one line. Shut, a line reads the part’s name, its role, and what it is attached to: Cube 3 · Left arm · on Cube 1. A part with no role reads No role. A part attached to nothing reads the base.

Tap a line to open it. The part lights on the fig with its pivot dot. A tap on the part on the stage opens its line too. One line is open at a time. An open line holds three rows and four buttons.

• It is the sets the part’s role. Choose a role of this kind of fig, or No role. A role another part holds reads Left arm · now Cube 4; choosing it takes the role from that part.
• Attached to sets the part that carries this one. Choose another part by name, or Nothing: it is the base. The pivot is set where the two parts meet. A part worn as clothes reads (worn). See Attach .
• Pivot reads the pivot’s state: auto-placed, moved by you, or none.
• Move the pivot opens the pivot’s sliders. See Pivot .
• Bend area marks where the part curls. See Bend .
• Where it attaches sets the carrying part and the pivot with one tap on the fig. See Attach .
• Reset pivot returns a pivot you moved to where the two parts meet. It is greyed until the pivot reads moved by you.

At the foot of the page, Put every pivot back returns every pivot to where its part meets the part it is attached to, the ones you moved too.

Springy, Swish, and Paper are on Playback & physics . Saved poses are on Pose by hand . Move sets have their own row; see Move sets .

Pose by hand from here

With no part selected, the deck opens on Rig. With Rig open, drag a part on the stage and it turns or swings about its pivot, whichever way you pull, in 5° steps. A faint copy shows where it rested. Tap a coral dot and the part wiggles once about its pivot. Ready-made poses and the poses you save by name are on Pose by hand; see Poses .

The Details page

In the Add tab, Details is the part’s own page: name, Move, Size, Turn, Clothes, and More. Its Moves fold reads what the part does, and Edit its moves in Animate opens the Animate tab. See Details .

What a part can do

• Hold an idle loop of its own, in the Idle loops block on Preset moves .
• Turn about its pivot , which the app sets.
• Curl through a bend area .
• Hold keyframes that play in a loop: two on the free plan, six with Plus. They are under Keyframes on a part at the foot of Move sets .
• Play when tapped: set its move’s Starts row to On touch.
• Be attached to another part .