Attach

An attached part follows every move of the part that carries it and keeps its own moves. The controls are Attached to and Attach point, in the part’s line on Rig .

Ways to attach

When the Animate tab opens, parts that touch attach on their own where they meet (not parts you detached; see Detaching). To attach a part by hand, open Animate › Rig and select the line of the child part (e.g., the hat, not the head). Its line has two controls:

Use Attached to to select the parent part that carries this one. The dropdown lists every other part by name and role (Cube 1 · Body). The pivot goes where the two parts meet, and the status reads Cube 3 is attached to Cube 1. Its pivot is at the joint. When the parts meet half-way down an arm or a leg chosen in Rig, the pivot goes to its top instead, and the status reads Cube 3 is attached to Cube 1. Its pivot is at its top.

Use Attach point to set the parent part and the pivot in one step. Select Attach point, then tap Tap the spot on the fig. The button changes to Tap the fig…. Tap the spot where it joins the parent part. That part becomes the parent, and the spot you tapped becomes the pivot. The status reads Attached there. Its pivot is the spot you tapped. and the Pivot row shows moved by you.

Parts can’t attach in a loop. Selecting a parent that would make one is refused, and the status reads Cube 3 is already attached to Cube 1. Parts cannot attach in a loop. Pick another. An automatic attachment that would make a loop is undone. A fig saved with parts attached in a loop is fixed when it opens, in the fig editor and in scenes. The loop is cut at the part the rest attach to (the body a Walk or Run bobs, else the Body in Rig), so the head stays on the body.

A part whose keyframes are playing cannot use Attach point. The app shows Stop its move first.

Choose its parts under Rig also builds chains as you go step by step: tap outward along a limb, then tap Next part. Choosing a part attaches it to the body if it is not attached yet. The Add tab’s Stick a part on tool sticks a part onto a surface.

Attached parts keep their own moves

An attached part’s own keyframes play on top of the parent part’s move (a forearm swings at the elbow while the upper arm turns from the shoulder). Attachments stack: hand to forearm, forearm to upper arm, upper arm to body. The parts stay separate. In Showtime , tapping a part plays its move along with the moves of every part attached to it.

Detaching

Open the attached part’s line on Rig. In Attached to, select Nothing: it is the base. The status changes to Cube 3 is not attached. The part moves on its own and keeps its keyframes. It stays loose even if it touches another part: when Animate opens again, after Put every pivot back, and after the fig is closed and reopened. Giving it a role in Rig does not attach it again. To attach it, select a part in Attached to. Tapping it as a further part outward along a limb during Choose its parts also attaches it, to the part tapped before it.