Bend

Bend curves a single part. Without a bend area, the part turns as one stiff piece. The control is Bend area, in the part’s line on Rig .

Set the bend area

Use Bend area to mark the section that bends. Open Animate › Rig, select the part’s line under Its parts, then tap Bend area. Tap Set the bend area. Tap the part twice on the stage: first at the start of the bend (the part below this point stays stiff), then at the tip. The button changes from Tap the bend’s start… to Tap to set the tip. Markers show the two points, joined by a line.

A part whose keyframes are playing cannot get a bend area. The app shows Stop its move first.

The Bend slider

Once the area is set, the Bend slider on Hand pose curves the part between the two points up to 120° either way (good for tails, stems, or antennae). Parts attached to the bending part turn with the curl where they sit, so they stay on it.

On a part with no bend area, Hand pose (and Keyframes on a part in Move sets) shows Needs a bend area. in place of the slider, with Set bend area. Tap Set bend area, then tap the start of the bend and then the tip on the fig. Each tap is one Undo step. Tap the button again to stop. Then the Bend slider shows.

Bend can be keyframed. Under Keyframes on a part at the foot of Move sets , saving a rest keyframe and a bent keyframe makes a repeating wave when you tap ▶ Play.

On Preset moves , Wiggle, Sway, the Bend point slider on Rock, and the Wag gesture set a bend area on their own if there is none. Delete on a loop row removes a bend area that its Sway or Wiggle set, and so does replacing that loop with one that doesn’t bend. A bend area you moved by hand stays, and so does any bend area once the fig is closed and opened again.

Clearing the area

When a part has a bend area, the button shows Clear the bend area. Selecting it makes the part stiff again.