Walk & run, Idle and Gestures

Walk & run, Idle, and Gestures are the three whole-fig families on Preset moves . They move several parts together using the parts chosen on Rig .

• Walk & run: Cycles (Walk, Run, March, Roll).
• Idle: Loops for the whole fig, standing in place (Idle breathe, Idle shift).
• Gestures: Gestures for one or two parts (Wave, Nod, Shake no, Wag, Flap, Chomp, Look around, Perk up).

Walk & run presets

The cycles play in place, as loops the app makes on the chosen limbs:

• Walk: A walking cycle (legs stride, arms swing opposite, body bobs up and down).
• Run: Faster, with longer strides and more up-and-down.
• March: Steps in place.
• Roll: Keeps turning the tapped wheel and every part shaped like it. The wheels roll toward the fig’s front (Front side on Rig).

Legs and arms swing forward and back along the way the fig faces (Front side on Rig). On an Animal, Walk, Run, and March move the legs in diagonal pairs: the front left leg with the back right, then the front right with the back left. With no back legs chosen in Rig, the animal steps on its front legs only, and the open row shows No back legs assigned, so they stay still. Assign them in Rig ›.

Idle presets

• Idle breathe: A slow breath: the body rises and swells, the head dips, the arms drift. It needs only a body; the head and arms join in when they are chosen in Rig. The body swells from its lowest point, so the feet stay on the floor. If an arm it moves has a Spin of its own, the app shows a confirmation first, as for Idle shift.
• Idle shift: A weight shift: the body sways over still feet, the arms swing, the head glances aside. The body leans side to side across the fig’s front (Front side on Rig). Legs chosen in Rig stay where they stand, straight, feet flat. With no legs chosen, the legs sway with the body, and the open row shows No legs assigned, so they sway with the body. Assign them in Rig ›. If the body or a leg has a Spin of its own, the app shows a confirmation first (e.g., Idle shift replaces Cube 1’s Spin. Replace it?).

Both play in scenes, in Showtime, and in .glb files, sprite sheets, and GIFs.

Gesture presets

• Wave: One arm waves.
• Nod: The head nods up and down.
• Shake no: The head turns side to side.
• Wag: The tail swings side to side (sets its own bend area and bends; turns at the root if the tail is too small to bend).
• Flap: Both wings beat together.
• Chomp: The jaw opens and shuts. This makes the jaw a jaw rig: in a clip, the fig can talk, and its jaw opens with the sound instead (see The shot's camera ).
• Look around: The head turns one way, then the other.
• Perk up: Dips down, then springs back.

Selecting a preset move

Under New move, select a preset from the Move dropdown. It goes on right away on the parts chosen in Rig, its row opens under Made, and the hint lists the parts by name (e.g., Walk uses Cube 4, Cube 5, Cube 1. It plays in scenes and in Showtime.). A preset that is already on shows on in the list; choosing it opens its row.

A fig can play moves from different families at once if they do not share parts (e.g., Walk and Wave). If a new preset needs parts used by a move in another family, or parts with keyframes you set or a pose they hold, the app first shows [Move] replaces [Other move]. Replace it? For poses and keyframes, the message names the part (e.g., Wave replaces Right arm’s pose. Replace it? or Wave replaces Right arm’s keyframes. Replace it?; several parts read the poses of [parts]). A pose held by a knee, an elbow, or a wheel that the move also turns counts too. Replace clears the pose, and the move plays from Home. A part holds a pose or has a move, never both: see Hand pose . Within one family, a new move that shares parts replaces the old one without a confirmation.

When a move had to leave a part out because another move has it (e.g., Walk on a fig whose right arm does Wave), it uses the part again once the part is free. Remove Wave, move it to the other arm, or replace it, and the arm swings with Walk again, in step, in the same undo. The status line shows a note (e.g., Right arm moves with Walk again.). A part that is free has no other move, no pose, and no keyframes of its own. A part left out on purpose (skipped while picking parts by hand, or taken off in Hand pose) stays out.

In an open row, Move lists that family’s moves. Choosing another one replaces the row’s move, in one Undo step: the row’s move comes off as Delete removes it, then the new one goes on (e.g., Walk to Run on the same legs). The status line names the move removed first (e.g., Walk removed. Run uses Cube 4, Cube 5, Cube 1. It plays in scenes and in Showtime.). If the new move shows a confirmation first, Cancel leaves the row’s move on. A move that needs parts tapped (e.g., Chomp) replaces it once the last part is tapped. If the move you choose is on already, the row’s move comes off and the other one stays as it is. None deletes it, and so does Delete [Move] at the end of the row.

Parts not chosen yet

If a preset needs parts not yet chosen in Rig, it shows as disabled in the dropdown, with a short reason. Selecting a disabled preset shows the parts it needs and links to set them up:

• No kind set: Set the kind in Rig › or Pick parts by hand.
• Wrong kind: Change the kind in Rig › or Pick parts by hand.
• A needed part isn’t chosen: Assign its Right arm in Rig › or Assign them in Rig ›. For Wave or Flap with a part chosen on one side only, the note also has a button for that side (e.g., Wave with the Left arm).

Selecting Pick parts by hand skips Rig and has you tap the parts on the stage.

Chomp, Roll, and Perk up do not need chosen parts and have you tap parts on the stage right away.

Picking parts by hand

Picking parts by hand goes through each part in turn (Tap one leg (1 of 5), Tap the other leg. (2 of 5), etc.). It includes only parts the fig’s kind has, and the count leaves the others out. An Animal has no arm step, and its Walk, Run, and March end with its back legs (Tap the back leg on the matching side, or skip., then Tap the other back leg, or skip.). A Person has no back-leg step. Tap parts on the stage or select them from the On dropdown. Each part you select lights up with Animate’s outline. Select Skip part to skip optional parts (on the last part, Skip and finish), or tap Cancel to stop.

Loose parts you select by hand get pivots on their own (limbs at the top, wings and tails at the root, wheels at the center).

Settings

An open preset row shows a description of the move and the parts it uses, then these settings:

• On: Moves a one-part gesture to another part (e.g., switching Wave to the left arm).
• Speed (Walk & run and Idle): The cycle speed (Slow, Normal, Fast). The route sets the travel distance in a scene.
• Stride: The length of each step (40% to 160%).
• Arm swing: The size of the arm swing (Still to 160%; at Still the arms do not swing).
• Starts: The start mode (Always or On tap).
• Pick its parts by hand: Starts selecting its parts by hand again.
• Use parts assigned in Rig: Updates the preset to use the newly assigned parts.

An open Walk & run, Idle, or gesture row lights its parts on the fig. A tap on a part the move doesn’t use closes the row.

Tap ▶ on the row to preview it, or ■ to stop. Presets play in Showtime, in scenes, and in video/GIF exports.