Scene animation
Set up paths, loops, and the scene's timing.
Figs have two animation layers. Part animations, made in the fig editor, save with the fig and play on it. Scene animations move the whole fig around the scene as one piece, while its part animations play on top at the same time.
Scene animations are set on the Animate tab. The tab has three sections. Under Make: Paths and Loops. Under Scene: Timing. The 3D view is the main view; the map grid sits in the corner. Scenes with no figs show the hint Place a fig from the Figs drawer.
- Paths: Move figs around the scene.
- Loops: Moves that play in one spot.
- Timing: Sets the scene’s tempo, frame rate, and physics.
On Paths and Loops, what shows depends on what is picked. With nothing picked, you see the scene’s animations and ways to add new ones. With something picked, you see its settings. Changes take effect at once. Delete buttons say what they delete.
Select figs with the Select bar
The Select bar works in the Animate tab and picks only figs. Buildings, land, and scattered trees and plants are left out. Tapping in the 3D view picks figs. The small map in the corner only pans. Select ⇄ to make the map grid big and pick from the top-down map.
- How much: Sets how much gets picked. One fig picks just that fig. Its group picks every fig in that fig’s animation group.
- Ways to pick: Tap replaces the current pick. Add adds or removes figs. Box picks everything in a box you drag on the map grid.
- Whole-scene buttons: All picks every placed fig. None clears the pick and goes back to the scene’s animation list.
When Its group is on, the hint says what was picked (e.g., Picked Parade, the group Fox is in.). Figs in no group are picked alone. Figs in more than one group pick their main group, and the hint lists the others.
The moves
Paths moves:
- Along a route: Walk, Run, Fly, Drive, Tumbleweed. Goes out and back in a straight line, or follows a drawn route. Fly follows the route without leaning or waddling, only a slow, small bob up and down.
- On its own: Wander walks about at random within a circle around its starting spot.
Loops moves:
- Bounce & spin: Bounce hops up and down with a squash and stretch. Jiggle squashes and stretches in place. Spin turns round and round.
- Scenery: Sway swings back and forth. Flutter shakes fast and small. Rustle twitches fast in place (tilt and turn). Drift moves up and down while swinging side to side. Glide slides side to side. Float moves up and down. Rise goes up, fades out, and starts again from its spot.
- Water: Bob moves up and down and rocks side to side; on painted water, it rides the water’s surface.
- On a tap: Topple shakes, falls, and stays down. The fall drops the fig a set distance, but not below the ground. Tapping a fallen fig stands it back up in its spot.
Paths follow the shape of the land, going up and down stairs and terraces on their own.
Nothing picked
The header shows Paths or Loops, with nothing picked.
Animations in this scene lists every group animation and every single-fig animation. Group rows show the name and details (e.g., 4 figs · Route · Walk + Bounce). Single-fig rows show the name and its animation. Select a row or tap a placed fig to open its page. An empty list shows None yet.
Make a new one works two ways:
- Pick first: Pick figs with the Select bar, then set their animation on the page that opens.
- Move first: Select a move from the Paths or Loops dropdown (Choose a move). The hint says it’s ready (Walk is ready. Tap a fig and it starts at once.). Tapping a fig gives it the move at once. Loops can also go on scattered trees and plants. Paths are for figs only. Giving a path this way to a fig already on a group path is refused with a message. Giving a path to a fig that has its own path replaces it, and a message confirms it.
Moves given this way build a group. The first tap gives the move to one fig (Walk is ready. 1 fig so far. The next fig makes them a group.). Next taps make a named group and add figs to it (Walk is ready. Walk 1 has 3 figs so far.). Tapping a fig already in it takes it out. A first tap on a fig that already does that move uses its existing move, and later taps add figs to its group.
Select the move in the dropdown again or go to another tab to stop. Every move you gave stays.
One fig
The header shows the fig’s name with 1 fig, and has Play / Stop buttons for that fig. The page shows Affects this fig.
Its own
The Its own · made in the fig editor section has settings saved with the fig. Changes apply only to this copy.
- Pose: Select Still, a saved pose, or In turn… (for figs with more than one pose). In turn… opens a pose picker. Select poses to add them to the list. Select Done to finish (needs at least two poses). The row shows the count (In turn · 3 poses). No run, Still, or a single pose clears the list.
- Move set: Select As saved, or a move set by name. See Move sets .
- Animated skin: Select As saved, or a skin. Options say animated or still. This row only shows if the fig has an animated skin.
- Its moves play: Sets the timing (On their own clock or On the beat). On the beat times them to the scene’s tempo.
If none are saved, a message says: No saved poses, move sets or animated skins available. Create them in the fig editor.
Pose by hand › opens an editor to pose this copy. It can move, turn, tilt sideways, and size it around a pivot (Feet, Middle, Head). It holds keyframes (6 frames Plus, 2 frames Free), with Speed, Strength, when it plays (Always, Once, Open), and On the beat. During a Learn tutorial there’s no keyframe limit. Open in the fig editor › opens the fig in the fig editor.
Flat picture cutouts have no saved animation but can take paths, loops, and Pose by hand ›. Story set pieces lock the whole page: Model locked to story set. Poses cannot be changed.
From a group
The From a group section lists every group the picked fig is in.
- Open the group: Opens the group’s page.
- Take this fig out of [Group Name]: Takes the fig out of the group. The rest of the group keeps going. An empty group deletes itself.
A fig in no group shows: It is in no group. Pick it with other figs to make one.
Only on this fig
The Only on this fig section has a block for each animation on this copy only. The block header names the move and has its own ▶ button.
- It does: Swaps the move. A path only swaps for a path, and a loop only for a loop.
- Route settings: Shown for paths. See Draw a route, below.
- Sliders: Distance (paths), Radius (Wander), Amount (loops). Values are percentages (25% to 175%; default 100%). Distance is hidden if you drew a route.
- Speed: How fast (40% to 220%).
- Clock: Timing (Its own clock or On the beat).
- Pause between laps: The wait between laps (None, 1 s, 3 s).
- Starts: When it starts. See Starts, below.
- Delete this animation from this fig: Removes it.
Wander hides Clock and Pause between laps. Topple hides both. An empty section shows Nothing yet.
Keyframes made with Pose by hand › show as their own block named Keyframes.
Add an animation
The Add an animation dropdown adds another move. Several moves play at once: It plays on top of what this fig already does. A message confirms it (Sway added.).
A fig can have only one path. A note says a fig follows one path at a time; giving it a new path of its own replaces the old one at once, and the hint line confirms it (Walk added. It took the place of the path Fox had.).
Trying to give a fig its own path when it already follows a group path turns off the dropdown options and shows Fox follows Parade’s path. Change the path on the group’s page: Open the group. Or take Fox out of the group first. Group paths are changed only on the group’s page. Loops don’t have this limit and play on top of a group path.
Giving Walk or Run to a fig with a move set whose name has Walk or Run also plays that move set on this copy, and a message says so (Fox also plays its Walk set.). A fig set up as a Person in Rig , with both legs set under Its body, swings its legs (and its arms, when set) in step as it walks or runs. Other figs glide.
Several figs
Picking several figs that aren’t one group changes the header to [N] figs and lists their names. The page shows Affects these [N] figs and notes any groups they’re already in.
- Make a group from these [N]: Using the They all dropdown makes a new group of the picked figs and gives them the move (e.g., Bounce 1 made: 3 figs doing Bounce.). The new move plays along with the moves they already have. A path replaces any path a fig had of its own. If any picked fig already follows a group path, the dropdown’s path options are turned off; change that group, or take the fig out of it first.
- Leaving groups: Shows a block for each group that any picked fig is in. Pick all of [Group Name] ([N] figs) picks the whole group. Remove [Selected Figs] from [Group Name] takes those figs out of the group.
- One at a time: The Their own poses, move sets and skins section is turned off. A note says why: A fig’s own animation is edited one fig at a time, because each fig has different parts. Open one:. The section lists the picked figs; tap a row to pick just that fig and open its page.
A whole group
A group links several figs that share a move. Open a group by selecting its row on the scene’s animation list, turning on Its group on the Select bar, selecting Open the group, or picking exactly the figs in the group by hand. A group’s name starts as its move with a number (e.g., Walk 1). A move given to exactly the figs of a Figs tab group (Select many… › Group) takes that group’s name, and renaming one renames both.
The header shows the group’s name and count (group · [N] figs). The page shows Affects the group · [N] figs. Changes apply to every fig in it.
- Rename: Asks for a name. Names you type stay. Names the app made change if the main move changes.
- Animation blocks look the same as on one fig (Route · Walk), with their own ▶ buttons.
- They all: Swaps the move for the whole group.
- Route settings: Shown for paths. See Draw a route, below.
- Sliders (Distance, Radius, Amount) and Speed work the same as on one fig.
- One after another: Sets the stagger. All together plays them at once. In a wave starts them one after another in list order. Spread out along the route (for paths) spaces their starting spots along the route and gives each a side-by-side lane. Random staggers them at random. On the beat times each lap to the scene’s tempo.
- Delay (shown under In a wave): Even spreads the starts evenly across one full lap. Quick, Normal, and Slow use set gaps.
- Turns about: Sets what they turn around. Each fig’s own spot turns each fig around itself. The group’s middle turns them around the middle of the group, so they circle it.
- Pause between laps: The wait between laps (None, 1 s, 3 s).
- Starts: When it starts. See Starts, below.
- Delete this animation from all [N] figs: Removes it from the whole group.
Wander hides One after another and shows Each fig wanders on its own timing.
Add another adds another move to the whole group. A note says they play at once (It plays on top of what the group already does.).
In it lists every fig in the group. Select ✕ take out to take that fig out of the group.
Draw a route
Paths have route settings in their animation block.
If no route is drawn, the fig goes forward and back along the way it faces. A note says: Without a route, it goes out the way it faces and back.
- Select Draw the route on the map.
- Drag to draw a route across the map grid. The hint tells you what to do. Too short a line asks for a longer one (Draw a longer route.).
- Ending the line saves the route, and a message confirms it (The route is set.).
In a group, each fig follows the route from its own spot.
Once a route is drawn, the Route dropdown shows (Loop around or Forward and reverse). Draw a new route replaces the route. Remove the route deletes it, and the fig goes forward and back again. Selecting Draw the route on the map while the map grid is small in the corner makes it big.
Routes show as dashed lines, with a dot at the picked fig’s spot.
The nose arrow
In the Animate tab, figs with a path show an arrow on the map grid. The arrow shows which way is forward along the path.
Which way it faces is saved with the fig. To change it, open the fig in the fig editor and set Animate › Rig › Which way it faces. See Rig .
Starts
Starts sets when a move starts.
- With the scene: Plays all the time once the scene is playing: with Play all, and in Showtime. A scene you made opens paused. The figs’ own moves still play: idles, a walk in place and other loops, group moves, swishy faces and paper, and animated skins. The scene’s own moves wait until Play all or Showtime: routes, meanders, Drive out and back, the scene’s loops on a fig, and a run of poses; a fig the scene sends somewhere stands still until then. When the scene’s own moves are waiting, the hint says This scene has animations. Press Showtime to play them, or Play all in Animate › Timing. A remix, a scene or clip from the community, a downloaded kit’s scene, or an example from the app opens playing.
- On a tap: Plays when you tap it in Showtime.
- After… seconds: Plays a set time after the scene starts playing. Has a Seconds slider (0.5 s to 120 s).
- When another fig is tapped: Plays when a chosen fig is tapped. Has a Which fig picker.
- When another animation ends: Plays after a chosen move ends. Has a Which one picker. Note: loops never end. Topple ends when it comes to rest. If there’s nothing to pick, a message says so.
Choosing Topple sets it to start On a tap. The block’s note says: It shakes, falls over and holds. The next start stands it up again.
Timing
Timing sets the timing for the whole scene.
- Play all / Stop all: Plays or stops every fig’s own moves and every scene move.
- Tempo: Sets the scene’s beat (60 beats a minute, 100 beats a minute, 140 beats a minute). Moves set to On the beat (and poses played in turn) follow it.
- Tap it: Sets the BPM from your taps. It needs at least four taps in a row. A countdown shows how many are left (Tap [N] more). The BPM is then added to the Tempo dropdown.
- Frame rate: Sets how many frames a second the scene plays (Smooth · 24 a second, Choppy · 12 a second, Stop motion · 6 a second, Flip-book · 3 a second). Anything but Smooth overrides each fig’s own frame rate.
- Physics (Each fig’s own | Off): Scene-wide switch for springy motion (Springy). By default each fig keeps its own setting. Saves with the scene. See Playback & physics .
The fig’s page in the Figs window
Picking a fig in the Figs tab shows its animation settings. Move set swaps its move set. Pose sets a still pose, poses in turn (In turn…), and timing to the beat (On the beat). Animate › opens the Animate tab with that fig picked. If it has scene moves, the button adds the main one to its name (e.g., Animate · Walk ›).
Figs with moves have the PLAY section: Play its moves plays the fig’s own moves; Play in the scene plays its scene moves. Because of this, copies of the same fig can each have their own animations and poses. See Everything in this scene .
The Picked page
In the World tab, selecting a fig opens its Picked page on the World deck. It has the same Wearing, Skin (says if the skin is animated), Pose, and Moves menus. Doing lists every move playing now and has its own Play | Stop toggle. Rows are hidden if the fig has nothing saved for them.