Pose a figure

Posing is moving a figure's dots until it stands, runs or punches the way you want. On this page you learn the basic drag, the four held keys that change what a drag does, and how to type exact numbers when you need them.

Drag a joint to turn a limb

Every line of a figure is a segment, and the red dot at its end is its joint. Dragging a joint swings its segment around the dot above it, like a real elbow or knee. The segment keeps its length, and everything below it comes along.

1. In the Animate workspace, click the figure to select it. Its dots turn red, with one orange dot.
2. Drag an elbow. The upper arm turns around the shoulder, and the forearm and hand ride along.
3. Drag the hand to fine-tune the forearm. On Blue the elbow bends to follow (see the next section).
4. Let go. The new pose is kept on the current frame. Not right? Press Ctrl+Z: every drag is one undo step.

While you drag, Properties shows the joint you are holding (for example Left upper arm) and its Angle and Length change as you go.

Hands and feet bend the whole limb

Blue's hands and feet use IK (inverse kinematics): drag the hand and the elbow bends by itself to reach it, like a real arm. You can tell, because those four dots have a blue ring. It is perfect for putting a hand on a table or a foot on the floor. Everything about IK, including pinning feet to the floor, is in Inverse kinematics.

Drag the orange dot to move the figure

The orange dot is the figure's origin. Dragging it moves the whole figure without changing the pose; X and Y in Properties follow. To turn or resize the whole figure, see Alt-drag.

Hold Ctrl to stretch a line

A normal drag keeps every line the same length. Hold Ctrl and the line can grow or shrink too: great for a cartoon stretch in a punch or a jump.

1. Pick a joint that is not a hand or foot with IK, for example an elbow or knee. (Ctrl on an IK hand still moves the whole arm; turn its Use IK off first if you want to stretch the forearm.)
2. Hold Ctrl and drag the joint away from the dot above it. The line gets longer and everything below rides along.
3. To get the original length back, Ctrl-drag back towards it. When you are close, it snaps to exactly the original length.

Stretching changes this pose only. The figure's real design (the one every frame starts from) stays the same; change that in Build.

Right-drag to bend a line

Drag a joint with the right mouse button and its line curves, like a rubber hose. Use it for bendy arms, tails, ropes and whips.

1. Point at a red joint and hold the right mouse button.
2. Move the mouse a little. After a few pixels the line starts to curve. Move more to bend it more, or to the other side to bend it the other way.
3. Let go to keep the curve. To straighten it exactly, open Exact values and type 0 in Bend.

A right-click without moving opens the menu instead. If the menu keeps popping up, hold Shift while you right-drag: the bend starts straight away.

Hold R to move just one point (Handle Edit)

Normally a dot pulls everything below it along. Hold R and only that one point moves: the lines on both sides stretch and turn to stay connected, and everything else stays put. This is called Handle Edit.

1. Hold R (keep it down).
2. Drag Blue's orange dot down a little. Only the hips move: Blue crouches, and his head and feet stay where they were.
3. Let go of the mouse, then of R.

It works on any dot, not only the origin. Use it when a pose is almost right and you want to fix one point without moving a whole arm. Some ready-made rigs ask you to change their points in Build instead.

Hold Caps Lock to turn one line alone

When you turn an upper arm, the forearm normally swings with it. Hold CapsLock and the forearm keeps pointing the same way while it rides along. This is called isolating a joint.

1. Hold CapsLock.
2. Drag an elbow. The upper arm turns, but the forearm keeps its angle.
3. Let go. (Isolating keeps the forearm's angle, not the hand's position. To keep a hand or foot in one place, pin it.)

Prefer a switch to holding a key? Search for Toggle joint isolation with Ctrl+P, or give it a key in Settings → Shortcuts. It has no key by default.

Try every move

Each task is one of the moves above. On a touch screen or trackpad, use the Hold buttons in the playground's bar: they act like holding that key until you turn them off.

Every posing gesture

Type exact values

Sometimes you need a number, not a drag: an arm pointing exactly straight, or a leg that is exactly as long as the other one. The Segment values window lets you type them.

1. Point at a red joint and press I. Or right-click the joint and choose Exact values…. The Segment values window opens, with the figure's name and the segment's number under the title.
2. Type an Angle in degrees. 0° points right, 90° points down, −90° points up. The segment moves as you type.
3. Set Bend (0 is straight) and Length in pixels if you need to. You can also drag a field's label left and right to scrub its value: hold Shift for small steps, Alt for tiny ones.
4. Click Apply to keep the change, or Cancel (or Esc) to put the pose back exactly as it was.

Relative angle measures the angle from the segment before it instead of from the screen. With it on, 0° means "carry straight on from the upper arm". Ticking it only changes how the number is shown, not the pose.

Length is the length before the figure's Scale: a 60 px forearm on a figure at 200% scale looks 120 px long on the stage. Lengths must be more than 0.

Copy values and Paste values use Pivot's Angle:Bend:Length text, for example 45:0:48, so you can copy a limb's numbers to another limb, or to and from Pivot. If the app can't use your clipboard, a text box appears: paste the values there and click Use values. Hold R while you press I to edit the values the Handle Edit way (only that point moves).

Nudge with the keyboard

For tiny moves, the arrow keys are easier than the mouse. Point at a dot first, so the app knows which one you mean.

L is handy when a hand should stay on a table across frames: pose the body, then point at the hand and press L. Turn on onion skin to see the previous frame while you work. It does nothing on the first frame, or when the previous frame has no such figure.

Undo and cancel

Each drag is one step. Esc cancels a drag while you are still holding the mouse button: the figure jumps back as if nothing happened. After you let go, press Ctrl+Z to undo it, and Ctrl+Shift+Z (or Ctrl+Y) to redo.

A pose belongs to the current frame. To change many frames at once, or to understand what happens to the frames in between, read timeline modes.

Common mistakes

Common questions

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