Select figures
Click, Shift-click, box-select, select a whole limb or every joined figure, and read what Properties shows.
Before you can pose, flip or copy something, you select it. On this page you learn the four ways to select in StykAnimate: one figure, several figures, one limb, and everything that is joined together.
- Click a figure to select it. Click empty space to select nothing.
- Shift+Click adds or removes a figure. Drag a box on empty space to select every figure whose orange dot is inside.
- Double-click a joint to select that limb (a branch). Double-click the orange dot to select everything joined to it.
- The name at the top of Properties always tells you what is selected.
Click to select one figure
A figure is one stick character or prop on the stage. Each figure has red dots, called joints, and one orange dot, its origin. The origin is the point the whole figure moves and turns around.
- Make sure you are in the Animate workspace (the switch at the top of the window) and the Select tool is on: it is the arrow in the tool bar on the left of the stage. Press V to pick it.
- Click the figure's body (any of its lines) or its orange dot. Its dots turn red and orange, and the other figures' dots stay blue.
- Look at the top of Properties, the panel on the right. It shows the figure's name, for example Blue, with Transform, Appearance and Arrange under it.
- Click empty space on the stage to select nothing. Properties now shows Scene.
Clicking only selects: nothing moves until you drag. If you click a red joint instead of the body, the figure is selected too, but Properties shows that joint (for example Left forearm) with its Joint and IK settings. Click the body or the orange dot to get the whole figure back.
Red dots are the joints of the selected figure and the orange dot is its origin. Dark blue dots belong to figures that are not selected. A white dot is a joint that another figure is joined to. The full list is in The basics.
Select several figures
To move, flip or copy a group of figures together, select all of them first. There are two ways.
Add one at a time:
- Click the first figure.
- Hold Shift and click another figure. Properties now reads 2 figures.
- Shift-click a selected figure again to take it out of the selection.
Drag a box:
- Start on empty space, not on a figure, and drag. A dashed blue box follows the pointer.
- Let go when the box surrounds the orange dots of the figures you want. A figure counts only when its orange dot is inside the box, even if an arm sticks into it.
Hold Shift while you drag a box to change an existing selection: figures caught in the box switch between selected and not selected. To make a box catch any figure it touches instead, open Settings (Ctrl+,) → Canvas → Navigation → Box selection and choose Figure bounds. The default is Figure origins.
Select one limb (a branch)
A branch is a joint and everything that hangs below it: double-click an elbow and you get the upper arm and the forearm. Use it to flip, copy or recolour one arm or leg without touching the rest.
- Double-click a joint, for example an elbow. The dots of that limb turn pale red.
- Check Properties: the heading reads Branch from Left upper arm (or whichever segment you chose).
- Now use a command: Shift+H flips only that limb, Ctrl+C copies only that limb.
- Click the figure's body or orange dot to go back to the whole figure.
Which joint you double-click decides how much you get. Each red dot is the end of a segment: the elbow dot ends the upper arm, so double-clicking it selects the upper arm and the forearm. The hand dot ends the forearm, so double-clicking it selects only the forearm. A prop joined to that hand comes along too.
Select everything that is joined
When you join a sword to Blue's hand, they stay two figures. To copy or move both at once, select the whole connected group.
- Double-click Blue's orange dot (or his body). Every figure joined to him is selected too: Properties reads 2 figures.
- Hold Shift while you double-click another group to add it as well.
- Copy, move or flip the group. Joins inside the group are kept when you paste it.
Try it
Three figures stand on the stage, and a staff is joined to Blue's hand. Do the tasks in order: each one is a step from above. Point at the stage first, so the keys go to the playground and not to the page.
- Click a figure. Properties shows its name.
- Shift-click another figure to add it.
- Click empty space to select nothing.
- Drag a box from empty space around two orange dots.
- Double-click an elbow to select that arm.
- Double-click Blue’s orange dot: the staff comes too.
- Press Ctrl+A to select everything.
What Properties shows
The top of Properties is the quickest way to check what you have selected before you change anything.
| Heading | What is selected | What you can do there |
|---|---|---|
| Scene | Nothing | See the canvas size and background. |
| A figure's name, like Blue | One whole figure | Flip, Front, Back, Duplicate, Delete; X, Y, Angle and Scale; colour; Join… |
| A segment's name, like Left forearm | One joint of a figure | The segment's Angle, Length and Bend; its IK switch; its style. |
| Branch from … | A limb (double-clicked joint) | The same as a joint, but commands act on the whole limb. |
| 2 figures, 3 figures… | Several figures | The selection's size and place, Align, colour and order. |
All the ways to select
Right-click empty space for Select all too, and use Edit → Invert selection to swap selected and unselected figures. Hidden figures and figures on a locked layer cannot be selected on the stage: check the eye and lock buttons in the timeline if a figure ignores your clicks.
Common mistakes
You started the box on top of a figure, so you dragged that figure instead. Press Ctrl+Z to put it back, then start the box on empty space. Remember the box needs the orange dots inside it.
You had a branch selected (pale red dots). Press Ctrl+Z, click the figure's body so Properties shows its name, and try again.
They are joined. Double-clicking selected the whole group, or the one you dragged is attached to the other. See Unjoin.
Click, Shift-click and double-clicking an origin to select joined figures work like Pivot. The box selection and selecting one limb by double-clicking a joint are new.
Common questions
I click a figure but it won't select.
Check you are in Animate with the Select tool (V), and that its layer is visible and unlocked in the timeline. If another figure is on top of it, use Ctrl+← or Ctrl+→ with the stage focused to step through the figures.
All the dots disappeared.
The joints are hidden. Click Joints in the stage header or press Shift+J. Ctrl+H hides and shows only the dots of the figures that are not selected.
My box removed figures instead of adding them.
You held Shift or Ctrl, which switches the caught figures in or out. Drag the box again without a key to replace the selection.
Does selecting change my animation?
No. Selecting never changes a pose, so there is nothing to undo. Only what you do next (drag, flip, delete) is a change.
Keep going
Still stuck?
Ask the community, or tell us what’s missing from the docs.