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1. Editing skeleton.
2. Editing sequences.
3. Editing keyframes.

## Animations

The animation system in ppModeler is based on skeleton, and a skeleton can only be attached to a single object. Use the merge object tool if you want to apply animation on multiple objects.
First, the user defines the skeleton itself (a hierarchy of bones). Then, he/she defines the type of articulation between the bones (rotation/translation). The vertices are, by default, attached to the root bone. So, the user have to attached the vertices to the bones, so that the object will deform properly when moving the bones. A vertex can be attached to multiple bone, with a weight. This weight give the influence of a given bone on the vertex.
Once the skeleton is defined, the user can create sequences. A sequence is a single movement, for example, a step or a jump. A sequence a time indexed serie of keyframes. A keyframe is simply a given position of the skeleton, which is related to a given position of the object.
During the skeleton defintion, the object list displays the skeleton hierachy. During the defintion of sequences, the object list display the sequence list. During the sequence edition, the object list display the keyframe list.

A bone is displayed as a square diamond, with two local axis x and y. The purpule handle is used to select and move the bone. The two yellow handles to set the bone orientation.
A bone.

For example, this is a simple skeleton and the associated hierarchy :

### Editing Skeleton

| : Select bones. Selects bones. There is only one bone selected at a time. The selected bone is displayed in green. Its father is displayed in yellow, and the others bones are displayed in blue. A bone can be selected by a click on its selection handle, or by a click on the bone hierarchy. A right click toggle ppModeler in the move bone tool. : Move bones. Edits the bone position and direction. The purple handle is used to move the selected bone. The two yellow handles are used for setting the bone length and direction. The r key rotates the selected bone around its axis. A right click toggle ppModeler in the select bone tool. : Add bones. Adds a new bone. The father of the added bone is the selected one. The user draws a line that define the bone main axis. Then ppModeler asks for the bone's name. : Del bones. Removes the selected bone. : Define bone properties. Defines the selected bone properties. ppModeler opens the following window. The three radio button in the top define the type of articulation between the selected bone and its father. The three possible articulations are : None : The bone is not articualted. Rotation : The bone can rotate around its top point. The constaints are defined bellow, in degrees. The z axis is the bone axis. Translation : The bone can change its length. : Weights vertices. This tool allow to define quickly the weights of a group a vertices. ppModeler switches to the select vertex by rectangle mode. Then, an array with the bones names and the associated weights is displayed. The user can set the weight of the selected vertices in this array. : Attach vertices to bones. Each time the user click on a vertex, this vertex is added to the list of vertices attached to selected bone if it is not, otherwise the vertex is removed from the attached vertices list. The vertices attached to the selected bone (i.e. with a weight greater than 0) are marked with yellow boxs. ppModeler computes a default value for the weight, and the vertices selected by the user are not detacched from the others bones. : Weight bones. Defines the weights of the vertices attached to the selected bone. Each time the user click on an attached vertex ppModeler asks for the weights of the vertex. The answers is modified so that the sum of the weigths for this vertex remains one. : Animation mode. Activates the sequences edit tool. : View bones. Tests the skeleton. ppModeler switches to position edit tool. When the user comes back to the Editing skeleton tool box, the skeleton returns to its initial state. : Load bones and sequences. Not done yet. : Save bones and sequences. Not done yet.

### Editing Sequences

A sequence is a single movement. The list of the defined sequences are shown in the object list area.
A sequence is a list of keyframe.

| : Choose a sequence. By clicking on a sequence of the object list, the user can select a sequence. : New sequence. Adds a new sequence. The name of the sequence is asked and then ppModeler swithes to the editing keyframes tool box. : Delete a sequence. Deletes the selected sequence. : Edit sequence. Edits the selected sequence. ppModeler swithes to the editing keyframes tool box. Dup : Dup a sequence. Duplicates the selected sequence. ppModeler swithes to the editing keyframes tool box. : End of sequence editing. Go back to the edit skeleton tool.

### Editing Keyframes

A keyframe is the position of the skeleton at a defined time.
The object list area displays the keyframes with the associated time. The keyframe in yellow is the selected keyframe. The name of the sequence is displayed in green. A right click on a keyframe allows the user to change the keyframe time.

| : Select a keyframe. Selects the current keyframe in the object list area. : Add a keyframe. Adds a new keyframe. ppModeler switches to position edit tool. The position is set as the selected keyframe. The time of this keyframe is aked when the position editing is finished. : Edit a keyframe. Edits the selected keyframe. : Del a keyframe. Deletes the selected keyframe. : Play the sequence. Plays the sequence, in loop. : Cut a keyframe. Cuts the selected keyframe into the clipboard. Cpy : Copy a keyframe. Copies the selected keyframe into the clipboard. : Paste a keyframe. Copy the keyframe from the clipboard into the sequence. : Quit the keyframes editing.

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