# Character rigging

Follow the below steps to create the bones and skeleton for animating your character:

1. Select the![icon_small_CreateBone](images/icon_small_CreateBone.png)__Create Bone__ tool to begin creating the bones of the character skeleton.

2. With the tool selected, click in the __Sprite Editor __window to define the start-point of the bone. Move the cursor to where the bone should end, and click again to set the bone’s end-point.

3. To create a continuous chain of bones, select the ![icon_small_CreateBone](images/icon_small_CreateBone.png)__Create Bone__ tool and click the end-point of an existing bone. The new bone is started from the end-point, creating a chain.
   
4. Once all bones are created, generate the Mesh geometry for the Sprites. It is recommended to use the ![icon_small_GenGeo](images/icon_small_GenGeo.png)__Auto Geometry__ tool to autogenerate the Sprites’s geometry Mesh. Then refine the geometry with the ![icon_small_CreateVertex](images/icon_small_CreateVertex.png)__Create Vertex__ and ![icon_small_CreateEdge](images/icon_small_CreateEdge.png)__Create Edge__ tools.
   
5. To edit the bones that influence a Sprite, select the ![icon_small_BoneInfluence](images/icon_small_BoneInfluence.png)__Bone Influence__ tool and double-click a Sprite to select it. A list of bones currently influencing the Sprite appears.

   - To remove any of the listed bones, select it in the list and click '-' to remove them.

   - To add a bone, select it in the __Sprite Window__ and click + to add it to the list.

6. The weight attached to vertices affects the influence between bones and the Sprites' geometry. Select the  ![icon_small_GenWeight](images/icon_small_GenWeight.png)__Auto Weights__ tool to autogenerate the weight of a selected Sprites. To generate weights for all Sprites at once, deselect all Sprites before selecting the tool. Refine the weights of the vertices with the ![icon_small_WeightPainter](images/icon_small_WeightPainter.png)__Weight Brush__ and ![icon_small_WeightSlider](images/icon_small_WeightSlider.png)__Weight Slider__ tools.
   
7. Test the skeleton rig previewing poses with the ![icon_small_PreviewPose](images/icon_small_PreviewPose.png)__Preview Pose__ tool. Move and rotate the different bones to check their influence on the geometry Mesh. Previewing poses can also be done while using the following tools: the ![icon_small_WeightPainter](images/icon_small_WeightPainter.png)__Weight Brush__, ![icon_small_WeightSlider](images/icon_small_WeightSlider.png)__Weight Slider__, ![icon_small_BoneInfluence](images/icon_small_BoneInfluence.png)__Bone Influence__, ![icon_small_GenWeight](images/icon_small_GenWeight-1543300126435.png)__Auto Weights__, and ![icon_small_Visibility](images/icon_small_Visibility.png)__Visibility__ tools.

To restore a skeleton rig to its original pose, select ![icon_small_RestoreBind](images/icon_small_RestoreBind.png)__Reset Pose__. The default pose can be edited with the ![icon_small_EditJoints](images/icon_small_EditJoints.png)__Edit Joints__ tool.

## Animating

To begin animating, drag the Asset into the Scene. This creates a GameObject that reassembles the imported character as it originally appeared in the PSB file in the form of a Prefab. The Prefab contains multiple child GameObjects in the order that represents their layer hierarchy.

With the new GameObject in the Scene, you can begin animating it with the general [Unity animation workflow and tools](https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/AnimationSection.html).