Roblox Animations

sentinelcore/roblox-skills/roblox-animations

by sentinelcoref2b1910a7fb898ed35cf2f856e2a2e48e38276bfNo licenseListed Oct 9, 2026Updated Oct 9, 2026

Use when working with Roblox animation systems including playing, stopping, or blending animations on Humanoid characters or non-Humanoid models, handling AnimationTrack events, replacing default character animations, or debugging animation priority and blending issues.

Instructions onlySoftware Development

AI-generated overview

Reference guide for Roblox animation systems: loading, playing, blending and replacing animations on Humanoid and non-Humanoid rigs.

What it does: This skill is a reference document for Roblox animation APIs. It explains core objects such as Animation, Animator, AnimationController and AnimationTrack, and shows how to load, play, stop, loop and blend tracks. It also covers animation priority, marker events, replacing default character animations, and common mistakes with their fixes.
When to use it: Use it when writing or debugging Roblox animation code, such as playing or stopping animations on characters or props, handling AnimationTrack events, replacing default character animations, or resolving animation priority and blending problems.
Requirements: No tools, packages or credentials are needed; it is instructions only and ships no scripts. It assumes familiarity with Roblox Studio and Luau scripting.

Roblox Animations Reference

Core Objects

Object	Purpose
`Animation`	Asset reference — holds `AnimationId`
`Animator`	Lives inside Humanoid or AnimationController; loads and drives tracks
`AnimationController`	Replaces Humanoid for non-character rigs
`AnimationTrack`	Returned by `LoadAnimation`; controls playback

Where to Run Animation Code

Never play player character animations from a Script — they will not replicate correctly to the local client.

Loading and Playing Animations

lua

-- LocalScript in StarterCharacterScriptslocal character = script.Parentlocal animator = character:WaitForChild("Humanoid"):WaitForChild("Animator")
local animation = Instance.new("Animation")animation.AnimationId = "rbxassetid://1234567890"
local track = animator:LoadAnimation(animation)
track:Play()                      -- default fade-in (0.1s), weight 1, speed 1track:Play(0.1, 1, 0.5)          -- fadeTime, weight, speed
track:AdjustSpeed(1.5)           -- change speed while playingtrack:AdjustWeight(0.5, 0.2)     -- weight 0.5, fade over 0.2s
track:Stop()                      -- default fade-out (0.1s)track:Stop(0.5)                   -- fade out over 0.5s

-- LocalScript in StarterCharacterScriptslocal character = script.Parentlocal animator = character:WaitForChild("Humanoid"):WaitForChild("Animator")
local animation = Instance.new("Animation")animation.AnimationId = "rbxassetid://1234567890"
local track = animator:LoadAnimation(animation)
track:Play()                      -- default fade-in (0.1s), weight 1, speed 1track:Play(0.1, 1, 0.5)          -- fadeTime, weight, speed
track:AdjustSpeed(1.5)           -- change speed while playingtrack:AdjustWeight(0.5, 0.2)     -- weight 0.5, fade over 0.2s
track:Stop()                      -- default fade-out (0.1s)track:Stop(0.5)                   -- fade out over 0.5s

AnimationTrack Events

lua

-- Fires after fade-out completestrack.Stopped:Connect(function()    print("Animation finished")end)
-- Use :Once for one-shot cleanuptrack.Stopped:Once(function()    cleanup()end)
-- Fires when a named keyframe marker is reached-- Marker names are set in the Roblox Animation Editortrack:GetMarkerReachedSignal("FootStep"):Connect(function(paramString)    playFootstepSound()end)

-- Fires after fade-out completestrack.Stopped:Connect(function()    print("Animation finished")end)
-- Use :Once for one-shot cleanuptrack.Stopped:Once(function()    cleanup()end)
-- Fires when a named keyframe marker is reached-- Marker names are set in the Roblox Animation Editortrack:GetMarkerReachedSignal("FootStep"):Connect(function(paramString)    playFootstepSound()end)

Looped vs One-Shot

Property	Looped	One-Shot
`track.Looped`	`true`	`false`
Set in	Animation Editor (loop toggle)	Animation Editor
Override at runtime	`track.Looped = false`	`track.Looped = true`
Stops automatically	No — must call `track:Stop()`	Yes — after one cycle

lua

-- Force a looped animation to play oncetrack.Looped = falsetrack:Play()track.Stopped:Once(function() print("Done") end)

-- Force a looped animation to play oncetrack.Looped = falsetrack:Play()track.Stopped:Once(function() print("Done") end)

Animation Priority and Blending

Priority controls which tracks win on contested joints. Higher priority overrides lower.

lua

idleTrack.Priority   = Enum.AnimationPriority.IdlerunTrack.Priority    = Enum.AnimationPriority.MovementattackTrack.Priority = Enum.AnimationPriority.Action
idleTrack:Play()runTrack:Play()     -- overrides idle on shared jointsattackTrack:Play()  -- blends on top for joints it owns

idleTrack.Priority   = Enum.AnimationPriority.IdlerunTrack.Priority    = Enum.AnimationPriority.MovementattackTrack.Priority = Enum.AnimationPriority.Action
idleTrack:Play()runTrack:Play()     -- overrides idle on shared jointsattackTrack:Play()  -- blends on top for joints it owns

Weight adjusts influence when two tracks share the same priority:

Humanoid vs AnimationController

Humanoid (characters and humanoid NPCs)

lua

local animator = character:FindFirstChildOfClass("Humanoid"):FindFirstChildOfClass("Animator")local track = animator:LoadAnimation(animation)track:Play()

local animator = character:FindFirstChildOfClass("Humanoid"):FindFirstChildOfClass("Animator")local track = animator:LoadAnimation(animation)track:Play()

AnimationController (props, vehicles, creatures)

lua

local controller = model:FindFirstChildOfClass("AnimationController")local animator = controller:FindFirstChildOfClass("Animator")if not animator then    animator = Instance.new("Animator")    animator.Parent = controllerendlocal track = animator:LoadAnimation(animation)track:Play()

local controller = model:FindFirstChildOfClass("AnimationController")local animator = controller:FindFirstChildOfClass("Animator")if not animator then    animator = Instance.new("Animator")    animator.Parent = controllerendlocal track = animator:LoadAnimation(animation)track:Play()

Replacing Default Character Animations

The Animate LocalScript in the character holds animation references. Modify its AnimationId values on CharacterAdded.

lua

-- LocalScript in StarterCharacterScriptslocal animate = script.Parent:WaitForChild("Animate")
local function replaceAnim(slotName, newId)    local slot = animate:FindFirstChild(slotName)    if slot then        local animObj = slot:FindFirstChildOfClass("Animation")        if animObj then animObj.AnimationId = newId end    endend
replaceAnim("idle",  "rbxassetid://111111111")replaceAnim("run",   "rbxassetid://222222222")replaceAnim("jump",  "rbxassetid://333333333")replaceAnim("fall",  "rbxassetid://444444444")replaceAnim("climb", "rbxassetid://555555555")

-- LocalScript in StarterCharacterScriptslocal animate = script.Parent:WaitForChild("Animate")
local function replaceAnim(slotName, newId)    local slot = animate:FindFirstChild(slotName)    if slot then        local animObj = slot:FindFirstChildOfClass("Animation")        if animObj then animObj.AnimationId = newId end    endend
replaceAnim("idle",  "rbxassetid://111111111")replaceAnim("run",   "rbxassetid://222222222")replaceAnim("jump",  "rbxassetid://333333333")replaceAnim("fall",  "rbxassetid://444444444")replaceAnim("climb", "rbxassetid://555555555")

Available slots: idle, walk, run, jump, fall, climb, swim, swimidle, toolnone, toolslash, toollunge.

Stop All Playing Animations

lua

local function stopAll(animator, fadeTime)    for _, track in animator:GetPlayingAnimationTracks() do        track:Stop(fadeTime or 0.1)    endend

local function stopAll(animator, fadeTime)    for _, track in animator:GetPlayingAnimationTracks() do        track:Stop(fadeTime or 0.1)    endend

Quick Playback Reference

lua

track:Play(fadeTime, weight, speed)-- fadeTime  default 0.1   — blend-in seconds-- weight    default 1.0   — joint influence (0–1)-- speed     default 1.0   — playback rate
track.TimePosition   -- current position in seconds (read/write)track.Length         -- total duration in secondstrack.IsPlaying      -- booltrack.Looped         -- bool (override allowed at runtime)track.Priority       -- Enum.AnimationPrioritytrack.WeightCurrent  -- actual blended weight right nowtrack.WeightTarget   -- target weight after fade

track:Play(fadeTime, weight, speed)-- fadeTime  default 0.1   — blend-in seconds-- weight    default 1.0   — joint influence (0–1)-- speed     default 1.0   — playback rate
track.TimePosition   -- current position in seconds (read/write)track.Length         -- total duration in secondstrack.IsPlaying      -- booltrack.Looped         -- bool (override allowed at runtime)track.Priority       -- Enum.AnimationPrioritytrack.WeightCurrent  -- actual blended weight right nowtrack.WeightTarget   -- target weight after fade

Upper-Body Only Animations

Priority blending affects all joints an animation touches. To play a wave only on the arms while legs animate from run/idle, the animation itself must be authored to only key upper-body bones (leave lower-body joints unkeyed in the Animation Editor). There is no runtime API to mask joints — the solution is in the animation asset, not the script.

Common Mistakes

Mistake	Fix
Playing character animations in a `Script`	Use `LocalScript` in `StarterCharacterScripts`
`LoadAnimation` called on `Humanoid` (deprecated)	Call on `Animator` instead
Two animations fighting on same joints	Assign different `Priority` values
`Stopped` fires immediately	Animation has zero length or wrong `Looped` setting
`GetMarkerReachedSignal` never fires	Marker name misspelled, or animation not re-uploaded after adding markers
NPC animation not visible to other clients	Play from a `Script` (server), not `LocalScript`
`AnimationController` track won't play	Missing `Animator` child inside `AnimationController`

Source and attribution

Source:sentinelcore/roblox-skillsinroblox-animationsat commitf2b1910

License: No license

Content belongs to its original authors. SourceWeft indexes it from a public repository.

Report or request removal

Scenario	Script Type	Location
Local player character	`LocalScript`	`StarterCharacterScripts`
NPC / server-owned model	`Script`	Inside model or `ServerScriptService`

Roblox Animations

Roblox Animations Reference

Core Objects

Where to Run Animation Code

Loading and Playing Animations

AnimationTrack Events

Looped vs One-Shot

Animation Priority and Blending

Humanoid vs AnimationController

Humanoid (characters and humanoid NPCs)

AnimationController (props, vehicles, creatures)

Replacing Default Character Animations

Stop All Playing Animations

Quick Playback Reference

Upper-Body Only Animations

Common Mistakes

Source and attribution

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