--- name: Animator last_updated: 2026-06-11T17:05:15Z inherits: - Instance - Object type: class memory_category: Instances summary: "Responsible for the playback and replication of Animations." --- # Class: Animator > Responsible for the playback and replication of [Animations](/docs/reference/engine/classes/Animation.md). ## Description `Animator` is the main class responsible for the playback and replication of [Animations](/docs/reference/engine/classes/Animation.md). All replication of playing [AnimationTracks](/docs/reference/engine/classes/AnimationTrack.md) is handled through the `Animator` instance. See [Animation in Roblox](/docs/en-us/animation.md) to learn how to create and add pre-built or custom animations to your game. ## Properties ### Property: Animator.EvaluationThrottled ```json { "type": "boolean", "access": "ReadWrite", "security": { "read": "None", "write": "None" }, "serialization": { "can_load": false, "can_save": false }, "thread_safety": "Safe", "category": "Behavior", "capabilities": [ "Animation" ] } ``` ### Property: Animator.PreferLodEnabled ```json { "type": "boolean", "access": "ReadWrite", "security": { "read": "None", "write": "None" }, "serialization": { "can_load": true, "can_save": true }, "thread_safety": "ReadSafe", "category": "Behavior", "capabilities": [ "Animation" ] } ``` ### Property: Animator.RootMotion ```json { "type": "CFrame", "access": "ReadWrite", "security": { "read": "None", "write": "None" }, "serialization": { "can_load": false, "can_save": false }, "thread_safety": "Safe", "category": "Behavior", "capabilities": [ "Animation" ] } ``` ### Property: Animator.RootMotionWeight ```json { "type": "float", "access": "ReadWrite", "security": { "read": "None", "write": "None" }, "serialization": { "can_load": false, "can_save": false }, "thread_safety": "Safe", "category": "Behavior", "capabilities": [ "Animation" ] } ``` ## Methods ### Method: Animator:ApplyJointVelocities **Signature:** `Animator:ApplyJointVelocities(motors: Variant): ()` Given the current set of [AnimationTracks](/docs/reference/engine/classes/AnimationTrack.md) playing and their current times and play speeds, this method computes relative velocities between the parts and applies them to [Motor6D.Part1](/docs/reference/engine/classes/Motor6D.md) (the part which `Animator` considers the "child" part). These relative velocity calculations and assignments happen in the order provided. This method doesn't apply velocities for a given joint if both of the joint's parts are currently part of the same assembly; for example, if they are still connected directly or indirectly by motors or welds. Note that this method doesn't disable or remove the joints for you. You must disable or otherwise remove the rigid joints from the assembly before calling this method. The given [Motor6Ds](/docs/reference/engine/classes/Motor6D.md) are not required to be descendants of the [DataModel](/docs/reference/engine/classes/DataModel.md). Removing the joints from the [DataModel](/docs/reference/engine/classes/DataModel.md) before calling this method is supported. *Security: None · Thread Safety: Unsafe · Capabilities: Animation* **Parameters:** | Name | Type | Default | Description | |------|------|---------|-------------| | `motors` | `Variant` | | | **Returns:** `()` ### Method: Animator:GetPlayingAnimationTracks **Signature:** `Animator:GetPlayingAnimationTracks(): Array` Returns the list of currently active [AnimationTracks](/docs/reference/engine/classes/AnimationTrack.md) on this [Animator](/docs/reference/engine/classes/Animator.md). This includes tracks that are fading out and does **not** depend on [AnimationTrack.IsPlaying](/docs/reference/engine/classes/AnimationTrack.md) being `true`; as a result, [GetTrackByAnimationId()](/docs/reference/engine/classes/Animator.md) may be a better option to get a specific [AnimationTrack](/docs/reference/engine/classes/AnimationTrack.md) by its asset ID. *Security: None · Thread Safety: Unsafe · Capabilities: Animation · Simulation Access: true* **Returns:** `Array` ### Method: Animator:GetTrackByAnimationId **Signature:** `Animator:GetTrackByAnimationId(animationId: ContentId): AnimationTrack?` Returns an existing [AnimationTrack](/docs/reference/engine/classes/AnimationTrack.md) on this [Animator](/docs/reference/engine/classes/Animator.md) that was loaded from an [Animation](/docs/reference/engine/classes/Animation.md) with the given animation ID. Unlike [LoadAnimation()](/docs/reference/engine/classes/Animator.md), this method does **not** create a new [AnimationTrack](/docs/reference/engine/classes/AnimationTrack.md) instance; it only looks up a track that was previously loaded. If multiple tracks have been loaded for the same animation ID, this method returns the first match. If no matching track exists, it returns `nil`. *Security: None · Thread Safety: Unsafe · Capabilities: Animation · Simulation Access: true* **Parameters:** | Name | Type | Default | Description | |------|------|---------|-------------| | `animationId` | `ContentId` | | The asset ID of the [Animation](/docs/reference/engine/classes/Animation.md) whose loaded track should be retrieved. | **Returns:** `AnimationTrack?` — The first [AnimationTrack](/docs/reference/engine/classes/AnimationTrack.md) on this `Animator` that was loaded from the given animation ID, or `nil` if none has been loaded. **Get Animation Track by ID** The following [LocalScript](/docs/reference/engine/classes/LocalScript.md), when placed in [StarterPlayerScripts](/docs/reference/engine/classes/StarterPlayerScripts.md), loads a "kick" animation onto the player's character and plays it. Then, after 1 second within a [RunService:BindToSimulation()](/docs/reference/engine/classes/RunService.md) binding, it gets the animation track by its animation asset ID and uses that reference to stop playing the track. ```lua local Players = game:GetService("Players") local RunService = game:GetService("RunService") local ANIM_ID = "rbxassetid://2515090838" local player = Players.LocalPlayer local character = player.Character or player.CharacterAdded:Wait() -- Ensure that the character's humanoid contains an Animator object local humanoid = character:WaitForChild("Humanoid") local animator = humanoid:WaitForChild("Animator") -- Create a new Animation instance and assign an animation asset ID local kickAnimation = Instance.new("Animation") kickAnimation.AnimationId = ANIM_ID -- Load the animation onto the animator local kickAnimationTrack = animator:LoadAnimation(kickAnimation) -- Play the animation track after a short delay task.wait(3) kickAnimationTrack:Play() local startTime = tick() RunService:BindToSimulation(function(deltaTime: number) if tick() - startTime > 1 then -- Get track by ID and stop its playback local kickTrack = animator:GetTrackByAnimationId(ANIM_ID) if kickTrack and kickTrack.IsPlaying then kickTrack:Stop() end end end) ``` ### Method: Animator:LoadAnimation **Signature:** `Animator:LoadAnimation(animation: Animation): AnimationTrack` This method loads the given [Animation](/docs/reference/engine/classes/Animation.md) onto this `Animator`, returning a playable [AnimationTrack](/docs/reference/engine/classes/AnimationTrack.md). When called on an `Animator` within models that the client has network ownership of, for example the local player's character or from [BasePart:SetNetworkOwner()](/docs/reference/engine/classes/BasePart.md), this method also loads the animation for the server as well. Note that the `Animator` must be in the [Workspace](/docs/reference/engine/classes/Workspace.md) before making a call to `LoadAnimation()` or else it will be unable to retrieve the [AnimationClipProvider](/docs/reference/engine/classes/AnimationClipProvider.md) service and throw an error. #### Warning Do **not** use `LoadAnimation()` in an attempt to retrieve an existing track. Calling `LoadAnimation()` always creates a **new** [AnimationTrack](/docs/reference/engine/classes/AnimationTrack.md) instance which may impact game performance if overused. Instead, use [GetTrackByAnimationId()](/docs/reference/engine/classes/Animator.md) when you need to look up a track that was already loaded. #### Loading an Animation on Client or Server In order for [AnimationTracks](/docs/reference/engine/classes/AnimationTrack.md) to replicate correctly, it's important to know when they should be loaded on the client or on the server: - If an `Animator` is a descendant of a [Humanoid](/docs/reference/engine/classes/Humanoid.md) or [AnimationController](/docs/reference/engine/classes/AnimationController.md) in a player's [Player.Character](/docs/reference/engine/classes/Player.md), animations started on that player's client will be replicated to the server and other clients. - If the `Animator` is **not** a descendant of a player character, its animations must be loaded and started on the server to replicate. The `Animator` object must be initially created on the server and replicated to clients for animation replication to work at all. If an `Animator` is created locally, then [AnimationTracks](/docs/reference/engine/classes/AnimationTrack.md) loaded with that `Animator` will not replicate. *Security: None · Thread Safety: Unsafe · Capabilities: Animation · Simulation Access: true* **Parameters:** | Name | Type | Default | Description | |------|------|---------|-------------| | `animation` | `Animation` | | The [Animation](/docs/reference/engine/classes/Animation.md) to be used. | **Returns:** `AnimationTrack` ### Method: Animator:RegisterEvaluationParallelCallback **Signature:** `Animator:RegisterEvaluationParallelCallback(callback: Function): ()` *Security: None · Thread Safety: Unsafe · Capabilities: Animation* **Parameters:** | Name | Type | Default | Description | |------|------|---------|-------------| | `callback` | `Function` | | | **Returns:** `()` ### Method: Animator:StepAnimations **Signature:** `Animator:StepAnimations(deltaTime: float): ()` Increments the [AnimationTrack.TimePosition](/docs/reference/engine/classes/AnimationTrack.md) of all playing [AnimationTracks](/docs/reference/engine/classes/AnimationTrack.md) that are loaded onto the `Animator`, applying the offsets to the model associated with the `Animator`. For use in the command bar or by plugins only. The `deltaTime` parameter determines the number of seconds to increment on the animation's progress. Typically this method will be called in a loop to preview the length of an animation (see example). Note that once animations have stopped playing, the model's joints will need to be manually reset to their original positions (see example). *Security: PluginSecurity · Thread Safety: Unsafe · Capabilities: Animation* **Parameters:** | Name | Type | Default | Description | |------|------|---------|-------------| | `deltaTime` | `float` | | The amount of time in seconds animation playback is to be incremented. by. | **Returns:** `()` **Preview Animation in Studio** This code sample includes a function that can be used to preview an animation on a character model in Roblox Studio, without needing to run the game. ```lua local RunService = game:GetService("RunService") local function previewAnimation(model, animation) -- Find the AnimationController and Animator local animationController = model:FindFirstChildOfClass("AnimationController") local animator = animationController and animationController:FindFirstChildOfClass("Animator") if not animator then return end -- Load the Animation to create an AnimationTrack local track = animationController:LoadAnimation(animation) track:Play() -- Preview the animation local startTime = tick() while (tick() - startTime) < track.Length do local step = RunService.Heartbeat:wait() animator:StepAnimations(step) end -- Stop the animation track:Stop(0) animator:StepAnimations(0) -- Reset the joints for _, descendant in pairs(model:GetDescendants()) do if descendant:IsA("Motor6D") then local joint = descendant joint.CurrentAngle = 0 joint.Transform = CFrame.new() end end end local character = script.Parent local animation = Instance.new("Animation") animation.AnimationId = "rbxassetid://507765644" previewAnimation(character, animation) ``` ## Events ### Event: Animator.AnimationPlayed **Signature:** `Animator.AnimationPlayed(animationTrack: AnimationTrack)` Fires for all [AnimationTrack:Play()](/docs/reference/engine/classes/AnimationTrack.md) calls on [AnimationTracks](/docs/reference/engine/classes/AnimationTrack.md) created and owned by the `Animator`. *Security: None · Capabilities: Animation* **Parameters:** | Name | Type | Description | |------|------|-------------| | `animationTrack` | `AnimationTrack` | | ## Inherited Members ### From [Instance](/docs/reference/engine/classes/Instance.md) - **Property `Archivable`** (`boolean`): Determines if an Instance and its descendants can be cloned using - **Property `archivable`** (`boolean`): *(deprecated, hidden)* - **Property `Capabilities`** (`SecurityCapabilities`): The set of capabilities allowed to be used for scripts inside this - **Property `Name`** (`string`): A non-unique identifier of the Instance. - **Property `Parent`** (`Instance`): Determines the hierarchical parent of the Instance. - **Property `PredictionMode`** (`PredictionMode`): - **Property `RobloxLocked`** (`boolean`): A deprecated property that used to protect CoreGui objects. *(hidden)* - **Property `Sandboxed`** (`boolean`): When enabled, the instance can only access abilities in its `Capabilities` - **Property `UniqueId`** (`UniqueId`): A unique identifier for the instance. - **Method `AddTag(tag: string): ()`**: Applies a tag to the instance. - **Method `children(): Instances`**: Returns an array of the object's children. *(deprecated)* - **Method `ClearAllChildren(): ()`**: This method destroys all of an instance's children. - **Method `Clone(): Instance`**: Create a copy of an instance and all its descendants, ignoring instances - **Method `clone(): Instance`**: *(deprecated)* - **Method `Destroy(): ()`**: Sets the Instance.Parent property to `nil`, locks the - **Method `destroy(): ()`**: *(deprecated)* - **Method `FindFirstAncestor(name: string): Instance?`**: Returns the first ancestor of the Instance whose - **Method `FindFirstAncestorOfClass(className: string): Instance?`**: Returns the first ancestor of the Instance whose - **Method `FindFirstAncestorWhichIsA(className: string): Instance?`**: Returns the first ancestor of the Instance for whom - **Method `FindFirstChild(name: string, recursive?: boolean): Instance?`**: Returns the first child of the Instance found with the given name. - **Method `findFirstChild(name: string, recursive?: boolean): Instance`**: *(deprecated)* - **Method `FindFirstChildOfClass(className: string): Instance?`**: Returns the first child of the Instance whose - **Method `FindFirstChildWhichIsA(className: string, recursive?: boolean): Instance?`**: Returns the first child of the Instance for whom - **Method `FindFirstDescendant(name: string): Instance?`**: Returns the first descendant found with the given Instance.Name. - **Method `GetActor(): Actor?`**: Returns the Actor associated with the Instance, if any. - **Method `GetAttribute(attribute: string): Variant`**: Returns the value which has been assigned to the given attribute name. - **Method `GetAttributeChangedSignal(attribute: string): RBXScriptSignal`**: Returns an event that fires when the given attribute changes. - **Method `GetAttributes(): Dictionary`**: Returns a dictionary of the instance's attributes. - **Method `GetChildren(): Instances`**: Returns an array containing all of the instance's children. - **Method `getChildren(): Instances`**: *(deprecated)* - **Method `GetDebugId(scopeLength?: int): string`**: Returns a coded string of the debug ID used internally by Roblox. - **Method `GetDescendants(): Instances`**: Returns an array containing all of the descendants of the instance. - **Method `GetFullName(): string`**: Returns a string describing the instance's ancestry. - **Method `GetStyled(name: string, selector: string?): Variant`**: Returns the styled or explicitly modified value of the specified property, - **Method `GetStyledPropertyChangedSignal(property: string): RBXScriptSignal`**: - **Method `GetTags(): Array`**: Gets an array of all tags applied to the instance. - **Method `HasTag(tag: string): boolean`**: Check whether the instance has a given tag. - **Method `IsAncestorOf(descendant: Instance): boolean`**: Returns true if an Instance is an ancestor of the given - **Method `IsDescendantOf(ancestor: Instance): boolean`**: Returns `true` if an Instance is a descendant of the given - **Method `isDescendantOf(ancestor: Instance): boolean`**: *(deprecated)* - **Method `IsPropertyModified(property: string): boolean`**: Returns `true` if the value stored in the specified property is not equal - **Method `QueryDescendants(selector: string): Instances`**: - **Method `Remove(): ()`**: Sets the object's `Parent` to `nil`, and does the same for all its *(deprecated)* - **Method `remove(): ()`**: *(deprecated)* - **Method `RemoveTag(tag: string): ()`**: Removes a tag from the instance. - **Method `ResetPropertyToDefault(property: string): ()`**: Resets a property to its default value. - **Method `SetAttribute(attribute: string, value: Variant): ()`**: Sets the attribute with the given name to the given value. - **Method `WaitForChild(childName: string, timeOut: double): Instance`**: Returns the child of the Instance with the given name. If the - **Event `AncestryChanged`**: Fires when the Instance.Parent property of this object or one of - **Event `AttributeChanged`**: Fires whenever an attribute is changed on the Instance. - **Event `ChildAdded`**: Fires after an object is parented to this Instance. - **Event `childAdded`**: *(deprecated)* - **Event `ChildRemoved`**: Fires after a child is removed from this Instance. - **Event `DescendantAdded`**: Fires after a descendant is added to the Instance. - **Event `DescendantRemoving`**: Fires immediately before a descendant of the Instance is removed. - **Event `Destroying`**: Fires immediately before (or is deferred until after) the instance is - **Event `StyledPropertiesChanged`**: Fires whenever any style property is changed on the instance, including ### From [Object](/docs/reference/engine/classes/Object.md) - **Property `ClassName`** (`string`): A read-only string representing the class this Object belongs to. - **Property `className`** (`string`): *(deprecated)* - **Method `GetPropertyChangedSignal(property: string): RBXScriptSignal`**: Get an event that fires when a given property of the object changes. - **Method `IsA(className: string): boolean`**: Returns true if an object's class matches or inherits from a given class. - **Method `isA(className: string): boolean`**: *(deprecated)* - **Event `Changed`**: Fires immediately after a property of the object changes, with some