[SerializableAttribute]
public class Skeleton : MediaAsset, INeverSavedAsComponent

<SerializableAttribute> _
Public Class Skeleton _
	Inherits MediaAsset _
	Implements INeverSavedAsComponent

Skeletal animation works by having a collection of 'bones' which are actually just joints with a position and orientation, arranged in a tree structure. For example, the wrist joint is a child of the elbow joint, which in turn is a child of the shoulder joint. Rotating the shoulder automatically moves the elbow and wrist as well due to this hierarchy.

So how does this animate a model? Well every vertex in a model is assigned to one or more bones which affects it's position when the bone is moved. If a vertex is assigned to more than one bone, then weights must be assigned to determine how much each bone affects the vertex (actually a weight of 1.0 is used for single bone assignments). Weighted vertex assignments are especially useful around the joints themselves to avoid 'pinching' of the model in this region.

Therefore by moving the skeleton using preset animations, we can animate the model. The advantage of using skeletal animation is that you store less animation data, especially as vertex counts increase. In addition, you are able to blend multiple animations together (e.g. walking and looking around, running and shooting) and provide smooth transitions between animations without incurring as much of an overhead as would be involved if you did this on the core vertex data.

Skeleton definitions are loaded from datafiles, namely the .xsf file format. They are loaded on demand, especially when referenced by a Model.

System..::..Object
  Visual3D.EntityModel..::..ComponentBase
    Visual3D.EntityModel..::..EntityComponent
      Visual3D..::..Registered
        Visual3D..::..Asset
          MediaAsset
            Visual3D.Graphics3D.Animations..::..Skeleton