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Manual setup gives you full control over every CAS component without relying on the automated wizard. Use this approach when you need a custom configuration, are integrating CAS into an existing character prefab, or simply want to understand every component in depth. Before you begin, make sure the Character Animation System package is already imported into your project.

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Apply the Manual Preset

Follow these steps to apply the Manual preset and add the three core CAS components to your character GameObject.
1

Add your character to the scene

Drag your character prefab into the scene hierarchy, then right-click it and select KINEMATION ▸ Setup CAS.
2

Select the Manual preset

In the Setup CAS window, choose the Manual preset from the dropdown list and click Apply Preset.Applying the preset adds three core components to your character GameObject:
  • Character Animation — the central hub that manages settings, blending, and playback.
  • Layered Blending — controls how the Base Pose and Overlay Pose are mixed across different body regions.
  • Procedural Animation — an optional container for runtime Animation Modifiers.
3

Assign an Animator Controller

Select the Animator component on the same GameObject (or a child), and assign a compatible Animator Controller in the Controller field.
Generic Animator Controllers only work with Generic character rigs, and Humanoid controllers only work with Humanoid avatar configurations. Mixing types will result in no animation playing at runtime.

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Create the CAS Settings Asset

The Character Animation Settings ScriptableObject defines everything about a specific gameplay state — weapon equipped, unarmed, crouching with a specific item, and so on. You create one per gameplay state.
1

Open the Character Animation component menu

In the Inspector, locate the Character Animation component and click the three-dot (⋮) menu in its header.
2

Create the asset

Select Create Animation Settings. Unity saves a new ScriptableObject in the currently active Project folder.
3

Configure the asset fields

Select the newly created asset and fill in the following properties:
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struct
Controls how the settings blend in and out when switching states.
  • Ease Mode — the interpolation curve (Linear, EaseIn, EaseOut, EaseInOut).
  • Blend In Time — seconds it takes to fully blend this state in.
  • Blend Out Time — seconds it takes to fully blend this state out.
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AnimationClip
The idle or standing animation for this state. This pose represents the character’s default full-body stance and is used as the lower layer in the blending stack.
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AnimationClip
The weapon or item animation clip. Always assign a clip here — the Layered Blending system reads curve data from this clip to determine per-bone blend weights. Leaving this empty will cause the overlay to have no effect.
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RuntimeAnimatorController
Optional. Assign an Animator Controller here if your overlay requires state machine logic — for example, switching between idle, aiming, and firing states on the upper body.
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ProceduralAnimationSettings
A reference to a Procedural Animation Settings asset that lists all Animation Modifiers applied to the skeleton at runtime for this gameplay state. See the procedural animation setup section below.
4

Attach the Settings to the character prefab

Drag your CAS Settings asset from the Project window into the Settings field on the Character Animation component. This tells the character which settings to use at startup.
You can call characterAnimation.UpdateAnimationSettings(mySettings) from code at runtime to switch gameplay states — for example, when the player equips a different weapon.

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Set Up Curve-Based Blending

CAS uses animation curves embedded directly in each Animation Clip to drive per-bone blend weights at runtime. This means each clip carries its own blending intent rather than relying on a global configuration.
1

Open the Curve Property Editor

In the Project window, right-click your Overlay Animation Clip and select Edit Curve Properties. The Curve Property Editor window opens, listing all animatable parameters on the clip.
2

Select your Character Prefab

In the Curve Property Editor, set the Character Prefab field to your player prefab. This populates the editor with the parameters available on that prefab.
3

Add the Layering parameters

Click Add Custom Parameter and add the following parameters. Press the + icon for the Base Weight, Additive Weight, and Local Weight sub-channels of each parameter:
The parameter names are case-sensitive and must match exactly. The Layering_ prefix is the convention used by CAS to identify blend layer parameters.
4

Tune the blend weights

Enter Play Mode and adjust the weight sliders in the Curve Property Editor. Use these recommended starting values and refine them to suit your animation:
  • Layering_LowerBody — set additiveWeight to 1, baseWeight to 0.4. This lets the locomotion layer mostly drive the lower body while the overlay adds subtle motion on top.
  • Layering_Spine — set baseWeight to 1 to fully apply the overlay to the spine.
  • Layering_Head — set baseWeight to 1 for weapon-carrying stances where the head should follow the overlay.
  • Layering_Arm_R / Layering_Arm_L — set baseWeight to 1 so arms fully follow the overlay pose.
  • Layering_Fingers — set localWeight to 0. Fingers are typically driven entirely by the overlay clip, and the local-space blend should be left at zero.
Bake your final values into the clip’s curves once you are satisfied with the look. This ensures consistent results across all instances of the clip.

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Understand the Layered Blending Component

The Layered Blending component stores the collection of blend layers that define which bones are affected by the blending parameters you configured above. Open the component in the Inspector to view the Layered Blend list. Each entry in the list corresponds to one of the Layering_* parameters and contains a chain of bones that the parameter controls. To view and modify the bone chain for a layer, click the Edit button next to that layer entry — this opens an interactive bone chain selector. Each bone in a layer uses three independent blend values driven by the curves you set:
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float [0–1]
Blends between the Base Pose (0) and the Overlay Pose (1). Use this to transition body parts from locomotion to the equipped-item pose.
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float [0–1]
Controls how much additive motion is applied on top of the current pose. Use this to add procedural breathing, sway, or recoil on specific bone regions.
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float [0–1]
Blends the Overlay in local space, relative to the parent bone. This is especially useful for fingers and toes, and occasionally for arms when you need precise local-space control.
CAS reads these values from the animation clip curves at runtime — the sliders in the Inspector are for authoring reference only. The curves always take precedence during playback.

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Set Up Procedural Animation

Procedural animation lets you drive bones dynamically at runtime using Animation Modifiers — components such as Two Bone IK, Modify Bone, and Stabilize Bone.
1

Create a Procedural Animation Settings asset

On your character prefab, click the three-dot (⋮) menu on the Procedural Animation component and select Create Procedural Asset. Unity saves a new Procedural Animation Settings ScriptableObject to the current folder.
2

Assign the Character Prefab

In the Procedural Animation Settings asset, assign your main player prefab in the Character Prefab field. The prefab’s skeleton is used to bind modifier targets to specific bones in the editor.
If you haven’t created a prefab yet, drag your scene character into the Project window to create one first.
3

Add Animation Modifiers

Click the + button in the Modifiers list and add the modifiers you need. Common choices include:
  • Two Bone IK — positions a two-bone chain (e.g., arm) toward an IK target.
  • Modify Bone — applies offset rotations or translations to a specific bone at runtime.
  • Stabilize Bone — counteracts parent bone rotation to keep a bone world-stable (useful for camera sockets and weapon attachments).
You can add multiple instances of the same modifier type — for example, two separate Two Bone IK entries for the left and right hands.
4

Link the Procedural Settings to your CAS Settings

Open your Character Animation Settings asset and assign the Procedural Animation Settings asset to the Procedural Settings field. CAS will activate these modifiers whenever the corresponding settings are active.
For a full reference on every available Animation Modifier and its parameters, see the Animation Modifiers documentation section.