Copy Animation to Bone is a specialized operator that allows you to copy animation from any animated object directly to an armature’s active bone—all without leaving Object Mode. This is perfect for transferring motion-tracked data, physics simulations, or prototyped animations to your character rigs.

How It Works

In Object Mode, select your animated source object (like a cube, camera, or mesh with location/rotation animation), then shift-select the target armature. Make sure the armature has an active bone selected (you can set this in the Outliner or by briefly entering Pose Mode). Access the AnimCopy menu from the right-click context menu or the Object menu under Animation, and select Copy Animation to Bone.

Common Use Cases

• Prototyping: Animate simple objects to work out timing and motion paths, then transfer the polished animation to your rig’s bones.
• Motion Tracking: Track real-world motion with empties or objects, then apply that motion data directly to armature bones.
• Physics Baking: Simulate physics on a mesh object, bake the results, then transfer the baked animation to a bone for further refinement.
• Cross-Rig Workflows: Animate a proxy object once and batch-transfer it to multiple character rigs, saving time on repetitive setups.

Redo Panel Options

The Redo Panel for Copy Animation to Bone includes the same options as Copy Animation to Selected:

• Target: Choose which F-Curves to copy (All, Transform, Selected F-Curves, or Selected Keyframes)
• Copy Modifiers: Include F-Curve modifiers in the copy
• Copy Mode: Replace existing animation or add to it
• Frame Offset: Shift the timing of copied keyframes
• Force Same Rotation Mode: Automatically match rotation modes between source and target
• Remap X, Y, Z: Adjust axis mappings for different orientations
• Paste Extrapolation: Copy extrapolation settings

Compatibility

Copy Animation to Bone works seamlessly with both Blender’s legacy animation system (pre-5.0) and the new layered animation system (5.0+) with slots and channelbags. The operator automatically detects and respects your armature’s existing action structure, whether it uses slots or traditional F-Curves.