Rig

Skeleton (set of bones) used for animation creation.

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Avatar (system) body shape

The original SL avatar body bone system underneath everything. Always present. The actual set of bones used to define body shape. Mesh bodies are worn over it, rigged to it, but animations use the system body skeleton.

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The great variety of shapes in Second Life is a cause of animation misalignment.

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Bento

Extended SL skeleton with extra bones (face, hands, wings, tail, etc.). With Bento, the body skeleton did not change; Bento bones are added to it.

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Character animation

General term: animations meant for avatars / characters (walk, sit, dance, etc.).

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Partial animations

Animations affecting only a certain set of bones. It is common for them to be made with higher priority to override already playing animations.

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AO animations

Animations used by an Animation Overrider: stands, walks, sits, runs, etc. They have specific requirements and are made according to world usage.

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Furniture/Object animations

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Animations created for use in furniture. Unlike AO animations, they don’t have to be world-oriented and can be created freely in that sense. Often not usable as AO animations.

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.bvh

Old SL animation format (Biovision). Still widely used.

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.anim

SL internal animation format (more modern than BVH, better precision). Added as an upload option years ago.

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Animation Priority

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Determines the hierarchy of animation playback. Higher priority will override animations with lower priority. BVH goes up to 4, .anim can go up to priority 6. AO animations are usually priority 3 and 4, furniture ones 4 and 5. Priority 6 should be used for partial body animations only.

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Default SL animations

Animations built into SL (walk, run, sit, fly, etc.). Along with animating the avatar when AO is not in use, they hold bones in place and reset their rotations. The absence of default animations for Bento body parts is a huge oversight by LL and a cause of stuck Bento bones.

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Sequence

A chain of animations played one after another, connected by script.

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Quasi sequence

Sequence created by any set of animations that are not made specifically for sequencing.

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Scene sequence

A scene made out of animations specifically made for sequencing. They cannot be used as standalone files or played in any other order than created.

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Animesh

Rigged mesh object that plays animations like an avatar (NPC / pets / creatures). It uses avatar skeleton/bones for animation.

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What can be animated in SL

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Characters: avatar and animesh.
Beyond animesh, it is not possible to animate objects outside of Second Life.

In-world, there are scripted systems that can animate objects without rigging.

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