SmartBody characters can perform various skills and tasks if they are configured to do so. Some capabilities require a particular skeleton topology or joint names, while others require a set of configuration data, or motion files. For example, characters can nod, shake or move their heads sideways, but require three joints in the neck and spine named spine4, spine5 and skullbase to do so. If the skeleton does not possess such named joints, a joint mapping can be applied to map one joint name to another and thus enable the default capability (see section on Using Custom Skeletons and Animations for more details.) The following is a brief list of capabilities and requirements for them to work:
| Capability | Requirements |
|---|---|
| Head movements: nodding, shaking, tossing | Skeleton with 3 joints in spine and neck named spine4, spine5 and skullbase |
| Gazing | Skeleton with the following joints: spine1, spine2, spine3, spine4, spine5, skullbase, face_top_parent, eyeball_left, eyeball_right |
| Lip syncing | Face Definition that includes viseme definitions. For joint-driven faces, one motion per viseme and one neutral face motion. For shape-driven faces, only configuration of Face Definition is necessary. |
| Face movements | Face Definition that includes Action Unit (AU) definitions. For joint-driven faces, one motion per Action Unit and one neutral face motion. For shape-driven faces, only configuration of Face Definition is necessary. |
| Locomotion | Motion examples of movement that match the character's skeleton. |
| Idling | Motion files that match the topology of the character's skeleton. |
| Animations | Motion files that match the topology of the character's skeleton. |
| Gestures | A gesture mapping and motions files that match the topology of the character's skeleton. |
| Text-to-speech (TTS) | Either built-in Festival TTS relay, or an external relay using Festival, Microsoft Speech, or any other TTS engine. |
| Eye saccades | Skeleton with the following joints: eyeball_left, eyeball_right |
| Grabbing, touching, reaching | Skeleton topology where shoulder names are: l_sternoclavicular and r_sternoclavicular. Also, a Reach Configuration |
| Constraints | None |
| Physics | Skeleton with root joint called base. |
| Softeyes | Skeleton with the following joints: eyeball_left, eyeball_right |
| Blinking | Either a Face Definition that includes a viseme called blink, or a Face Definition that includes Action Unit 45 definition. For joint-driven faces, one blink motion and one neutral face motion. For shape-driven faces, only configuration of Face Definition is necessary. |
| Motion blends/Parameterized animation | Single or multiple motions files that match the topology of the character's skeleton |