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syntaxHighlight/machine-design

Refines motion control, linkage, timing, rhythm, and cycles for machine mechanisms; validates handoffs and arbitrary frame jumps; used for animation production or motion issue resolution.

What is machine-design?

This skill, named machine-design, is specialized for perfecting the motion control, linkage, timing, rhythm, and cycling of machine mechanisms within a 3D animation environment, particularly for Blender. Its primary use cases include creating believable machine animations, debugging motion problems such as timing errors or broken constraints, and ensuring that complex mechanical assemblies move correctly through all phases of their operation. The skill integrates tightly with existing tools by first inspecting the current scene (using machine-inspect) to understand controllers, parent-child relationships, and drivers before making any changes. It also leverages a capabilities query (blender-capabilities) for selecting appropriate constraint types or modifiers. The workflow emphasizes minimal rework by asking users to adapt existing control rigs rather than building temporary animation layers, and it sets clear boundaries: minor geometry adjustments for motion are allowed, but a full redesign or layout change is handed back to the modeling skill (machine-model). Key technical checks include verifying handoff positions between parts, ensuring seamless looping without state drift during arbitrary frame jumping, separating decorative static assets from required moving parts, and requiring a separate clearance analysis beyond simple Limit constraints (which cannot replace geometry-based collision checking). Finally, the skill supports baking derived animations only when absolutely necessary for export, while preserving editable mechanism structures whenever possible.

Works with✓Claude Code~Codex CLI~Cursor
npx skills add https://github.com/syntaxHighlight/machine-design/tree/HEAD/skills/machine-animate

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Documentation

动画

Read the work convention. Adopt controllers and mechanisms from the modeling or existing assets; avoid building a separate temporary animation set and redoing work later. Allow constraint refactoring for the final motion; first inspect control parameters, parent-child relationships, drivers, and script references. Use scene inspection when information is insufficient. Use capability query when selection is needed. If the task shifts to redesigning the main layout or functional components, modeling takes the lead; any local geometry adjustments required for motion are done according to the relevant rules.

  1. First confirm motion responsibility, pivot points, start and end poses, and allowable contact and handoffs; then adjust speed, pauses, and cycles. Evaluate motion plausibility and presentation rhythm separately; simplified motion should not claim to be engineering simulation.
  2. The preview player uses the model's existing controllers and mechanisms; do not build a separate motion logic layer. Verify playback from arbitrary poses, forward/backward jumps, reset, and cycling without state drift; pose evaluation must not depend on frame-to-frame cumulative state. Calculate deformation of extendable parts based on a fixed reference length or reference geometry; check UV density whenever geometry changes.
  3. After mechanism refactoring, check for missing targets, drivers, object references, handoff positions, and affected compound actions. Separate decorative static parts from essential motion; do not animate every fastener.
  4. Observe continuous motion, critical handoffs, and occlusions per review; read evaluation geometry for collision checks when necessary. Ordinary Limit constraints cannot substitute for geometry clearance checks; separately document the expected contact of cutting tools and any allowed fixed joinery between rigid parts.
  5. Preserve editable mechanisms; only bake derived animations when export absolutely requires it. When exporting deformations, check topological stability; evaluated mesh indices are not guaranteed to be consistent across frames.

Completion criteria: Expected motion, handoffs, rhythm, and cycles are observable; random jumps show no state drift; sampling coverage and unverified continuous sweep ranges are clearly stated. Passing individual frames or limited poses does not imply continuous collision-free motion.

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