Animals: choose one, direct it and make your own

The Animals visualizer draws any of our 134 animals in its own habitat. Every layer of the scene moves with your song, and the animal breathes, looks about and acts out its nature on the beat. A new Animals look starts with the wolf; choose another with the Animal control, which you can search by the animal's name or by another name it goes by.

Each animal brings its own body, the way it moves, its colours and its habitat, so changing the animal changes the whole scene. The scene's controls set the time of day, the season, the wind, the weather and how full of trees and plants it is; Variation gives another take on the same scene, and Loop length sets how many seconds pass before the scene repeats exactly, so a clip loops without a seam.

Ask SW Agent for a lion visualizer, or an elephant on the savanna, and it builds the Animals look with that animal.

• Open the Animals visualizer

Every animal has the same 6 scenes, so whichever you choose, each one works:

• Wild Habitat: The animal in its own habitat: it breathes, looks about and flicks its ears on the beat, and on every phrase of the song it makes its call. Clouds drift, light sweeps the far mountains, the trees sway in one wind and snow, pollen or bubbles drift past.
• On the Move: The animal on the move, trotting, galloping, flying or swimming, while its habitat streams past in layers, the near plants fastest and the far mountains barely at all. Its steps land on the ground they pass, and the loop closes.
• Night Watch: The same habitat at night: the moon, stars that twinkle with the high notes, the aurora or fireflies, and the animal's eyes catching the light. Calm enough for talk and late sets.
• Wild Weather: The habitat's storm: a blizzard, monsoon rain, a sandstorm or a surge. The song's energy drives the wind and the weather, lightning comes on the big moments and the animal braces into it.
• Portrait: Close up: the animal's head and shoulders fill the frame, every breath, blink, ear and whisker on the music, its habitat soft behind it.
• Together: A pack, herd, flock or school: several of the animal at three depths, each its own build and timing. On every phrase the leader calls and the others answer in turn.

Each animal lives in one of 11 habitats, each with its own moving scenery:

• Boreal forest: Snowy spruce forest under far mountains: the taiga of the north.
• Temperate forest: Oak and maple woods with a creek, changing with the seasons.
• Mountains: High peaks, rocky ledges and alpine meadows above the clouds.
• Savanna: Golden grass, acacia trees and a big sky over the plains.
• Jungle: Rainforest canopy, vines and big leaves by a jungle river.
• Desert: Dunes, mesas, cacti and heat shimmer under a hard sun.
• Polar ice: Sea ice, glaciers and snowfields at the ends of the Earth.
• Open ocean: Blue water lit from the surface, or the waves and sea cliffs above it.
• Coral reef: Coral heads, sea fans and anemones in clear tropical water.
• Wetland: Reeds, lily pads and still water in a misty marsh.
• Grassland: Prairie and meadow: tall grass, wildflowers and rolling hills.

Scene actions give the animal a part to play on your song. In Classic open Scene actions; in Studio select the Animals layer and open Actions on the song in the inspector; in Generate visualizer open Actions on the song on the animal's layer. Add an action and choose when it starts: at a time, on a beat, on a bar, on a phrase, on the drop or every loop. An action can hold for a few seconds and repeat, and between actions the animal keeps its own routine or holds a pose you choose. In a scene of several animals an action is for everyone, the lead or the others.

Walking off, running away, coming back and lying down need ground to stand on, so they are offered in Wild Habitat, Night Watch, Wild Weather and Together; in On the Move and Portrait a startle stands in for running away. Grazing is offered to the animals that eat plants, and a hunter told to graze sniffs instead. The call is the animal's own: a wolf howls and an elephant trumpets.

In Classic or Studio you can also ask SW Agent in words, for example "make the deer run away on the drop" or "have the wolf howl on every phrase", and it sets the actions for you.

• Graze: Head down to the grass, chewing on the beat.
• Drink: Head down to drink, lapping quickly.
• Sniff: Nose to the ground, working a scent on the beat.
• Look up: Head up and still, ears pricked, listening.
• Walk: Walks out of the frame and back in round the other side.
• Run away: Startles, then bolts off at a gallop and stays away until it comes back (hold: how long the run takes).
• Come back: Walks back in from the other side to its spot.
• Lie down: Lies down, legs folded under, breathing slowly.
• Call: Its own call: a howl, roar, trumpet, bellow, bugle, bleat, chitter or head toss.

In Generate visualizer, Add an animal puts any of our animals over your picture, on its own or in its whole habitat, moving to the song. Open Make it your own on its layer to change it: give it a name of up to 40 characters, another body shape and habitat, its own coat, underside, accent and markings colours, its markings, and up to 8 features. Start over puts it back as it was.

Your animal is drawn by the same rig as every animal in the Animals visualizer, so the preview and the export match, and it keeps your design when you bring the work into Classic or Studio. Only what the rig really draws is offered: 44 body shapes and the 9 land habitats.

• Body shapes: Wolf or dog, Fox, Cat, Big cat, Snow leopard, Cheetah, Hyena, Bear, Panda, Raccoon, Weasel or otter, Deer, Cattle or antelope, Bison, Goat or sheep, Horse, Llama, Camel, Giraffe, Elephant, Rhino, Hippo, Pig or boar, Rodent, Squirrel, Rabbit or hare, Kangaroo, Monkey, Ape, Sloth, Anteater, Armadillo, Hedgehog, Koala, Small mammal, Horned dinosaur, Plated dinosaur, Armoured dinosaur, Long-necked dinosaur, Whip-tailed dinosaur, Hunting dinosaur, Sail-backed dinosaur, Raptor, Duck-billed dinosaur.
• Markings: Plain, Lighter underneath, Saddle, Stripes, Spots, Rosettes, Patches, Dapples, Bands, Face mask.
• Features: Mane, Neck ruff, Fluffy coat, Whiskers, Antlers, Horns, Curved horns, One horn, Tusks, Trunk, Crest, Frill, Hump, Spines, Back plates, Back sail, Long neck, Long legs, Long ears, Round ears, No ears, Bushy tail, Long tail, Short tail, Tail club.

• Open Generate visualizer