Installation

1. Import the package

Assets → Import Package → Custom Package, then import everything.

Upgrading from an earlier version, or from Lite to Pro? Import straight over the top. The assemblies keep their GUIDs across versions and editions, so they are replaced in place - no duplicates, no compile errors, and your settings, libraries and versions stay where they are.

2. Let it install its dependencies

On first launch the Dependency Installer offers to fetch three Unity packages:

Package	Needed for
com.unity.animation.rigging	IK solving in Pose Edit
com.unity.formats.fbx	Skeleton and clip FBX export
com.unity.editorcoroutines	Async library scanning

Accept and they are installed through the Package Manager. You can decline and add them later - the features that need them simply stay unavailable until you do.

3. First run

The welcome window walks you through the remaining setup. You can re-open it any time with Tools → Animation Workbench → Show Welcome Window.

The first library scan starts in the background. You do not have to wait for it: browse while it fills in, and thumbnails appear as they render.

4. Set up a preview character

The one step that actually matters for day-to-day use - without it there is nothing to render previews on.

Tools → Animation Workbench → Characters (Ctrl+Shift+C), then mark a humanoid prefab as default. Full details in Character Setup.

What ends up in your project

Assets/Settings/AnimationWorkbench/
├── Data/          animation library, audio library, channels, rulesets, palettes
├── Audio/         generated audio mixer and SFX source prefab
├── Controllers/   generated animator controllers for previews
├── Resources/     the baked runtime audio database
└── Versioning/    version history - the index, plus the snapshots in Snapshots~

Library/AWAnimationPreviewCache/   rendered thumbnails

:::tip Version control Commit Assets/Settings/AnimationWorkbench/ - that is the configuration your team shares, and the baked audio database has to be in the build.

The Versioning/Snapshots~ folder is part of that. Unity ignores folders ending in ~, which is exactly the point: no .meta file and no import per snapshot. Git treats it as an ordinary folder, so the history travels with the project - unless your .gitignore carries a blanket *~ rule, which would silently drop it.

Leave Library/ out, as usual for Unity. The thumbnail cache is machine-local and rebuilds itself; deleting it costs nothing but render time. :::

Opening the tool

• Tools → Animation Workbench → Open
• Ctrl+Shift+A (Windows/Linux), Cmd+Shift+A (macOS)

Continue with the Quick Start.