Abstract: An animation system is made up of an audio analysis unit, having an audio output and a state change output, and a control unit having an input and an output, the input being constructed to receive a state change indication from the audio analysis unit, the control unit being further constructed to generate compositing command information for individual component elements of an animation frame and send the compositing command information out the output. A method of creating an animation from a set of actions involves receiving a set of signals reflecting the set of actions, outputting a set of compositing commands based upon the set of signals, the set of compositing commands being related to the set of signals by sequences of transition data items, and compositing first images into a first animation using the set of compositing commands and a first graphic database.