Abstract: A method of animating a virtual object within a virtual world, wherein the virtual object comprises a plurality of object parts, the method comprising: at an animation update step: specifying a target frame in the virtual world; and applying control to a first object part, wherein the control is arranged such that the application of the control in isolation to the first object part would cause a movement of the first object part in the virtual world that (a) reduces a difference between a control frame and the target frame, the control frame being a frame at a specified position and orientation in the virtual world relative to the first object part and (b) has a substantially non-zero component along at most one or more degrees of freedom identified for the first object part.