Docs / Getting started / First launch
First launch
The seven Animatica menu items, and pointing the plugin at a local server or at Animatica Cloud.
After the restart, a top-level Animatica menu sits in Max's main menu bar.
#The Animatica menu
Six items, in the order the menu shows them:
| # | Item | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Open Animatica Tool… | Shows the docked Animatica tool window — the main window, which owns all of the plugin's state. |
| 2 | Console… | Opens the Console in its own window. The main window is opened first, because the log lives on it. |
| 3 | Settings… | Opens the Settings window — backend, server URL, rig options and interface toggles. |
| 4 | Load Example Prompt… | Opens the chooser over the example prompts the shared core ships. It is modeless, so you can keep it open while you work; picking it again focuses the existing chooser instead of stacking another one. If the tool window is still opening, the plugin says so and asks you to pick the item again. |
| 5 | User Manual… | Opens the user manual vendored with the plugin in your web browser. If the browser cannot be launched, the address is shown in a message box so you can copy it. |
| 6 | About Animatica | A short message box naming the product and the MMCP server it talks to. |
The same window also opens from a MAXScript listener or the Python console:
import animatica_to_max
animatica_to_max.show_ui()
#Choosing a backend
Open Animatica ▸ Settings… and pick how motion is generated. Settings is a window rather than a card, and it shares the tool window's state, so a change here applies immediately.
#Local
Leave the backend on Local and set the Server URL — the default is
http://localhost:8000. Start your own MMCP server, then press Test to
confirm the plugin can reach it.
If it cannot, the plugin offers three actions: Switch to Cloud, How to start the server (guidance only — Animatica never launches a server process for you), and Dismiss.
#Cloud
Switch the backend to Cloud (api.animatica.ai), enter your Email and Password, and press Log In. Log Out and Test Connection sit alongside it.
The header pill reports the last verdict. Availability is re-probed on first show, on Test, when you switch backend, and — debounced — while you type a URL. Typing only updates the pill; a backend switch may also offer recovery actions.
One account, one server, every host — the backend choice, the server URL and your sign-in are shared by every Animatica plugin on the machine, so signing in or changing the URL in one application covers the others. Everything else in the Settings window is per-host.
Once a server answers, the 00 · Model card fills in from its capabilities. Until then, the model dropdown holds the model you used last and the facts line reads "Connect to a server to read this model's capabilities."
Next: The tool window.