Thus, certain motion states can have one or more kinematic chains of bones, with the motion of a control point at the end of the kinematic chain selected as part of the motion state, and the control points within the kinematic chain determined automatically. During design of an animation, the limitations on the kinematic chain can be presented to a designer as part of an interface, with an option to create motion patterns within the limits of the range of motion for the chain. Alternatively, particular motions of a kinematic chain can be presented, with a designer selecting between possible motions. As described above, certain frameworks can include sets of motion patterns, with a designer simply assigning probabilities to preferred motions. This can function for both simple animations of a single bone that is part of a chain from a parent reference point through multiple bones with a control endpoint, as well as for inverse kinematic chains. Further, a state-space can include both states with motion patterns for each individual control point, motion patterns for kinematic chains, or both in the same state-space for a computer animation model.