thanks for your answer. my animation looks to be playing back fine now. i have a question about how i can edit the right hand when he lifts the box, but not affect the movement of the box. The hand is not far down enough to where the fingers are holding the box but if i try to move it, the box moves along and not the hand because it is influenced by it. if i turn the influence off the box goes back to its original position and gets messed up after i turn the influence back on. is there a way i can fix the right hand without messing up the box?