# HEAT Animations with State Machines

When trying to utilize HEAT animations within a State Machine you may run into issues with the skeleton of the animation not being compatible with the state machine.  Follow these steps to resolve:

1. Make sure you have imported a HEAT animation properly by either drag and dropping the animation from the plug-in window into your scene or into an animation sequence.  Use the '**Unreal Mannequin**' import option when bringing in the animation.  The HEAT animation will now appear in the Content Browser at **'All -> Content -> HEAT\_Animation'**.
2. In the content browser you can open your newly imported animation and see that, while it is retargeted to the SK\_Mannequin skeleton, it is targeting to a SK\_Mannequin skeleton within the HEAT directory.  We need to change this to be compatible with a system wide Unreal SK\_Mannequin skeleton.
3. With the animation asset window open click the '**Skeleton**' button (<img src="/files/b2O932MIFhQVYRfaEAEk" alt="" data-size="line">) at the top of the window.
4. Now in the '**Skeleton**' window navigate in the top menu to '**Window -> Asset Details**'.
5. In the '**Asset Details**' window click the + sign next to '**Compatible Skeletons**' and using the drop down choose the correct skeleton with the proper file location.  In this situation we are looking for '**SK\_Mannequin**' within the '**Game/Characters/...**' directory.
6. HEAT Animations pulled in on the mannequin skeleton will now work properly with state machines.

<figure><img src="/files/UijEay9WPsq0uYXqWQLt" alt="" width="563"><figcaption><p>choosing the proper compatible skeleton within the asset details of the animation skeleton</p></figcaption></figure>


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