To create a smooth transition from one animation to the next, design your animation sequences to begin and end with a neutral image. For more information, see Designing Characters for Microsoft Agent(http://www.microsoft.com/workshop/prog/agent/deschar.htm. However, this does not mean that every animation must end at the neutral position. You can animate a character through a sequence of frames, have it speak during the last frame, and create a separate, complementary animation that returns the character to the neutral position. This complementary animation is called a Return animation. Define a Return animation like any other animation. To assign the Return animation, select an animation in the tree, and select the Return animation you created from the Return Animation drop-down list on the Properties page.
Creating and assigning a Return animation has an added benefit: When the server gets a request to play another animation, it will attempt to play the Return animation for the last animation it played, if a Return animation is assigned. This ensures a smooth transition. If an animation begins and ends at the neutral position, you don't need to define a Return animation. Similarly, if you intend to handle transitions from one animation to another yourself, you may not need to assign a Return animation.