When you’re making a Survivor mod, sometimes you pour in many hours creating your character only to see that the way they hold the weapon doesn’t feel right to you. Whether that being on the character’s body language, or on a technical level – such as there being major clipping issues – it just wasn’t right. This guide aims to help you on what would be the best animation that would work for your character.
 
 

General Info

This guide assumes that you already know how to make Survivor mods. It also assumes that you’ve made Survivor mods that have had their animations swapped for another Survivor. (I.E: A mod that replaces Coach, but uses Bill’s animations.)
 
 
 

The Three Traits

There are three traits that goes into deciding which Survivor’s animations you could use. Those traits are the following:
 
 

Gender

 
Self explanatory, as you’d most likely want to use a Survivor’s animation that matches your new character’s gender.
 
 

Body Language

 
The biggest reason as to why you’d want a specific Survivor’s animation. Most Survivors can be seen as, “Proficient,” with how they use weapons. Although there are some alternatives for those who’re more unique.
 
 

Size

 
Surprisingly, size can play a big role! This is typically taken into consideration when you don’t want to use the Size Proportion Trick. However, it’s still important due to how some Survivors grip their weapons differently because of their size.
 
 
Of course you don’t have to follow this to a T; perhaps your character is male but is more feminine and would work with a female’s anim, but these are the general checks that I myself use when picking a Survivor’s animation.
 
 
With that being said, why don’t I introduce you into each Survivor.
 
 
 

Bill

 
“… This s@!&’s getting like ‘Nam every second.”
 
 

[Short Description]

 
– Out of all the Survivors in the game, Bill is what I’d consider to be the, “original.” If each Survivor’s animations were the branches of a tree, than Bill is the roots that allows everyone else to grow. Every Survivor has a little bit of Bill in them. Even the most unique has a touch of Bill.
 
This is because most Survivors use Bill’s animations.
 
 

[Anim Info]

 
– Because Bill’s a war veteran, he already knows how to work with weapons. He’s the safest option that most modders use when making their Survivor mods. The being said, he does hold most of his weapons head-level. Good for most regular-looking modded Survivors. However, if you have a character that’s more toony and has a bigger head, this could make things look a little weird. See Nick as an alternative.
 
 

 
 
Tom Nook survivor using Bill’s animations. Weapon clips through head.
 
With this Tom Nook model, using Nick would actually be worse. Because of how stubby his arms are, the way Nick holds his rifles would make Nook shove his right arm inside his torso. This leaves no other option than Bill’s animations.
 
 
Of course, this isn’t a cure-all answer. There will always be weapons that’ll clip, such as the Sniper rifles. Some things are just unavoidable.
 
 

[Body Language]

 
– Professional
 
As stated above, Bill’s a war vet. He knows how to work with guns. There’s not much else to add here in regards for picking an animation for your new Survivor mod.
 
 

[Size]

 
– Bill’s size is the middle-ground of all the Survivors. Not much to add for the middle-man. In regards to using the Size Proportion Trick, this is the 2nd tallest character that you can use that changes their grip on guns. Francis & Louis don’t change their grip, so I wouldn’t use them based on them having larger hands.
 
 

[The Jank]

 
– Bill’s CalmRun_Rifle animation has a bit of jank where the gun occasionally clips in his torso. Other than that, The Last Stand actually fixed most jank with Bill; most noticeably, his missing Collapse_to_Incap animation. This was added by replacing the unused Death animation. Not to be confused with the Death_10ab animation which has the actual death animation.
 
 

[Recommendation]

 
– Because Bill is the Survivor that all other Survivors borrow from, I’d first check to see if other Survivors could fit more with your character. Having variation can give them more life, even if it’s tiny. That being said, Bill’s still a great option for your Survivor mod. The only thing you may worry about would be if your character’s head is big. As stated earlier, refer to Nick if that’s the case.
 
 
 

Louis

 
“Oh it’s a b!$#% apocalypse now, b!$#%!”
 
 

[Short Description]

 
– Going back to that tree analogy. If Bill’s the roots that grow the tree, than Louis is the bark all over the tree. He is just a taller Bill.
 
 

[Anim Info]

 
– As stated above, Louis is just a taller Bill. There’s no difference with Louis’ animations when compared to Bill’s, other than their sequential order. It’s just a separated Bill anim with $scale 1.05 applied to make them taller.
 
 

[Body Language]

 
– Professional
 
Same as Bill.
 
 

[Size]

 
– Louis is the 2nd tallest Survivor, although he’s tied with Francis when compared skeletal-wise. Despite the size, I’d only use Louis if I were making a mod that didn’t need to use the Proportion Trick. Refer to The Jank.
 
 

[The Jank]

 
– Although it’s not as prominent, Louis’ fingers weren’t compensated for his larger size. Because Valve only used $scale 1.05 on the anims, the fingers are still in the same rotation that worked for Bill’s smaller hands. Other than that, Louis also has the same Jank Bill deals with.
 
 

[Recommendation]

 
– I’d only use Louis if you’re making a mod that replaces Louis and you don’t want to use the Size Proportion Trick. If your character needs the trick, I’d just use Bill’s skeleton and use his anims instead as posing would be more accurate for gripping the weapons.
 
 
 

Francis

 
“Oh yeah, I love steam! I just hate the pipes…”
 
 

[Short Description]

 
– And if Louis was the bark of the tree, than Francis is that weird stub that sticks out of the tree. It’s not long enough to be a branch, but it’s big enough that it doesn’t just snap off.
 
 

[Anim Info]

 
– Francis shares the same animation files as Louis, so everything said about Louis is applied here. (Another taller Bill.) However, Francis has a few unique animations included that make him stand out. Kinda. He mainly has his own unique Rifle animations; he holds them more above the waist than at head-level. After The Last Stand, he was also given a more dramatic Idle_Rescue_01c animation. (Trapped in the closet anim.)
 
 

[Body Language]

 
– Professional
 
Same as Bill.
 
 

[Size]

 
– Mesh-wise, Francis is the tallest Survivor. Skeletal-wise, Francis & Louis are tied for being the tallest Survivor. Just like Louis, him being taller doesn’t help much due to the Jank unless you don’t want to use the Proportion Trick and want a taller Survivor.
 
 

[The Jank]

 
– Just like Louis, he has the same $scale 1.05 finger jank going on, but it’s much more prominent.
 
 

 
 

 
 
Otherwise, same jank as Bill.
 
 

[Recommendation]

 
– I’d only use Francis if you just want his unique Rifle animations. Otherwise, just use Bill’s.
 
 
 

Nick

 
“… And from the looks of you three, I’m the only one here who knows how to fire a weapon.”
 
 

[Short Description]

 
– Finally, one of the branches that sticks out of the tree! Well, Nick actually reuses Bill’s animations too… But unlike Francis and Louis, he has more unique animations included. More than Francis at least!
 
 

[Anim Info]

 
– Nick is basically a reskinned Bill. I mean that literally, as both Nick and Bill use the exact same skeleton, allowing you to swap between the two’s animations without any limb distortions. The only difference with the two is how Nick hold his Pistols, Rifles, and the Military Sniper rifle. (Melee weapons are a bit different as well, but are barely noticeable, {breathing is a bit faster, bat swinging…})
 
The Last Stand also gave Nick unique Auto Shotgun anims and he also uses that more dramatic, “I’m stuck in the closet,” animation Francis uses. Nick also has more dramatic Collapse_to_Incap and Die_Standing animations.
 
 

 
 
Rifle being held lower than the head. Good for big-head Survivor Mods.
 
 

[Body Language]

 
– Mostly Professional
 
Despite the rifle and pistols not being held at head-level, everything else is as professional as Bill. He doesn’t like to rotate his shoulders up as much due to the suit he’s wearing. For your Survivor mod, Nick would be a great alternative if your character’s wearing heavy/restrictive clothing.
 
 

[Size]

 
– Because Nick is a reskin of Bill, he has the same size as Bill – both are the middle-ground of all the Survivors.
 
 

[The Jank]

 
– Nick’s rifle animations just look weird. His fingers clip inside the grip, and his index finger is behind the trigger.
 
 

 
 
Desert Rifle has the worst clipping.
 
 
This jank could possibly help you if your character has much larger fingers.
 
You might be wondering how the rifle looks bad here, but the image used in the Anim Info looks fine. That just used a mod that fixes Nick’s finger jank. You can get the mod used here. – [steamcommunity.com] 
 
 
– It can look weird defibbing Nick if he died standing, as his anim will have him fall on his side with his legs almost crossed.
 
 

[Other Info]

 
– Despite using the same skeleton as Bill’s, Nick’s mesh has his hands a bit off when the two are compared. Because of this, just swapping Nick with Bill’s anims can give you unwanted results.
 
 

 
 
Using Bill’s anims, hands clip inside pistol. Shoulder looks dislocated.
 
 
Despite both being the same, Nick’s rigging makes it look off with Bill’s other animations. It’s almost like Nick was rigged with a suit that limits movement in mind – hence why the shoulder looks weird on Bill’s Pistol/Rifle anims, they’re not supposed to raise up so much being in a suit.
 
 

 
 
Back view of same animation.
 
 

 
 
Bill using Nick’s animations.
 
 

[Recommendation]

 
– Nick is a great alternative to Bill. I’d pick Nick for;
 

• Big Head
• Wearing an outfit that limits arm movement.
• Variation

 
 
 

Rochelle

 
“Axe me a question. I dare you.”
 
 

[Short Description]

 
– If you recall, there’s a pattern with each Survivor being listed. That pattern being, “Who is the most unique in terms of using Bill’s animations?” Here’s Rochelle, and not only is she the first Female in the list, there’s still two males left to go… Yep. Rochelle is a Petite, Feminine Bill.
 
 

[Anim Info]

 
– Similar to Nick, Rochelle has her own unique animations mixed in with Bill’s animations. She definitely has more unique anims compared to Nick, though. Unlike Nick, she has one weapon that mixes both her’s and Bill’s, the SMG. Probably the best way to describe her strange mix of Bill’s anims and her own would be to list which SMG anims are unique.
 
 

Rochelle	Bill
Idle_Standing_SMG	Idle_Crouching_SMG
Idle_Calm_SMG	Idle_Injured_SMG
Run_SMG	Walk_SMG
CalmWalk_SMG	CrouchWalk_SMG
—	CalmRun_SMG

To my knowledge, this is the only weapon that mixes the two’s animations instead of it just being completely unique or completely copied.
 
 
Despite what Nick would say, Rochelle knows how to hold most weapons. Her most, “questionable,” offense would be her holding the rifle, which ironically enough is similar to how Nick holds his rifles – although she holds them more slanted.
 
 

 
 
Other than that, she’s – as stated before – a Petite Feminine Bill.
 
 

[Body Language]

 
– Um, I’m not sure how else to fill this in other than using the phrase, “strut that stuff.” Rochelle’s body language is somewhat more on the show-off side, while still being somewhat proficient.
 
 

[Size]

 
– Rochelle is the shortest Survivor out of everyone. Her size plays a big role on how she holds the weapons, as most guns are large compared to her hands. Refer to The Big Deal about Size down in this guide but to keep it brief, using the proportion trick on Rochelle can still give you unwanted results if your new character’s hands are more on the large-side of things. Rochelle is the only Survivor where her size can play a bigger role than her Body Language.
 
 
UNRELEASED MOD FOR DEMONSTRATION PURPOSES
 
 

 
 
Despite being small, the hands are too big to work with Rochelle’s animations.
 
 

[The Jank]

 
– When holding two pistols, Rochelle’s left hand’s index finger is not placed over the pistol’s trigger. Similar to Nick’s rifle animation, she has strange trigger discipline.
 
 

 
 
Left index finger rests underneath trigger.
 
 

[Recommendation]

 
– Unlike all the other Survivors, I’d prioritize her Size over everything else. Does your new character have small hands? Then I’d pick Rochelle. Otherwise, Rochelle’s still a good choice for those more on the, “show-y,” side of things. Just don’t use a character whose hands are large.
 
 
 

Coach

 
“Man, I ain’t ever killed nothin’ before.”
 
 

[Short Description]

 
– Now we’re at the top of our tree. Unlike the others who’ve been branches, Coach grows off of the branches becoming the leaves. We now begin to see the more, “unique,” Survivors.
 
 

[Anim Info]

 
– Coach has never really used firearms before. His inexperience can leave him to holding weapons like the SMG and the Rifle more around gut-level. Despite this, he’s still a, “team player,” as shown with him helping other Survivors up from the ground. Coach is… Well, he’s a coach after all.
 
 

 
 
Coach yelling and clapping his hands to get Ellis up.
 
 

[Body Language]

 
– Inexperienced/Casual, but caring.
 
Depending on what character you’re modding into the game, perhaps they have little experience with weapons. As stated above, Coach may not know how to hold the weapons properly, but he does know how to get someone up from a bad fight. Because of the way he holds his weapons, you can also interpret his body language being more casual.
 
 

 
Character that would hold weapons in a more nonchalant manner.
 
 

[Size]

 
– Coach is the tallest Survivor of the L4D2 group, 3rd tallest overall. Interestingly enough, his skeleton is the same height as Francis/Louis’, but they don’t have the same scale, which can cause some limb distortions if you were to just swap anims without using the appropriate skeleton. Unlike Francis and Louis, Coach’s hands were indeed made to grip the weapons accordingly to his size. This makes Coach the tallest Survivor you can use in regards to using the Size Proportion Trick.
 
 

[The Jank]

 
– Because Coach holds most of his weapons around his gut, there’s a chance that the character you’re adding may have issues. Mainly, your new character may have their arms and hands clip inside their body. This typically happens when your new character’s arms are stubby/small when compared to their torso.
 
If your new character has smaller arms, you should avoid using Coach.
 
 

 
 
Tom Nook using Coach’s anims. Arms clip through torso.
 
 

[Recommendation]

 
– Because of the more casual appearance on how Coach uses his weapons, this would be a great choice for those who either:
 
 
A.) Don’t know how to use guns.
 
B.) Are more laid back, but still cares for the team.
 
 
However, if your character has small/stubby-like arms when compared to their torso, you should avoid using Coach as his anims will most likely make your new character have their arms clip into their torso. A good way to tell is if your character can touch their hands together by just using their forearms. If you character has to extend their arms all the way out like an Animal Crossing character, then they can’t use Coach’s animations. I’d look at Ellis if this is the case.
 
 
 

Ellis

 
“Haha, zombie apocalypse ain’t all that bad!”
 
 

[Short Description]

 
– Just like Coach, Ellis is also the leaves on the tree. I guess his leaves are more golden than Coach’s, as Ellis is also very unique when it comes to his animations.
 
 

[Anim Info]

 
– Similar to Coach, Ellis doesn’t have much experience with guns. However, he’s much more, “into it,” with his excited body language. Most weapons are held more at chest-level rather than Coach’s gut-level.
 
 

[Body Language]

 
– Inexperienced/Young & Energetic
 
Ellis is similar to Coach where he doesn’t quite know how to hold most weapons. With his more child-like behavior, it’s common to see him leaning & shuffling his feet when not moving. He tends to hold some weapons – such as the pistol – like he’s a hero in an action movie. At least, he thinks he is.
 
 

[Size]

 
– Ellis is the shortest male out of everyone; 3rd shortest overall. (Both females are shorter than him.) There’s not much else to add.
 
 

[The Jank]

 
– When holding the Military Sniper Rifle, if Ellis scopes in and crouches his animation will have him look more towards the ground than aiming straight like other Survivors.
 
 

 
 
Despite aiming forwards, Ellis will default to looking more down.
 
 

[Recommendation]

 
– If your new Survivor mod is more young or is a child, you’re most likely going to use Ellis’ animations. Not only are his animations more impatient, he’s also the shortest male, giving you a bit more leverage when posing his skeleton with smaller models. You can also use Ellis as an alternative to Coach, as they’re both inexperienced with guns.
 
 
Referring to the clipping issue with Coach; If the arms are still clipping through the torso with Ellis’ animations, than use Bill’s.
 
 
 

Zoey

“Game over, man! Game over!”
 
 

[Short Description]

 
– Zoey isn’t part of the tree, or rather she grew off of the tree. She is the apple that fell from the apple tree. She’s completely unique in regards to all the other Survivors. She has only 11 instances of Bill’s animations, which are just aim matrix anims. (In comparison, Ellis still used about 60 of Bill’s.)
 
 

[Anim Info]

 
– Similar to Coach & Ellis, Zoey is her own beast as her animations are completely unique. Like Bill, she holds her weapons head-level. She’s very proficient with weapon usage, making her the modders’ favorite for female Survivors.
 
 

[Body Language]

 
– Proficient
 
Zoey does indeed hold most weapons properly. But then there’s the way she holds the pistol without bending her arm, which is just a bad idea.
 
 

[Size]

 
– Zoey is the 2nd shortest Survivor, but she’s the tallest female Survivor. Not much else to add here.
 
 

[The Jank]

 
– When reloading an auto shotgun, her end animation just has her grip the weapon without really finishing the reload. (Doesn’t pull back the bolt.)
 
A mod exists that fixes this issue which you can get here. – [steamcommunity.com] 
 
 
– On the same reloading topic, Zoey is the only Survivor to have only 1 reloading loop animation for her shotguns, unlike everyone else who has 3. Because of this, having her replace anyone else will force you to only replace 1. You cannot replace all three with the one animation, else you will have her T-Pose with the previous 2.
 
 
I’ve attempted to directly import the reload animation as an .smd from decompiling her anims, but it doesn’t blend correctly. (Weapon rotates 90 degrees. Rotating it back manually breaks IK.)
 
 
– Her arm can look a bit weird when she holds a pistol, since she locks it instead of bending it.
 
 

 
 
Zoey’s arm being locked.
 
 

[Recommendation]

 
– Zoey is the female Survivor that everyone uses. You’ll most likely use Zoey whenever you make a female Survivor mod. That being said, I’d only not use Zoey if your character’s hands are very small. In that case, I’d use Rochelle’s anims instead.
 
 
 

The Big Deal about Size

Now you may have noticed the phrasing along the lines of, “this character’s hands are big for the Proportion Trick,” and such. When you’re using the trick, you want to make it where when you’re posing the skeleton for your new model it can properly grip/hold two-handed weapons.
 
 
For example, you might recall a screenshot used to showcase a short character that had large hands.
 
 

 
 
This character uses Rochelle’s animations. Although she may be small like Rochelle, her hands are the opposite. Now what if instead I used Zoey, who’s bigger than Rochelle?
 
 

 
 
Big improvement! Of course, this won’t always work or be perfect. Depending on your character’s own proportions and size, you might not be able to make things look good regardless on what you do.
 
 
In this example, I have a character who’s extremely small when compared to the other Survivors. Because they are male, I want to use the shortest Male Survivor. However, they’re not short enough.
 
 
ORIGINAL SIZE BEFORE FINAL VERSION
 
 

 
 
Despite using Ellis, the shortest male Survivor, this character is still too small.
 
 
In the image above, the character used has two options to get the grip fixed:
 
a.) Re-pose the character with the Shortest Survivor & use their anims. (Rochelle’s)
 
b.) Make the character bigger and re-pose with wanted Survivor’s skeleton. (Ellis)
 
 
You yourself will be challenged by this if you tend to do mods often. It shows that having backups of pre-applied skeleton poses can really save you some headaches in the future. But, I’m getting a bit off track.
 
So, how does one pose the hands to get the, “proper,” grip?
 
 
 

Posing the Hands

In short, you want to make it where the Survivor’s index finger’s 1st bone/joint matches your new character’s by only moving the hand bone.
 
 

 
 
Hand highlighted in orange is Coach’s.
 
 
In the image above, Coach’s hand was placed inside this new, larger hand. His index bone is around the same spot as the new character’s, but the hand bone itself is inside the middle of the hand rather than placed around the wrist. Why not just have the hand bone placed in the correct spot?
 
 
Just like GMOD, how characters hold and grip weapons and where the guns are placed is mostly determined by the hand bone’s position, not the weapon bone/attachment. This means that by matching the Survivor’s knuckles to the new character’s, it moves the gun towards the center of your new character’s hands. I have it where the index finger is being matched so that the gun can stick out and be seen. If I had not done this, then the gun would be in the middle of the new character’s hands and would be clipping through the fingers.
 
 
Of course, the character’s hands will bend horribly because of its new placement. You will have to re-weight the hand so that it blends/rotates around the bone’s new position.
 
 

 
 
Pre-Reweighting
 
 

 
 
Post-Reweighting
 
 
“But what about the dedicated Weapon bones in L4D2?” Well, that’s a bit tricky.
 
Yes, you can make it where the hand bone is correctly positioned, then move the weapon bone to make the character have best of both worlds. Kinda.
 
 
This only works with the right hand’s weapon bone. The left hand’s only affects 2-handed melee weapons. Things like the dual pistols use the left hand bone itself rather than the weapon bone. Plus, the IK used for Survivors to grip 2-handed guns use both hand bones, not weapon bones.
 
 
I would advise you not to move the weapon bones unless absolutely necessary. For example, the Rivet model once again.
 
 

 
 
In this instance, this model uses a specific joint where the hand bone must be placed in center. Otherwise, the hand would immediately detach from the model whenever it would rotate. Because this is the right hand, I was lucky enough that I could leave the hand bone in its correct position and only change the location of the weapon bone.
 
 
 

TL;DR

Males

 
Bill
 
Safest survivor to use. Not that varied compared to others.
 
 
Nick
 
Alternate Bill. Good if your character has a bigger head. Variation.
 
 
Coach
 
Inexperienced with weapons, but cares for the team. Could also be seen as more laid-back. Don’t use if your new character’s arms are small when compared to their torso, as clipping will occur.
 
 
Ellis
 
Also inexperienced with guns, but is more energetic & childish. Alternative to Coach if new character’s arms are smaller. If clipping through the arms still exist, use Bill.
 
 
Louis & Francis
 
Don’t bother, unless you want Francis’ rifle animations. They’re just taller Bill’s without their weapon grips readjusted.
 
 

Females

 
Zoey
 
Always used, safest option.
 
 
Rochelle
 
Petite Bill. Don’t use if your new character’s hands are big. Only use her if the hands are smaller.
 
 
 

Conclusion

Hopefully, you’ve a better understanding on which Survivor’s animations would work best for your character and I wish you the best on your modding journey. I’m sure that there are more things to add/list about each Survivor in the future, such as the Jank. Farewell, and stay safe!
 
 
~MSF
 
 

 
 
This is all for Left 4 Dead 2 [Modding] Picking Survivor Animations hope you enjoy the post. If you believe we forget or we should update the post please let us know via comment, we will try our best to fix how fast is possible! Have a great day!