KE ... please slap me if I am asking a stooopid question ... but can I edit the actual raw CAS animation files in MS3D, or should I be looking at the 'official' CAS tool released by CA earlier on ? I am more at home using that to mess with RTW anims ...and would like to use it for this..but I don't know if I am going to introduce nasty issues if I do. Everything else is going swimmingly.

Your tool handles non-standard animations fine, and converts them over to the new skeleton with very little fuss. If I wanted to make a custom animation for a custom skeleton...how would that work? Not in Max I suspect ...so I wanted to know of there is an MS3D or Max tool or part of the current toolsets that would help.

I wanted to try adding a 'tail' to a human skeleton...and animate that. Just don't know where to start!