hey thanks for the informative post Christian! I have a working ragdoll from an old newton demo. It doesn't use bone animation however but rather employs multiple body parts.

I was hoping to use this to drive a bone model, by attaching the corresponding body parts. not rotating, but moving - I know there is a bone move command, I am not sure if this will do what I need tho.

My fall back approach right now is to use a segmented model for crazy death, falling downs stairs, etc. anims at a distance, where the segmented model will not be that noticeable.