A graphics processing system and method reduce and/or eliminate artifacts during animation by modifying skinning weights used for animating three-dimensionally imaged, compound objects having at least a first object and a second object. The graphics processing system and method identifies a first vertex of a first mesh of a first object and determines that it corresponds to a second vertex from a second mesh of a second object. The graphics processing system determines skinning weights of the second vertex and generates modified skinning weights. The graphics processing system can then animate the second object in some embodiments using the modified skinning weights.