So, I wanna start doing Gmod animations using the stop motion helper tool, but is there a good way to go about this?

This could be for any model with known animations one can access, but TF2 mercs just seem the most simple to explain with.

Let's say I wanted an engineer doing his running animation for when he's carrying a toolbox/deployable.
Is there a way I can get some poses on his ragdoll to make him do that, and be able to tweak parts on top of it?

I intend on taking screenshots, and the Animated Prop Tool isn't a great solution.
Yes, I could easily get his animation, but not in a way that works with screenshotting or remixing anything with the pose, like say, slightly adjusting his arms to fit something else with the ragdoll mover.
I could do the playback option, but that ruins everything else if it doesn't match the scene/frame count I need, plus it'll only loop the run wherever he is, making it look janky if the scene called for a slight movement change.
Pausing the model, and moving it's actual animation in the context menu frame by frame could be an option, but again, it fails to become transformative, and it's janky looking.

I've seen some folks animate in gmod, have the animations look 1 to 1, but then still shift bits and pieces mid animation, so surely there is a way, right?
If anyone has any ideas, I would love to hear them. Thank you.


(Idk if this was too confusing, but simply put, I wanna animate models with their premade in game animations (Example: TF2 Engineer running while holding something), take frame by frame pictures of the movements ((without using a prop that runs the animations in real time)), and be able to edit the model mid animation with something such as the ragdoll mover tool.)

Maybe there is no proper solution, but I would still appreciate the help.
Thank you.