Abstract: We present an approach to improve the search efficiency for near-optimal motion synthesis using motion graphs. An optimal or near-optimal path through a motion graph often leads to the most intuitive result. However, finding such a path can be computationally expensive. Our main contribution is a bidirectional search algorithm. We dynamically divide the search space evenly and merge two search trees to obtain the final solution. This cuts the maximum search depth almost in half and leads to significant speedup. To illustrate the benefits of our approach, we present an interactive sketching interface that allows users to specify complex motions quickly and intuitively.