A finite element procedure is presented for finite deformation analysis of continuum structures with time-dependent anisotropic elastic-plastic material behavior. An updated Lagrangian formulation is used to describe the kinematics of deformation. Anisotropic constitutive relations are referred, at each material point, to a set of three mutually orthogonal axes which rotate as a unit with an angular velocity equal to the spin at the point. The time-history of the solution is generated by using a linear incremental procedure with residual force correction, along with an automatic time step control algorithm which chooses time step sizes to control the accuracy and numerical stability of the solution.