Armature Builder

Enter Armature Builder

Allows you to enter the Armature Builder, displaying the rigging panels, and where you can manipulate a duplicate armature (labeled the setup armature) that will be used as a setup to generate a Rigify controller rig. Since a duplicate armature is used, changes made to the setup armature won’t affect the base armature.

The setup armature will make use of existing Rigify data if available, and modified Rigify data will be sent back to the base armature so they always match.

Main Panel

Generate

Creates the controller rig from the setup armature, as well as automatically linking the base armature’s bones to it.

If the button is grayed out, make sure to mark at least one bone with a rig type.

Also make sure to assign at least one bone collection to a UI row.

Delete

Deletes the setup armature and controller rig, if available.

Update

Goes back to the armature builder stage, allowing you to further edit the setup armature and re-generate the controller rig.

All animation data, constraint data, layer data, and widget data will be preserved so they can be reapplied in the next generation.

If the character was posed but wasn’t keyframed, a new action will be created automatically to preserve the pose in the next generation.

Cancel Update

Cancels the update process and returns to the controller rig.

Armature Builder Toggle

Toggles the armature builder state, switching between the base armature and setup armature.

Toggle Animation Armature

Toggles the constraints that allow the base armature to be controlled by the controller rig, as well as toggling the visibility of the controller rig.

Active Rig Types

A list of every active rig type in the setup armature, from where they can be selected or deselected.

Bone Parameters

Rig Type

The current rig type of the selected bones. Based on the rig type, different bone controllers will be generated that allow for different ways of handling the bone or chain of bones.

If you want to remove the rig type, click on the x next to the rig type.

Additional rig types from third party developers can be added. If any are installed, a list will show up where you can filter between vanilla and third party rig types.

Custom Bone Name

Changes the name of the current bone to a user defined one in the controller rig. Useful for transferring bones between controller rigs when they share the same names.

It can also be utilized to fix certain cases where X pose symmetry doesn’t work in the controller rig, or simply to have easier to remember names.

Use it instead of the Blender rename feature to avoid causing problems with bone linking.

Parent

The current parent of the active bone. Only editable in edit mode.

Parameters

The parameters for the current rig type, with different parameters based on the selected rig type.

Bone Collections

Presets

List of bone collection presets available. These presets contain bone collections data along with color sets, and other relevant data, which can be switched on the fly depending on what works best for your current character.

By default, only Rigify Default exists which suits most cases, but more can be added if they better fit your needs, and can be exported and shared with others.

Use Preset

Clears the current bone collection list and imports the bone collection data from the selected preset into the list.

Distribute Bones to Collections

Moves bones to their respective collection based on their rig type. Works best with humanoid rig types and the Rigify Default preset.

Custom presets can work as long as the names of the bone collections are roughly similar to that of Rigify Default.

Any rig types that are not part of the usual set for a humanoid type will be ignored. In these cases the bone collection menu can be used instead.

Bone Collections List

A list of every bone collection in the setup armature, along with their Rigify parameters such as their UI row and color set. You can assign bones to collections here, as well as edit collection data.

Clear Bone Collections

Clears the bone collections list.

Color Set

The color the current collection will have in the controller rig.

Selection Sets

Specifies whether a selection set should be generated for this collection.

UI Row

Specifies how the collections will be laid out in the layers panel of the controller rig.

If a collection’s UI row is 0, the collection will be hidden in the controller rig.

UI Title

Overrides the existing bone collection name, allowing for sets of names to be used without name collision.

Color Sets

Color Sets List

List of colors the bones will have in the controller rig based on their collection. Can be customized to colors of your choice.

This data will be preserved in collection presets.

Clear Color Sets

Clears the color sets list.

Unified Select/Active colors

Forces all collections to use the same selected and active colors.

UI Layout

Provides an approximation of the layers panel after armature generation.

Preset Options

Enables creating, renaming, removing, importing, and exporting of bone collection presets.

Armature Operators

Regenerate Setup Bones

Allows the setup armature to resync with the base armature by regenerating any missing bones and repositioning existing bones to match the base armature’s structure.

Bones added in the setup stage will not be deleted or modified by it.

Connect Close Bones

Connects children bones with their parent if their head and tail position matches. Useful for cases where bones are very close but not connected.

Assign Custom Bones Names From Type

Automatically assigns preset names to bones based on their rig type. Useful for having a standard set of names for humanoid controller rigs.

Validate Collection References

Rigify function, meant to be used before and after merging a setup armature with another.

Keybind Operations

Connect Chain

Enabled with Alt C, it connects the currently selected bone to its first child.

If the bone is connecting to the wrong bone, or you want to overwrite the bone connection, select the bone you want to connect it to beforehand.

Extend Chain

Enabled with Alt X, it extends the current bone by an amount that can be specified by dragging the mouse.

The amount can also be tuned in the operator menu (bottom left of the viewport) after applying it. And you can also lock the bone’s motion by locking an axis.

A parent bone is required, as it determines the direction and length of the selected bone.

Change Bone Collection

Enabled with Alt M, it brings a bone collection menu that can automatically assign FK/Tweak bones if available; otherwise, they will get mixed with the selected collection.