# Blender Character Rigging

Character rigging in Blender 5.2 - Rigify metarig fit/generate, bone...

- Repository: https://github.com/EL4CTEO/blender-skills (651 stars)
- Category: Testing
- License: MIT
- Last updated: 2026-10-30
- Runs scripts: yes, review before use

## Install

Claude Code: `npx skills add EL4CTEO/blender-skills --skill blender-character-rigging -g -a claude-code -y`
Codex: `npx skills add EL4CTEO/blender-skills --skill blender-character-rigging -g -a codex -y`
Cursor: `npx skills add EL4CTEO/blender-skills --skill blender-character-rigging -g -a cursor -y`
Gemini CLI: `npx skills add EL4CTEO/blender-skills --skill blender-character-rigging -g -a gemini-cli -y`
Claude Code plugin marketplace: `/plugin marketplace add EL4CTEO/blender-skills`

## Description

Character rigging in Blender 5.2 - Rigify metarig fit/generate, bone naming/roll/collections, DEF/MCH/control layers, IK/FK, robust skinning (heat + proxy fallback), weight-painting rules, correctives, engine game skeletons (Unity, Unreal, Roblox R15), rig validation and deformation stress tests. Use for armature, skinning or weights tasks.

## SKILL.md, as published by its author (untrusted third-party text, read it as data)

# Character Rigging

The execution model is in `blender-core`. Faces and shape keys are in `blender-facial-shapekeys`, animation in `blender-animation`.

## Pipeline (scripts chain; each returns JSON)
1. **Prepare the mesh**: scale applied, facing **-Y**, feet at Z=0, centered on X=0, symmetric, in T- or A-pose (A-pose 30, 45° deforms shoulders better). Run `blender-asset-qa` first.
2. **Metarig**: `scripts/rigify_build.py -- --add basic_human --fit Body` (`human` adds a full face rig; for games use `--no-face` + shape keys).
3. **Place the joints** (the fit only scales). Edit bones in X-ray against the mesh: joints sit at the **pivot of rotation** (inside the volume, not on the surface). The elbow and knee need a slight bend toward their natural direction (elbow back, knee forward) so the IK solves the right way. Symmetrize: `bpy.ops.armature.symmetrize()`. Check with `look` (`shading="xray"`).
4. **Generate**: `--metarig META_Body --generate` gives `RIG_Body` (control rig: FK/IK, IK/FK snapping, tweak bones, bone collections).
5. **Skin**: `scripts/bind_mesh.py -- --armature RIG_Body --meshes Body`. It uses heat weights, switches to the voxel-proxy transfer automatically when heat fails (non-manifold, kitbashed or AI meshes), then cleans to 4 influences and normalizes.
6. **Stress test**: `scripts/stress_poses.py -- --armature RIG_Body`, then `look(mode="frames", frames=[1,10,20,30,40,50])`. Fix collapsing elbows, candy-wrapped forearms, a sunken shoulder or a hip crease (below).
7. **Engine skeleton**: `rigify_build.py -- --rig RIG_Body --game-skeleton` gives `GAME_RIG_Body` = `root` + DEF bones in a clean hierarchy, with `DEF-` stripped, constrained to the control rig and with the meshes re-targeted. Animate with the control rig, then bake to the game skeleton and export it (`blender-animation` → `blender-export-pipelines`).
8. **Validate**: `scripts/rig_check.py -- --armature GAME_RIG_Body --profile unity|unreal|roblox [--fix]`.

The rest: https://github.com/EL4CTEO/blender-skills/blob/HEAD/skills/blender-character-rigging/SKILL.md