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Advanced Rigging
Rigging a Character
  1. 02

    Re-targeting the body

  2. 03

    Re-targeting the face

  3. 04

    Baking the rig

  4. 05

    The mesh deform cage

  5. 06

    Refining cage deformation

  6. 07

    Adding shapekeys to the cage

  7. 08

    Weight painting the hands

  8. 09

    Weight painting the face

  9. 10

    Rigging extra objects

  10. 11

    Body parameters

  11. 12

    Understanding facial actions

  12. 13

    Finishing facial actions

Timelapse
  1. 01

    Vincent Timelapse 01

    Free
  2. 02

    Vincent Timelapse 02

    Free
Posing Vincent
  1. Vincent drunk pose
  2. 02

    Posing Vincent

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Documentation
  1. BlenRig_5_Quick_Introduction_Guide.pdf
Rig
  1. BlenRig 5 for Blender 2.8 (V1.04) Free
  2. BlenRig 5 for Blender 2.7x (V1.02) Free
BlenRig 5 for Blender 2.8 (V1.04)
Juan Pablo Bouza
Juan Pablo Bouza Author
  • Free
Download .zip   2.3 MB
License CC-BY
Report Problem
Rig

BlenRig 5 for Blender 2.8 (V1.04)

This is the official master release of BlenRig, an auto-rigging and skinning system that provides users with a feature film quality rig, including an advanced facial system.

The current version only supports biped characters, but more presets will be supported in the near future.

Rig creation includes:

  • _BlenRig armature
  • _BlenRig Mesh Deform cage and Lattices
  • _Basic body mesh for creating low resolution proxy versions of the characters.

Install

Download the BlenRig .zip file.

Blender allows to install .zip addons easily. Open User Preferences, go to the Add-on tab, and press "Install From File". Then browse to the download directory where the zip is.

Usage

You will find the rig in the Object Add Panel, under the Armature Menu.

In the View3d Sidebar you will find all the animation controls. In the Armature Data Panel you will find all the rigging related tools. Check out the Docs section for a quickstart quide.

System Requirements for animation:

Minimum Processor spec: Intel i3 or AMD equivalent. In this type of computer a high resolution character will roughly reach 24 fps.

Recommended Processor spec: Intel i7 or AMD equivalent. In this type of computer most rigged high resolution characters will run at 35+ fps. Low resolution proxy versions may run at 50+ fps.

Get the latest version

BlenRig is GPL. The latest (development) version is always available on GitLab.

Join to leave a comment.

33 comments
laila.san
laila.san
July 20th, 2021

I hope I will be  able to follow the tutorials in never version of blender. I am renewing my skill for new version, but I fear its too different :D Anyway Thakns for sharing :)

Daniel G
Daniel G
Oct. 8th, 2020

Hi i will sale characters with this rig but i cant find the licence of this addon. Have you a info for me?

Oli Gerber
Oli Gerber
May 8th, 2021

@Daniel G license info can be found on the top of this very page directly under the title.... it's this one: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

mas
mas
May 18th, 2020

1st: The tutorial is hard to follow because of the 2,7 blender version, i see a lot of people having troubles here.

2st :Although i had hard time to find the bake mesh button, i found it but, In 2.82 blender version, the 2.8(v1.04) addon version of BlenRig comes with an script error when Baking the mesh, so we cant proceed further.

HarryQ
HarryQ
May 12th, 2020

Hi, i'm using blender 2.82 and it's so different to 2.7, so i can't understand the tutorial of Blenrig 5 in youtube :(. Is there any tutorial for blender 2.8 out there? Please help

Sandra Tinti
Sandra Tinti
Nov. 1st, 2022

@HarryQ

Sandra Tinti
Sandra Tinti
Nov. 1st, 2022

@Sandra Tinti

lucy.cartoon
lucy.cartoon
Feb. 28th, 2020

Hi ! I'm a user of Blender 2.82, and I just intall BlenRig 5, I can't find the BlenRig 5 Controls Panel. Is that because of my version of blender ? (I restrart blender but it still not here :( )

Alexander Chamberlain
Alexander Chamberlain
Feb. 28th, 2020

*@lucy.cartoon* It now shows up in the right side panel (N Key) when you have the rig selected in Pose mode.

lucy.cartoon
lucy.cartoon
Feb. 29th, 2020

*@Alexander Chamberlain* OOOOOOHHH ! Thank you so much !!!!

Rong Fu
Rong Fu
Feb. 21st, 2020

Hey there, for the folks that looking for methods to import blenrig animation to game engine, I just successfully imported mine into the latest Unreal 4 engine, with facial animation. It works out quite well. I just redid the weight paint on the deform cage onto the original model and combined all separate parts into one. my blender version is 2.82(cus I was using UDIM).

lucy.cartoon
lucy.cartoon
Feb. 28th, 2020

*@Rong Fu* Hey

Sorry, I don't have an answer for you, but a question. So, like I was saying (In my post just overhead before I saw you post.) I'm using blender 2.82 too, but I can't find the BlenRig 5 Controls Panel. It seems that you don't have the same issue than I, so do you have any ideas why I can't no see it ? Or maybe I mistaken where I'm suppose to find it ?

I'm looking on the sidebar (when you press N to toggle View Properties (it open a little window with the Tool, Item,View, Edit, and some add-on to) sorry it's maybe obvious, but I want to be shure we are talking of the same thing)

Thank's Lucy :)

(Sorry if I have make fault, english isn't my mother tongue ^^)

Rong Fu
Rong Fu
April 27th, 2020

*@lucy.cartoon* oh sorry I didn't see your reply! If you have any more questions please comment me, glad to help

Alexander Chamberlain
Alexander Chamberlain
Nov. 10th, 2019

Sorry, I just realized that I posted this in the "Blenrig 5 for Blender 2.7x" forum. Hi Juan Pablo, I've searched for an answer, and can't find one. I've made it through some of Chapter 7 of the tutorials (weight painting the hands) while rigging my character, and I've discovered that the bone "fing_thumb_1_def_L" bends the wrong way (downward instead of toward the fingers) when I try to close the fist with "hand_close_L." I've rolled the bone every way I can possibly try (and then pressed the "custom aligns" button afterward), and it still bends downward instead of inward. My .blend file can be downloaded here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/l9l2k3rkfrdwkoz/SudoDuck15-Rigging-Ch07-04-ThumbProblem.blend?dl=0 I'd be very grateful for some insight (from anyone). Thanks for this amazing add-on!

kj17060
kj17060
Sept. 24th, 2019

Hello. Could you tell me how can I show blenrig mdef cage in blender 2.8? I'm using this version(1.04). But I can't. I'm bothered by this problem long time.

kj17060
kj17060
Sept. 26th, 2019

*@kj17060* Sorry, I resolved it.

Luis Alberto Guerra Miranda
Luis Alberto Guerra Miranda
Sept. 16th, 2019

Hola Juan Pablo y Sav Martin, estoy empezando a dar mis primeros pasos de rigguear, para usar en personajes que modele tomados de internet, para aprender, y no descarto a futuro poder hacer personajes propios, es todo un reto, pero se que con tu herramienta se hará mas fácil. Saludos desde Tucumán, Argentina y MIL GRACIAS por el trabajo que realizas para facilitarnos las cosas.

ilhamyanuar65
ilhamyanuar65
Aug. 27th, 2019

hai, is there blenRig for games ?

Frank Adjei
Frank Adjei
July 17th, 2019

Hello Juan, pardon me for asking a beginner question but am having a tough time rigging a model with with a skirt. Basically any cloth that does not fit tightly to the character( capes, trench coats etc). I find that in the provided blend files on the cloud, there is usually another deformer mesh cage for such clothes but am failing to replicate it. Any feedback from anyone would be greatly appreciated as well. Thanks in anticipation.

Juan Pablo Bouza
Juan Pablo Bouza
July 23rd, 2019

*@Frank Adjei* it's though, hehe. If the cloth follows the body, then you can just duplicate the mdef cage as you had seen. But if it doesn't as with the skirt you mention, what I do is to just use the body cage, then I cut the legs, add bones for the flaps of the skirt and weight paint the new cage of the skirt with those flap bones. Just keep in mind that a mesh deform cage needs to be a closed geometry, so don't leave any gaps on it. So yes, that's basically it, just pain and suffering... if not, just look at the Agent 327 cloth rig... it's damn crazy... but the only solution if you want the cloth to be rigged manually... Otherwise you go into the cloth simulation realm. By the way, I don't receive notifications for these messages so if you wanna ask something else, you can do it here https://blenderartists.org/t/blenrig-5-public-release/660103/225

Frank Adjei
Frank Adjei
July 24th, 2019

*@Juan Pablo Bouza* I studied the files and arrived at the same conclusion also thanks for confirming it.

reg2
reg2
July 12th, 2019

Hello Juan Pablo! Thanks a lot for great BlenRig 5. But IK/FK snapping of hand and head does work incorrect if I'm not mistaken. When switching it occurs jerking.

Frank Reiser
Frank Reiser
July 3rd, 2019

Good Job!! Where can I find a quadruped rig? F.e. that is used for Autumn in SPRING.

Andy Goralczyk
Andy Goralczyk
July 4th, 2019

*@Frank Reiser* You can find autumn and his rig here: https://cloud.blender.org/p/spring/5ca5db31bad6100b1908f534

bekraf2
bekraf2
June 17th, 2019

thanks JP, i am really looking forward for blender 2.8 update...i am already used BlenRig 5 for some my character...quick question though, where do BlenRig 5 control menu, cause in 2.79 i can find it in toolbar but not in 2.8. i already wacth video by Hjalti Hjalmarsson that use your rig in spring which such a game changing movie, using blender 2.8 and he can found it in active tool menu but i can't seems to find it there, so please enlighten me Rig Guru. and again awesome job

bekraf2
bekraf2
June 17th, 2019

*@bekraf2* Never mind already found it

Simon Taylor
Simon Taylor
June 21st, 2019

*@bekraf2* Hi, I'm having the same problem that you were, where did you find it in the end?

bekraf2
bekraf2
June 27th, 2019

*@Simon Taylor* in right side of 3D view, or you can press hot key "N" on 3D view, then you will able to find it under view menu....hope it will help

Taiwo Folu
Taiwo Folu
April 19th, 2019

Awesome! Thank you JP for your amazing work on this.

Luciano A. Muñoz Sessarego
Luciano A. Muñoz Sessarego
April 15th, 2019

Can you fix the problem with CTRL-C that activates the annoying addon?

Luciano A. Muñoz Sessarego
Luciano A. Muñoz Sessarego
April 15th, 2019

*@Luciano Muñoz* pretty please!

Juan Pablo Bouza
Juan Pablo Bouza
April 16th, 2019

*@Luciano Muñoz* Jaja, ya sabía que ibas a aparecer vos reclamando esto! En la próxima versión prometo que lo cambio :D, esto es solo un traspaso a 2.8, nada nuevo :)

Luciano A. Muñoz Sessarego
Luciano A. Muñoz Sessarego
April 19th, 2019

*@Juan Pablo Bouza* soy como el fantasma de las navidades pasadas!

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