AetherBlend

Writing Rig Modules

A rig module describes how one part of a character (arms, eyes, hair, ...) is turned into a Rigify rig. Modules are small classes that run a list of instructions.

Where modules live and which one to copy as a starting point can change, so look for the demo module in the rig generator's library.

Rules#

  • R-M.1 A module variant defines class Module(RigModule) with name, requires and ui_collections.
  • R-M.2 Build steps are the methods meta_edit, meta_pose, final_edit and final_pose. Define only the ones you need.
  • R-M.3 Steps only call functions from the instruction set. A step MUST NOT use bpy.ops directly.
  • R-M.4 A variant is exposed from its package __init__.py and listed in __all__. A new part package is added to the modules package.
  • R-M.5 Helpers shared by variants of one part go in a file whose name starts with _.

Build Steps#

Step Runs on Typical use
meta_edit meta rig, edit mode create, connect, align and parent bones
meta_pose meta rig, pose mode assign Rigify types, bone collections
final_edit generated rig, edit mode adjust bones after Rigify ran
final_pose generated rig, pose mode constraints, drivers, locks

requires#

A tuple of bone names that must exist in the source armature. If any is missing, the module is skipped, so a character without that part still generates.

Example#

"""Demo module: copy this to start a new rig module."""

import bpy

from ....definitions import RigModule
from ....instructions import *
from ....rigify.settings import BoneCollection, UI_Collections


class Module(RigModule):
    name = "Demo"
    requires = ("j_example_bone",)
    ui_collections = UI_Collections(
        [
            BoneCollection(name="Demo (IK)", ui=True, color_set="IK_Left", row_index=1, title="Demo IK"),
        ]
    )

    def meta_edit(self, rig: bpy.types.Object) -> None:
        connect(rig, "demo_bone", "j_example_bone", "j_example_bone", end_point="tail", parent="Spine.001")

    def meta_pose(self, rig: bpy.types.Object) -> None:
        rigify.basic_super_copy(rig, "demo_bone")
        collection(rig, ["demo_bone"], "Demo (IK)")