MT-103 Character Rig

If you think I should create more rigs, feel free to buy me a drink! Every little helps :)

Created by: Oliver Simonnet
Tested in: Blender 4.1.1

A robotic character rig to use as you please.

Please try and remember to give credit if used.

- IK / FK Switching on arms and legs w/ pole vectoring

- Limb isolation from torso rotation.

- Detachable limbs and hips for independent animation.

- Reverse foot rig setup with foot roll mechanism.

- Animation masking.

- Rig UI + Custom Properties

Created by: Oliver Simonnet

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Change Control Notes - "And this is why I needed people to test it for me! :)"

Tip: If you have existing animation, you can apply these updates by downloading and linking the new rig into your scene. Then to apply your existing animation select the rig and within the action editor assign any existing MT103 "actions" within your scene to the new rig.

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[+] Version 2.0. (2024-06-05)

FIXED: Rig UI to work with Blender 4+ Bone Collection



[+] Version 1.4.0. (2023-01-24)

ADDED: 00-keying action with pre-keyed keying-set

ADDED: Embedded README.txt file with more detailed instructions on linking and features

FIXED: Enabled library overrides for linking into blender 3.2+

[+] Version 1.3.4.

IMPROVED: Shoulder deformations [again!] The previous update to fix the shoulder deformation when the arm rotation is isolated from the body was prone to flipping and gimbal issues. This has been resolved.

IMPROVED: GPU / CPU load by disabling additional drivers / modifiers on HD mesh when proxy mesh is enabled.

[+] Version 1.3.3.

IMPROVED: GPU consumption by disabling the subd and armature modifiers on this hidden "main" mesh whilst in proxy mode. Although proxy mode hid the HD mesh and showed the low rez proxy, improving performance, the armature and subd calculations were still constantly being performed against the hidden main mesh in the background, impacting performance.

[+] Version 1.3.2.

ADDED: Instructions (README.txt) on rig linking and Rig UI

ALTERED: Scene Collections (again) to [even] better aid Linking into other projects without having duplicate rig overlays. 

ALTERED: Enabled the proxy mesh by default (_PROXY = 1) as the high rez model will show in renders anyway - no need to toggle before rendering.

[+] Version 1.3.1.

FIXED: Shoulder deformations so it works in both local and world (arm follow (on/off)) modes. Shoulder deformations would previously work when rotating the arm, but wouldn't compensate when rotating the body. (old bug, sorry. Took me a good while to figure out how to fix it)

[+] Version 1.3.

CREATED: A new (even lower poly) proxy mesh for the rig (_PROXY 0/1 property) to improve viewport playback

FIXED: Loss of ability to independently tweak head rotation when using the "head track" property

FIXED: UVing issues on fingers

ADDED: Anchor points on the hands (shared between Ik and FK) where you can parent / pin objects

[+] Version 1.2.5.

ALTERED: Scene Collections to make it even cleaner to link into larger projects

FIXED: Improved neck bend

[+] Version 1.2.4.

ALTERED: Scene Collections to aid Linking into larger projects

[+] Version 1.2.3.

FIXED: Render issues. Rendering of the animation masks was enabled on the objects. This has been disabled to resolve the rendering issue.

[+] Version 1.2.2.

FIXED: IK / FK Blending issue. Blend was fine, but blending bones seem to have become detached from one another (though still parented). Fixed so the leg and arm forms are maintained during blending.

[+] Version 1.2.1.

FIXED: Additional issue with Head tracking - specifically. These issues were due to the mixture of world and local space constraints and the layering of custom properties. (such as follow/track/FK).

[+] Version 1.2.

FIXED: Shoulder armor deformation. Previously did not deform properly when in IK mode

FIXED: Head tracking. Previously the head tracking broke when rotating the root control.

FIXED: Head Follow. Head isolation (aka following toggle) was only effective when rotating the chest and not when rotating the entire torso.

FIXED: Rig_UI cleaned up a bit. Flipped left and right.

[+] Version 1.1.

INITIAL RELEASE