Establish scene scale and character height before creating bones. Build a named hierarchy with positive bone lengths and deform flags, then bind one intended body mesh and assign explicit, topology-bound weights. Inspect bound meshes and bone lengths after binding.
Use IK targets and pole controls for limbs that need planted or directed endpoints; keep FK available through the underlying pose bones. Add joint limits only where their axes and ranges are understood. Test that moving a hand or foot controller changes the intended chain without moving unrelated controls.
For props, keep one object and use an explicit constraint whose influence can be animated. Check world-space continuity at every ownership switch. Rebuild or rescale from recipe parameters when height changes; do not fake a rig by keyframing disconnected body-part objects. Current automatic weight painting and production deformation cleanup are not claimed—use explicit groups and inspect the result.
rig.rigify_status distinguishes a bundled module from an enabled add-on. After explicit approval,
use gated rig.rigify_install: prefer the bundled Blender 5.2 module, optionally persist user
preferences, and do not use the network. Set allowDownload: true only when Rigify is genuinely
absent and the user authorized an official Extensions download; the command accepts no custom URL or
package ID. Call rig.rigify_generate only when status reports its operator available and the selected
armature is a compatible metarig. Rigify creates controls and bones; it does not replace mesh skinning
or weight validation.
When to Use
Use when the character needs an editable armature, skinning, IK controls, joint limits, or prop constraints. When only creating animation, hand it over to blender-character-animation。
Prerequisites
- Character mesh, scene units, target height, topology version, and deformation requirements have been confirmed.
- Bone naming, hierarchy, symmetry rules, IK chains, pole directions, and joint ranges of motion are clearly defined.
Workflow
Step 1. Check mesh transforms, normals, non-manifold areas, and object scale, and save the baseline revision number. Step 2. Establish forward bone lengths, a hierarchy with explicit roll and deform flags, and verify symmetry relationships. Step 3. Bind the single target mesh, create explicit vertex groups, and clean up non-normalized weights. Step 4. Add IK, pole, limit, and prop constraints, and move each controller to verify its influence range. Step 5. Save and reopen, and test the main joints and contact areas with extreme poses.
Validation
Report bone count, zero-length bones, hierarchy, bound mesh, unweighted vertices, weight sums, controller tests, and extreme pose previews. For Rigify, also record state detection and operator availability.
Rules and Capability Boundaries (Not Applicable Scenarios)
Armature generation does not equal high-quality skinning; automatic weights must be manually checked. This skill does not claim to complete facial rigging, muscle systems, or production-grade deformation cleanup.
Gotchas
- Mesh does not follow the armature: check the modifier, object binding, and vertex group names.
- IK is unstable: recheck bone roll, pole angle, and chain length.
- Weight spikes: locate the affected vertices and normalize them; do not rebind the entire character to mask the problem.