Auto-Rig Pro: Rig Library

by Joris in Addons


How do I add a custom prop bone to a rig? For example a weapon bone that's a child of a hand bone.

In this example you shouldn't parent the custom weapon bone to the hand bone, but add a ChildOf constraint with the hand bone as the target.
With Auto-Rig Pro's ChildOf Switcher tool you can then adjust the parenting influence while maintaining bone transformations.

How can I turn on stretchy arms/legs for my rig?

Stretchy arms/legs are turned off by default in order for the rigs to be game engine compatible. So if you want your rig to work correctly in Unity/Unreal, don't turn on stretchy arms/legs.

But these are the steps to turn on stretchy arms/legs:

  1. Select the mesh in Object Mode > go to its Modifier Properties > in the Rig modifier check on Preserve Volume
  2. Go into Pose Mode > select the hand/foot controller > open the Tool tab in the viewport > make sure the arm/leg is in IK mode > Item tab > turn on auto_stretch
Why is my model pink?

Because Blender can't find its textures.
Go to File > External Data > Find Missing Files > navigate to the textures folder

How can I append or link a rig into my scene?

First of all, for both methods make sure that in the Outliner your model is placed within the root collection of your rig.

Appending (creating a copy of the rig):
File > Append > browse to the rig file on your computer and double-click it > Collection > select the root collection of the rig (the one with only the name of the rig, so NOT the collections rigname_cs and rigname_grp_rig) > Append.

Linking (creating a reference to the rig source file):

  1. File > Link > browse to the rig file on your computer and double-click it > Collection > select the root collection of the rig (the one with only the name of the rig, so NOT the collections rigname_cs and rigname_grp_rig) > Link
  2. Object Mode > Object > Relations > Make Library Override
  3. Note that you can’t edit a linked rig. You will need to do that in the rig source file.

Please be aware that in Blender a rig can reference only one action. So when you bring in a rig (through appending or linking) that contains multiple animations,  it will only contain the action that is active in the original rig file.

Why do the knees of my human character go inwards in Unity when setting the rig type to Humanoid?

It's because of the exporter of Auto-Rig Pro, but there's a workaround:

  1. Export the rig with the Auto-Rig Pro exporter in Blender.
  2. Upload the exported fbx to Mixamo.
  3. Download a new fbx there, make sure to have the pose set to T-pose.
  4. Import this new fbx in Unity. When you set the rig to Humanoid, notice that the knees no longer go inwards.
How do I add a custom bone to my rig?

Please have a look at this video tutorial.

I can’t see the custom clavicle bones for the Giraffe/Dragon/Horse when editing the reference bones.

That is because Auto-Rig Pro requires that custom bones are in the controller bones layer, and you are looking at the bones that are in the reference bones layer.

This tutorial video gives a complete explanation.

Which rigs have custom bones?

The Giraffe, Dragon and Horse rigs all have custom clavicle bones.

How do I add extra limbs (i.e. legs/arms/ears etc.) to my rig?

Auto-Rig Pro add-on > Edit Reference Bones > select a limb from the Add Limb dropdown > Match To Rig

How do I correctly remove a bone chain from my rig?

Auto-Rig Pro add-on > Edit Reference Bones > select a bone in the desired chain > Disable > Match To Rig

Some channels in the Graph Editor give an error.

This happens when you change the amount of bones in a limb to a SMALLER amount of bones. The channels of the bones that have been removed will give an error in the Graph Editor. You can simply select all these channels and delete them.

How do I adjust the number of bones in a chain?

Auto-Rig Pro add-on > Edit Reference Bones > select a bone in the desired chain > Limb Options > change the amount of bones > Match To Rig

Note that when you change the bones to a HIGHER amount, those extra bones won't contain any keyframes/animation.

Why do I get the error message "Warning, armature scale will be set to 1 (Init Scale is enabled), but some scale keyframes were found."?

You probably had Auto Keying on when you scaled the rig, thus creating scale keyframes.
Be sure to turn off Auto Keying when scaling a rig.

What is the purpose of the block-mesh that comes with every rig?

It can be used as a reference for the placement of bones within your own model, and also acts as a visual guide when scaling the rig.
But it is safe to delete if you don't need it.

Why are the rigs animated on 30fps and not 24fps?

Because all the rigs have been setup with export to a game engine (Unreal/Unity) in mind. A frame rate of 30fps is the standard for game animation.

If you wish to animate on 24fps, you can go to the Output Properties in Blender and change the frame rate there. But be aware that this will adjust the timing of the existing animations (the animations will become slightly slower).

The animations of the rig are suddenly gone in the Action Editor.

Make sure to turn on the Fake User shield for all the actions of a rig.
When you don't turn on Fake User for the actions, it can happen that Blender will remove them when re-opening the .blend file.

But even if you forget to turn on Fake User and you lose the actions, you can simply add the same rig again in the scene and immediately remove it. The actions of the removed rig will still be there and can be used on your previous rig.

How does the Auto-Rig Pro: Rig Library work?

Please have a look at this workflow video tutorial.

Do you have a list with the specific animations that are included in the Complete Version?
  1. Allosaur - walk
  2. Apatosaurus - walk
  3. Bear - walk
  4. Bird - fly
  5. Cat - walk
  6. Crab - walk
  7. Dog - run
  8. Dolphin - swim
  9. Dragon - fly
  10. Duck - walk
  11. Elephant - walk
  12. Giraffe - walk
  13. Gorilla - walk
  14. Horse - gallop
  15. Human - walk, run
  16. Kangaroo - jump
  17. Lizard - walk
  18. Mouse - run
  19. Ostrich - run
  20. Pig - trot
  21. Shark - swim
  22. Snake - slither
  23. Spider - walk
  24. Turtle - walk
How do I install the Auto-Rig Pro: Rig Library?

Unzip the zipfile that you download from Blender Market and follow the Install Notes.

You can also follow this video tutorial.

Why does my rig not have any animation?

Only the Complete Version of the rig library includes animations with the rigs.
Also make sure you're using Blender 3.0 or up, and Auto-Rig Pro 3.68.12 or up.

You need to open the Action Editor in Blender and there you can select the animations (aka actions) in the dropdown menu. By default the 'CharacterName_default' action is active.

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