Rig Setup

Rig Setup tells Puppeteer how your character is built. You map your FK controllers (and optionally IK controllers) into five body groups, and the addon generates a pair of proxy armatures that handle all the behind-the-scenes work.

This process only needs to be done once per character.

The DO NOTs!

• Do not delete the _Blazed or _TPOSE armatures that Puppeteer generates.
• Do not rename bones inside those proxy armatures.
• Do not manually edit constraints on the proxy armatures.

Doing any of the above will break the proxy system. If something goes wrong, just run Reconstruct again.

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What Gets Created

When you run Reconstruct, Puppeteer creates two hidden armatures:

• _Blazed : A dynamic proxy constrained to your controllers. It captures your character’s motion for processing.
• _TPOSE : A static reference in a standardized T-pose. The server uses this to understand your character’s proportions.

You don’t need to touch either of these. They work silently in the background.

Note

Non-identity object transforms (rotation, scale) on your armature are handled automatically. You don’t need to apply transforms before setup.

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Steps

1. Open the Panel

   Press N in the 3D Viewport to open the sidebar, then find the Blaze Puppeteer tab. You can also find it in the Properties Editor under the Data tab (green character icon).

2. Select Rig Setup Mode

   In the header, click the bone icon to enter Rig Setup mode. Make sure your character is selected in the Target Armature field.

   

3. Map Your Bone Chains

   You need to fill five groups that define the character’s body:

   • Leg R / Leg L : Toe up to Thigh (extremity to core)
   • Hand R / Hand L : Wrist up to Shoulder (extremity to core)
   • Spine : Hip up to Head (core to extremity)

   Each group shows a scrollable list with two columns:

   Column	What it’s for
   FK	The FK controller bone for this joint.
   IK	The corresponding IK controller, if any. Click to assign via bone picker.

   To add bones:

   1. Enter Pose Mode.
   2. Select bones in the viewport.
   3. Click + in the matching group, or toggle REC to auto-capture selections as you click.

   Button reference:

   • + : Add selected bones
   • ▲ / ▼ : Reorder
   • − : Remove selected item
   • X : Clear entire list
   • REC : Toggle auto-record

   Tip

   Auto Mirror automatically finds and adds the symmetrical bone on the opposite side (e.g., add Left Hand, get Right Hand for free).

   Watch out for reverse FK controllers

   Only pick controllers that follow the standard hierarchy (e.g., Spine 1 → Spine 2 → Chest). Skip any special FK controllers that move the hierarchy in reverse (e.g., a “Spine” controller that pushes the hips/legs downward). These send conflicting signals and break the chain.

   

4. Set the Root Controller

   Assign the controller that moves the entire character (separate from the Hip).

   • If your rig doesn’t have one, or you don’t need root motion, check No Root Controller.

   

5. Reconstruct

   Click Reconstruct. The system builds the proxies and guides you through calibration:

   1. Front View : Adjust the _TPOSE bones to match a T-pose (arms horizontal, legs straight). Click Confirm Front View.
   2. Top View : Verify alignment from above. Click Finalize T-Pose.

   

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Restore & Mismatch Detection

If you change the bone lists without re-running Reconstruct, a warning banner appears:

⚠ Bone lists changed since last reconstruction!

You have two choices:

• Reconstruct : Rebuild proxies with the updated lists.
• Restore (↩) : Revert the lists to match the current proxies. Handy if you changed something by accident.

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You’re Done!

Your setup is saved in the .blend file. Head over to the Inbetweening tab. If everything is valid, you’ll see a ✅ Ready status.

Caution

If you significantly change your character’s proportions or rig structure later, run Reconstruct again to update the proxies.