Rig Setup

Rig Setup is where you assign rig controllers of different chains in a specific order. You do this once per rig.

What Rig Setup Needs From You

Five Ordered Chains

Fill the ordered lists for Leg R, Leg L, Hand R, Hand L, and Spine.

Root Controller Setup

Either assign a real root or master controller, or explicitly enable No Root Controller. Rig Setup does not guess this for you.

A Neutral T-Pose

After reconstruction, Blaze Puppeteer pauses for a two-stage T-pose alignment so the helper rig has a clean reference pose.

Optional IK Targets

IK assignments are optional, but they help Blaze Puppeteer transfer motion back onto the controllers you actually animate with.

Rig Setup panel

Chain Order

Group	Build the list in this order
Leg R / Leg L	Foot end (Toe/Heel) toward the body
Hand R / Hand L	Wrist or hand end toward the shoulder
Spine	Bottom to top

FK-Only Rigs

Fill the FK side of each row and leave the IK side empty. Blaze Puppeteer can still generate and transfer motion with only the FK chain data.

FK + IK Rigs

Fill the FK entries first, then add matching IK controls where they make sense. The IK column exists to help Blaze Puppeteer transfer the finished motion back to the controls you actually animate with.

Spine chain do's and don'ts

When choosing spine controllers, you must start with Pelvis/Hips and end with head. However, the controllers in the spine chain that control the joints below them should be ignored. For example if a spine controller is responsible for the movement of the pelvis and/or legs, it should not be included in the spine chain. The first entry of the spine chain should be the controller that controls the whole body.

Chain order example

an example mapping for legs, hands, and spine.

Step-By-Step Setup

1. Choose the target armature

   Open Rig Setup mode and select the correct character in Target Armature.

2. Leave Auto Mirror on unless the rig is asymmetrical

   Auto Mirror helps fill the opposite side while you map left and right limbs. When auto mirror is enabled, any adjustments to one side of the rig will be mirrored to the other side. This includes adding, removing, clearing, and reordering bones.

3. Fill the five chain lists

   Use either:

   • Add Selected (+) after selecting bones in Pose Mode
   • REC to capture bones one by one in the order you select them

   Reorder with the arrow buttons if needed. Remove, clear, or rebuild any list that ended up in the wrong order.

4. Set Root Controller or No Root Controller

   In the Root Controller section:

   • Pick the main root or master control or any controller that you want to use as the target for the trajectory of the character when the root extraction is enabled.
   • Enable No Root Controller if it does not have a root controller or if you do not want to use a root controller.

   Blaze Puppeteer blocks reconstruction until one of those two choices is made.

5. Click Reconstruct

   Reconstruct rebuilds the helper rigs from your current lists and immediately moves into T-pose calibration.

6. Confirm the T-pose

   In this step you need to adjust the pose of the character to have its arms extended horizontally and its legs straight (as opposed to an A-pose or an arbitrary pose). Use Confirm Front View first. Then check the top view and use Finalize T-Pose.

Reconstruct workflow

What Reconstruct Creates

When you click Reconstruct, Blaze Puppeteer creates two helper armatures for the selected character:

Helper	Purpose
YourRig_Blazed	The meta-rig Blaze Puppeteer uses for generation and source data
YourRig_TPOSE	The calibration rig used as retarget reference frame

After the T-pose workflow is finalized, Blaze Puppeteer hides the helper collection so your scene stays cleaner. Treat these helpers as internal assets.

Do not edit the helpers directly

Avoid renaming, deleting, constraining, or animating the _Blazed and _TPOSE helpers yourself. If they fall out of sync with your setup, run Reconstruct again instead.

Helper rigs after reconstruction

Root Controller vs No Root Controller

Choice	What it means for later workflow
Root Controller assigned	Blaze Puppeteer can separate trajectory onto that control during PostPro
No Root Controller enabled	Generation still works, but the root extraction controls do not appear because there is no dedicated root control to write into

Root Controller

If You Change The Lists Later

Blaze Puppeteer stores the last reconstructed list data on the helper rig. If you change a chain afterward, the panel can warn that the current lists no longer match the last reconstruction. If you simply add IK controls to an already reconstructed rig, you do not need to reconstruct the rig again.

Button	Use it when
Reconstruct	You want the helper rigs rebuilt from the new list data
Restore	You want to discard the edits and go back to the last reconstructed state

Ready For Motion When

Before switching to Motion:

1. Make sure every required chain has at least one entry.
2. Confirm the list order reads correctly through the body.
3. Verify your Root Controller or No Root Controller choice.
4. Finish the T-pose workflow.
5. Switch to Motion and confirm the readiness area reports Rig Setup: Ready.