Your character. A native rig.
Body controls, facial bones and visemes.

Michele Auto Rig Studio 0.7.0 for Windows / Cinema 4D R26 builds human and animal joint hierarchies, normalized Skin weights, body / limb controls, anatomy-specific IK, a bone-based facial rig and 15 core visemes on the character.

Mocap rig transfer and matching first pose

1. Open MOCAP RIG TRANSFER at the top of Auto Rig Studio, or run Open Mocap Rig Transfer.py.
2. Select the animated skeleton and click Use selected mocap rig as SOURCE. Select the neutral character and click Use selected character rig as TARGET.
3. Set the source range. Motion Studio captures use the +Y bone axes option. Other rigs need a known neutral source reference frame or valid zero-rotation rest pose.
4. Review bone mapping and click Prepare matching T/A first pose. This opens a new scene with the target neutral and the orange source copy matching it at the first frame. Scrub to review the source performance.
5. Click TRANSFER to animate the character in a new scene. Save as .c4d.

Preparing the pose is optional: direct transfer also adds the matched first frame when its checkbox is enabled. The whole performance follows one frame later. Auto Rig targets restore their stored neutral pose; other weighted skeletons use their current pose. The source comparison skeleton matches target proportions at the generated reference frame and keeps source proportions during the performance. Original scenes remain open and unchanged. Third-party target drivers may need baking or disabling on the copy.

Automatic BVH transfer in 0.6.0

1. Select your existing humanoid Auto Rig or one of its controllers.
2. Click BVH AUTO TRANSFER near the top of the plugin, then Choose BVH animation.
3. Click TRANSFER ANIMATION TO AUTO RIG. Play the new scene and save it as .c4d.

The tool matches common BVH, Mixamo, Daz, CMU, Bip and side-suffixed bone names, including fingers when supplied. It detects conventional Y-up rest skeletons and Michele Motion Studio +Y bone-axis captures. Root travel scales to the character, source frame rate is matched to the nearest integer, and the first captured pose is retained. Body FK controls receive keys; the copied rig's old body keys are replaced and limb IK is disabled. Facial and viseme controls and their independent animation remain editable. The original scene stays unchanged.

Keep feet above floor corrects vertical clearance using weighted foot vertices and source foot height. It does not lock planted feet or remove sliding. Disable it for stairs or slopes. In-place motion removes horizontal root travel. Existing facial keys retain their absolute times when the body's start frame changes.

Required torso, head, arm and leg matches must be present. Unmatched optional fingers, toes, shoulders and spine segments retain their local rest pose. Use Review / edit bone mapping for custom or ambiguous names. Unknown axes and older Auto Rig bone-axis exports require an explicit source format or a known neutral reference frame. Automatic mode does not assume the first motion frame is neutral. Use the advanced importer for animals or other weighted skeletons.

The mapping report is on CTRL_MASTER. To open this window without restarting, run Open BVH Auto Transfer.py in Script Manager. Transfer keeps existing weights and source jitter; review deformation for the shot.

DAZ-style controls and fitting in 0.5.0

New rigs start in FK. Select a body CTRL and use its Bend, Twist and Side-Side degree sliders, or rotate its ring. Enable the matching limb IK checkbox on CTRL_MASTER for hand/foot target posing. CTRL_VISEMES has 15 core sounds plus TH; CTRL_FACE keeps expression and legacy inputs. Preview, Key face and Reset pose include the separate speech panel. Show facial bone controls exposes manual face handles.

Human fingers fit connected hand surfaces when the digits are distinct. Moving a wrist carries untouched finger guides; manual finger edits are preserved. Touching lip surfaces are separated using mesh connectivity and named lower-lip selections when present, so nearby upper and lower lips do not share jaw weights merely because they are close together. New builds check skin normalization, neutral pose and face/body separation. Review extreme poses before animation.

Upgrade selected rig controls preserves existing body keys and IK mode. Existing finger joints are not moved by an upgrade. Rebuild from reviewed guides to use the new hand fitting.

Install and open

1. Extract the entire folder and run Install R26 Plugin.cmd. The plugin uses Cinema 4D's Python; no separate Python or video engine is required.
2. After the next Cinema 4D start, choose Extensions → Michele Auto Rig Studio. To open without restarting, load Open Michele Auto Rig Studio.py in Script Manager and execute it.
3. Load your separate seller-issued Auto Rig serial. The private generator, keys and issued owner licenses are excluded.

Human and animal anatomies

Choose Character anatomy before Auto rig or Fit editable guides: Human, Horse, Cat, Dog, Snake, Monkey, Alligator, Rhino, Bat or Bird. Fit in a neutral Y-up pose, facing +Z or -Z. Adjust the named body and facial markers onto your actual model before binding.

All ten anatomies include 52 facial dials and 15 core visemes. Animal speech shapes are stylized controls; they require suitable mouth / muzzle / beak geometry. Automatic template fitting and proximity weights require review and cleanup. These presets do not create character meshes or infer arbitrary posed anatomy.

The website also fits editable guides, binds unrigged GLB/FBX geometry, and provides body rotation, IK target/pole, face and viseme controls. Browser auto-rig supports up to 150,000 vertices. Export a posed/animated GLB or target BVH; native R26 export uses C4D / FBX / BVH.

Fit the guides

1. Select one neutral character's polygon meshes, or their parent. Make generator geometry editable first.
2. Choose Auto, A or T pose. Set the model front to +Z or -Z. Face and toe guides show the front; verify them to avoid a backwards head.
3. Enable Body + hands and Facial bones + visemes. In face-only mode, select just the head and its eyes / teeth / tongue.
4. Click Fit editable guides. Expand AUTO RIG GUIDES in Object Manager and move the markers onto shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, ankles and face features. Check front and side views.
5. On the original input meshes, assign explicit roles if names are ambiguous: body / clothing, face, left / right eye, upper / lower teeth, tongue or rigid head accessory.
6. Click Build from guides. The tool creates a rigged geometry copy. Place beside source moves it to the side for comparison. The Auto rig button combines fitting and building for a first pass. Review deformation before replacing an original.

Use the controls

• CTRL_MASTER: move and uniformly scale the rig. User Data switches each arm / leg between IK and FK.
• IK boxes: move hands / feet. Pole targets choose elbow / knee direction. Unreachable targets clamp to limb length.
• FK circles: rotate the spine, head, shoulders, limbs and fingers. Each hand has Fist, Spread and five curl dials.
• CTRL_FACE → User Data: 52 facial channels, Face strength, 15 core visemes, legacy TH and Voice Studio inputs. The dials deform bones and skin; they are not empty morph slots.
• Preview selected viseme applies a mouth shape. Key current face controls records dials at the current frame. Reset restores current control values and retains existing animation tracks.

The 15 core visemes

These are blendable procedural bone poses. OW provides a static blended shape; animate adjacent shapes for a spoken transition. L / TH require existing tongue geometry for a visible tip. Joints cannot give a closed mesh an oral cavity.

Face, Voice and Motion Studio

1. Select the generated CTRL_FACE panel.
2. In Face Studio, refresh characters and connect this facial panel. Named facial channels and Viseme dials are real User Data destinations.
3. Voice Studio's Connect rig finds AA / EE / IY / OW / UW / F / W / SH / T / M inputs. The rig maps them into facial-bone poses.
4. For body retargeting use Hips, Spine, Chest, UpperChest, Neck, Head, Left/Right limbs and named finger chains. Disable IK when driving its FK controls, or bake and retarget to the exported skeleton.

Save and export

Save editable rig scene isolates the rig and bound geometry into C4D. Its embedded driver works without installing the generator plugin.

Export baked C4D + FBX + animated body BVH samples the chosen range in a separate copy. C4D / FBX keep body and facial joints, skin and geometry. BVH contains body / finger joints; face-only rigs export C4D / FBX. Facial translations stay in C4D / FBX. Use Cinema 4D Save Project with Assets for sharing textured models; this tool does not gather referenced textures automatically.

Review the skin

The mesh Weight tag has up to four normalized influences per point. Generic weights need review around shoulders, armpits, clothing seams, lips and eyelids. Refine them with Cinema 4D's Weight tools. Mesh roles keep separate eyes, teeth and hair attached to the intended joints. Clothing receives body weights; the tool does not shrink-wrap or refit garments.

Example and interface

examples/Demo-Auto-Rig.c4d is a deliberately simple synthetic humanoid, not a production character or anatomy-accuracy claim. Baked examples demonstrate real joints, skin and animation. Open the editable scene and select CTRL_FACE to try Viseme AA or a blink.

Transfer BVH onto the actual character

1. Select your weighted character rig group or a Michele Auto Rig controller.
2. Choose 1. Choose BVH motion and load the animation.
3. Click 2. Review joint mapping. Standard, Mixamo and Daz-style names map automatically; choose source joints for custom target names.
4. Choose a neutral source reference frame, or enable BVH rest offsets when the file has an appropriate reference skeleton. Set in-place root motion if you want the character to stay in place.
5. Click 3. Transfer BVH onto character - new scene. The new document contains your actual character, skin weights, keyed body controls and editable facial controls. Your original document is retained.
6. Play the new scene. Root travel scales to the target proportions; bone lengths stay with your character. The generated auto-rig uses FK during transferred body motion. Its IK controls remain available for later editing.
7. Save editable C4D to retain controllers, or export baked C4D / FBX for the animated weighted character. BVH exports skeleton motion.

Browser BVH-to-character workspace: upload GLB or FBX geometry, auto rig it if needed, map its joints, transfer and export an animated GLB or target-skeleton BVH. Native R26 character export uses the plugin.

Improved knee, elbow, face and mouth controls

IMPROVED BENDING AND FACE CONTROLS - 0.4.1

Existing editable rig: select its root or one of its controllers and click Upgrade selected rig controls. This retains body keys and repairs stray facial weights; body refinement is a separate action. Then choose Animate: IK + main controls and Apply viewport view to hide the overlapping FK/finger rings. Show body FK or Show all controls is available when needed. Skeleton display and control size are on CTRL_MASTER.

Select the elbow/knee pole diamond and move it to aim the bend plane. Select the hand/foot IK target for position. Its Limb bending User Data contains minimum/maximum bend, Soft reach, Pole twist, IK blend and an optional fixed bend angle. The dialog's Set bend angle moves the target to achieve the requested bend; Use hand/foot IK target returns to normal posing. Bone lengths stay fixed. Preserve joint volume on CTRL_MASTER uses quaternion Skin; turn it off for linear Skin.

Facial controls: choose an expression and strength, then Preview facial expression. Neutral, Smile, Frown, Angry, Surprised, Blink, Pucker, Open mouth and Close lips are included. Choose any of the 15 visemes and Preview selected viseme. CTRL_FACE keeps all 52 facial channels, voice inputs and Lip seal strength. Face and mouth focus hides body-control clutter. Jaw fitting for new human rigs uses an improved hinge position. Review mouth fitting on existing rigs after upgrading. Lip closure uses the fitted upper/lower lip gap.

Review bending and mouth/eyelid deformation on the actual character. Automatic fitting and proximity weights do not replace anatomical topology, corrective shapes or weight cleanup. Body BVH does not contain expression or speech timing. The included examples and regression tests use synthetic geometry and generated motion.

Facial isolation, heat-map skin and open-mouth closure

FACE / BODY SEPARATION AND OPEN-MOUTH MODELS - 0.4.1

Select an existing editable rig and click Upgrade controls / repair facial spill. Facial influence is bounded to the head; stray facial weights on the torso and limbs are redistributed to body joints. Valid body animation keys remain. This action has Undo.

For smoother arms and knees, click Refine body / elbow / knee skin (R26 heat map). This intentionally replaces body weights using R26 heat-map binding in a temporary neutral copy, while retaining facial controls and animation keys. Undo restores the previous weights. New rigs with at least 1,000 vertices also try R26 heat-map body binding automatically; the binding report records the method and any proximity fallback. Review actual deformation and refine weights and joint guides for the character.

If the source mesh already has its mouth open: on CTRL_FACE enable Mouth starts open and set Rest jaw opening (degrees). Use jawClose to close the jaw, or preview Mouth closed to close the jaw and seal lips together. The default starting angle is 20 degrees; tune it to the model. Jaw close and Mouth closed presets enable the open-mouth option. Open mouth and Neutral clear their pose dials. All 52 standard facial channels and 15 visemes remain.

The website Animal Studio offers animal-pose detection for Horse, Cat, Dog, Monkey and Rhino. Snake, Alligator, Bat and Bird use guided landmark tracking. Review hidden joints and tail motion; depth comes from the rig template and manual adjustments. These are single-camera estimates. Choose the Video subject in Motion Studio to switch engines while retaining your selected video.