Universal Human Body Rig

IMPORTANT:  Please check the License Agreement before purchasing. Owners of both the Body Rig and the Face Rig qualify for a free upgrade to the ready assembled Body & Face Rig (see details* below).  Gender switching functionality is available separately; only the male OR the female base mesh is required for this, there is no need to purchase both.  Face rig is not included in this version - see the Body & Face Rig or Advanced Rig for a more complete rig.  Competence using Blender is recommended to fully benefit from this product.

This rigged human base mesh is the framework upon which my formerly entitled "Perpetual Multipurpose Personal Person Project" is based.  The P.M.P.P.P. was made to alleviate the burden of rigging, weight painting, retopologising, UV unwrapping and generally having to reinvent the wheel for every new humanoid character.  By distilling the shared features of the human race into a single form, it provides a neutral, reusable human-shaped canvas for sculpting, texturing, posing and animating.

Due to popular demand, I've decided to make the base mesh and rig available for general consumption, and have thereby redubbed it the more easily pronounceable "Universal Human" project. So now you can have your very own personal person too! Use it to mind the kids, ward off ghosts, or even to taste-test your auntie Ethel's scone mix! Also works as a handy insect repellent or inflatable life preserver.**

Other useful uses include:

• A basis for sculpting and texturing new characters
• Posing for art reference and paint-overs
• Animating
• Instructional presentations
• Pulling it apart to see what makes it tick

Below: work in progress demonstration of the rig with écorché texture (not included) from 2019 .  Updates have been made in the interim (such as disabling Bendy Bones to improve torso deformation), so while the final product differs slightly in appearance, functionality is essentially the same.

Body proportions being edited (Male Base Mesh applied, available separately):

Hand proportions being edited:

MAIN FEATURES

• Designed to accommodate realistic character creation and animation
• Gender neutral base mesh, averaged from 18 male, female, African, Asian and European likenesses of models and celebrities.  Both genders can be enabled by appending one of the Male or Female base meshes which are sold separately. Note: only the male OR the female is required - there is no need to purchase both.
• Full IK body rig, including fingers (ideal for pressing against surfaces). Note that the feet are rigged to accommodate shoes, so while toes are present, they are not individually rigged.
• On-the-fly customisable skeletal proportions; easily and non-destructively edit the rig for innumerous human body types, humanoid creatures and stylised characters (see video demos above).
• Age control for dialling in infant-to-adult skeletal proportions (only the armature is transformed; add the Child Base Mesh for the complete transformation).
• Unwrapped to 6 UDIMs, ready for texturing
• Lightweight mesh for responsive performance. Poly count (before subdivision): body: 5,782 faces (quads); eyeballs: 422 faces (quads) each
• Topology optimised for animation and posing; edge loops follow wrinkles and muscular direction where possible, without compromising deformation quality. Modelled with separate clothing in mind (i.e. geometry is less dense in typically covered areas)
• Corrective shape keys to preserve volume in most joints
• IK/FK switching for arms, fingers and legs (no IK/FK snapping is implemented, so IK controls need to be manually realigned when switching from one to the other)
• Soft IK to dampen "popping" when IK chains are near full extension
• Finger curling controls for quick hand posing. See demo
• Fingernail length control
• All quads
• Annotated rig
• Template image outlining UV islands and features, to assist with texture and hair placement
• Compatible with Blender 4.2 and higher
• No script installations or add-ons necessary; just load and go!

Visit this page for full feature list and operational instructions.

LIMITATIONS

While the body will deform well in most situations, this may not always be the case for more unusual or extreme poses.  Manual re-shaping is recommended in those instances.

No IK/FK snapping

LICENSE AGREEMENT

By purchasing or using this product, you agree to be bound by the conditions in the License Agreement.

For Frequently Asked Questions, documentation and more, visit the Universal Human website.

*Owners of the Body Rig and Face Rig are eligible for a free upgrade, provided they both appear in the same Gumroad account.  To request an upgrade, contact me with the name or email address associated with the account.  The link has to be manually emailed after verification, so please allow a day or so for it to arrive (if it doesn't, check your spam folder).

**not suitable for use as a flotation device.