Simple Rig User Documentation

Simple Rig is a lightweight rigging system for quickly setting up prop and secondary-asset rigs. It is built around a custom-pivot control that drives one or more objects, and can be arranged into a full hierarchy of parent/child controls. A finished Simple Rig can be exported to JSON and converted into a full Shifter rig when needed.

Simple Rig 2.0 Intro

Overview

Typical workflow:

1. Create Root — initialize the rig for your scene (world / global / local master controls).

2. Create CTL — select geometry or transforms and add a control that drives them.

3. Edit — re-parent controls, add or remove driven objects, move pivots.

4. Auto Rig — (optional) batch-create controls from groups matching a suffix.

5. Export / Import Config — save the setup as a .srig JSON file for reuse.

6. Convert to Shifter Rig — promote the Simple Rig to a full Shifter rig with joints and auto-skinning when the asset needs it.

Every Simple Rig control stores its pivot, shape, color, driven list and parent relationship on the control node itself, so a scene can be inspected, exported, imported or converted at any time.

Rig Tab

Create Root

Initializes a Simple Rig in the current scene. Creates a rig transform with world_ctl, global_C0_ctl and local_C0_ctl master controls above any geometry you have selected. Use the Extra Config tab first if you want to change the root name, master-control size, shape, or disable the world control.

Only one Simple Rig root is allowed per scene.

Create Control

Select one or more objects (meshes, NURBS surfaces, or transforms) and press Create CTL to add a control that drives them.

• Name — base name of the new control. The final name follows the name_<side><index>_ctl convention (for example donuts_C0_ctl).

• Side Label — Center, Left or Right.

• Position — where the pivot will be placed:

  • Center of Geometry — bounding-box center of the selected objects.

  • Base of Geometry — lowest Y point of the bounding box (useful for props that sit on the ground).

  • World Center — scene origin.

• Ctl Shape — Circle or Cube.

The first object in the selection determines where the control is parented: if it is another Simple Rig control, the new control becomes its child; otherwise it is parented under the nearest master control.

Edit

Edit operations act on the currently selected Simple Rig control.

• Pivot

  • Edit Pivot — enter pivot-edit mode on the selected control. The control shape is unlocked so it can be translated/rotated to a new pivot location.

  • Set Pivot — commit the new pivot. The control returns to its neutral state at the new position.

  • Re-Parent Pivot — re-parent the selected control under another control. Select the child control first, then shift-select the new parent, and press this button.

• Elements

  • + — add the selected objects to the control’s driven list.

  • - — remove the selected objects from the control’s driven list.

  • Select Affected — select every object currently driven by the control.

Auto Rig

Quickly build a rig from groups that follow a naming convention.

• Suffix Rule — any group whose name ends with this suffix (default geoRoot) will receive an auto-generated control.

• Auto Build — scans the scene, creates the Simple Rig root if needed, and adds one control per matching group. Useful for kitbash scenes or pre-organized asset files.

The Auto menu (menu bar) exposes the same Auto Build action.

Extra Config Tab

Settings that affect Create Root and Auto Build. Adjust these before creating the rig.

Root

• Root Name — name of the rig transform (default root).

Main Controls (World, Local, Global)

• Main controls in World Center — when enabled, master controls are placed at the scene origin. When disabled, they are sized and positioned around the current selection.

• Use fix size — override the auto-computed size with Fix Size.

• Fix Size — explicit size for the master controls.

• Local/Global Ctl Shape — Square or Circle.

• Create World Ctl — toggle creation of the top-level world control. If disabled, the hierarchy starts at global_C0_ctl.

• World Ctl Shape — Circle or Sphere.

Custom Sets

• Extra CTL Sets — comma-separated list of extra Maya sets that every new control will be added to. Supports nested sets using a dot notation, e.g. animSets.basic will add the control to basic under animSets.

Menu Bar

File

• Export Config — save the current Simple Rig configuration to a .srig JSON file. The file contains every control’s name, pivot, shape, color, parent and driven list.

• Import Config — load a .srig file and rebuild the rig on the current scene geometry. Useful for reusing a rig setup across asset versions.

Convert

• Create Shifter Guide — extract the Simple Rig configuration as a Shifter guide (one control_01 component per Simple Rig control). The original Simple Rig is left intact, so you can keep iterating on it.

• Convert to Shifter Rig — full pipeline: build the Shifter guide, delete the Simple Rig, build the Shifter rig, and auto-skin every driven object to the matching joint.

Note

Auto-skinning walks the subtree under each driven object and binds every mesh or NURBS surface it finds to the corresponding joint. When a deeper control claims a sub-group, the walk stops there and that sub-geometry is bound to the deeper joint instead. This means a control attached to a plain transform still gets its geometry skinned, and nested controls keep their own sub-geometry.

Delete

• Delete Pivot — delete the selected Simple Rig control. Its driven objects are reparented under the removed control’s parent.

• Delete Rig — remove the entire Simple Rig from the scene. Geometry is reparented out of the rig first so it is not deleted.

Auto

• Auto Build — same as the Auto Build button on the Rig tab (see above).

Tips and notes

• Selection order matters when creating a control. The first selected object is used for pivot computation and for parenting.

• Pivot edit must be committed with Set Pivot before exporting a config or converting to Shifter — a control in pivot-edit mode cannot be collected.

• World Ctl is optional but recommended. If you plan to convert to Shifter, the world control becomes the rig’s world component.

• Convert to Shifter Rig is destructive — the Simple Rig is deleted after the Shifter rig is built. Save or export your config first if you want to keep iterating on the Simple Rig.

• Driven lists can contain transforms as well as shapes. When converting to Shifter, the auto-skin pass only binds skinnable shapes (mesh, NURBS surface, NURBS curve); other transforms are still driven through the joint hierarchy.