ModRig is a modular rigging tool for Autodesk Maya that automatically builds animation rigs on top of an existing skeleton. Instead of creating an entire rig manually, you assemble it by combining independent rig modules (arms, legs, spine, tails, etc.), allowing you to quickly create rigs for both humanoid and creature characters.
- Autodesk Maya 2026 or later.
Note: ModRig uses PySide6, which is only available starting from Maya 2026. Older Maya versions use PySide2 and are therefore not supported.
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Clone or download this repository to a location on your computer.
-
Open
ModRig.mod(located at the root of the repository) with any text editor. -
Replace
YourPathwith the location where you downloaded the repository. The file should look similar to:
+ Mod_Rig 1.0 C:/Users/user/Desktop/MyTools
scripts: C:/Users/user/Desktop/MyTools/ModRig
- Copy
ModRig.modinto one of Maya's module folders, for example:
Documents/maya/2027/modules
Note: If the
modulesfolder does not exist, simply create it manually. Folder names are case-sensitive.
- Restart Maya.
If the installation was successful:
- A ModRig menu will appear in Maya's main menu bar.
- A startup message from ModRig should also appear in Maya's Script Editor.
ModRig can be opened either from the ModRig menu or through the custom marking menu.
Shortcut: (thanks Maya for occupying every other easier shortcut)
Ctrl + Shift + MMB
Before creating a rig, it is recommended to configure the tool preferences. Although these settings can be modified later, using the correct configuration from the beginning generally produces better results.
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Open the Preferences window.
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Configure the naming conventions.
A list of common left/right naming tokens is already provided (for example
L_ / R_,_left / _right, etc.). If your skeleton uses a different naming convention, simply add a new token pair. -
Select the skeleton's Bone Forward Axis.
This tells ModRig how your joints are oriented.
Examples:
- Mixamo skeletons → +Y
- mGear skeletons → +X
Note: Make sure that all your joints have the same forward axis. If that's not the case, you might have some issues with controllers orientation or Pole Vectors.
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Set the Rig Scale.
This value is only used as a reference for controller sizes. It allows you to work with consistent values regardless of the scale of the imported skeleton. For example, Mixamo skeletons are usually imported around 100× larger than a standard Maya scene.
The Skeleton Tree on the right side of the interface is used to load and browse the character skeleton.
- Select the root joint of your skeleton.
- Press Load Skeleton.
- The entire hierarchy will appear in the Skeleton Tree.
This skeleton will now be available for every module you create.
Note: You can even just load parts of the rig. if you have many joints, it will be easier to read through it.
Modules can be parented together.
Use the Parent Module dropdown to specify which module should become the parent of the current one.
For example:
Hips
→ Spine
→ Left Arm
→ Left Arm
→ Right Arm
→ Left Arm
→ Head
Building a parent module will automatically rebuild all of its child modules, ensuring that every connection remains valid. Deleting a module will also recursively delete all of its children.
ModRig automatically stores the module setup inside the scene. So all you need is the Maya file.
This includes:
- Module types
- Parameters
- Parent hierarchy
- Controller settings
- Build state
When reopening the scene, ModRig restores the complete module layout so you can continue working without recreating the setup.
The preferences are not stored per scene, so if you change them once, whenever you open a Maya file you will always have the same preferences. I made because we usually work with the same type of rigs, so it would be annoying to have to set the same preferences everytime you create a maya project.