Learn how to create a character animation rig with Unreal Engine’s new Control Rig Mannequin sample

It’s worth noting that Control Rig is Python-ready, which means you can create rigs, customize workflows, and automate your pipeline by leveraging Python in Control Rig. See the Unreal Engine 4.25 Python documentation for more information.

Quick start info

Upon opening the sample project, you will see the mannequin seated at the table. Sequencer will be open with the animation ready to play. To manipulate the rig, simply select and move an animation control from the viewport, animation panel, or Sequencer’s hierarchy view. 

Right-click on the actor in Sequencer and choose Create Animation Sequence to save your animation for use in Animation Blueprints, Blendspaces, and other animation systems. It is often helpful to disable Translation, Rotation, and Scale Snapping in the top right corner of the viewport to allow animation controls to move freely. The Animation Panel contains settings to filter viewport selections to Only Select Rig Controls, allowing you to quickly adjust animations without selecting the surrounding environment.

Control Rig editor

The Control Rig we created for the mannequin can be found within this directory: /Game/ControlRig/Mannequin/Character/ControlRig/Mannequin_ControlRig. Upon opening the file, the Control Rig editor will open, and you will be greeted with the mannequin in a reference pose. The rig graph is laid out in a way that’s easy to follow and grows in complexity the further down the graph you look. To start, you will see direct connections from Controls to Bones for the Root up to the Head. Next, Basic Inverse Kinematics with Pole Vectors are used to control the arms. Finally, math nodes are introduced to set up the feet, which is where the position of the IK effector is being calculated relative to the ankle and ball of the foot to create a reverse foot effect.