Raffael Kloten has released Tire Rig Generator, a free Blender plug-in designed to automate one of those vehicle-rigging jobs that everyone needs and nobody sane wants to do manually: making tires deform under load. The tool automatically creates and skins a complex tire rig that can handle pressure and surface deformation for almost any tire.

The workflow is built around three inputs. Users provide the plug-in with the tire mesh, a low-poly deformer mesh and a ground mesh. Tire Rig Generator then generates a rigging solution adjusted to the tire. In practical terms, the tool targets vehicle setups where contact deformation, weight and pressure response help sell the object as something with mass, rather than a decorative rubber doughnut spinning through space in heroic denial of physics.

Single Empty control and radial rig design

The generated tire rig is controlled via a single Empty, which keeps the main animation control compact instead of scattering handles across the rig like someone lost a toolbox in Blender’s outliner. The setup also provides easy access to the control meshes, so artists can inspect or adjust the deformation system without digging through a rig structure designed by a sleep-deprived octopus.

The rig is radially designed, matching the circular structure of a tire rather than forcing a linear rigging setup onto a round object. It is also prepared for ground deformation and tire pivoting, which makes it relevant for shots where the wheel needs to compress against a surface, rotate believably around its contact area or react to vehicle weight.

Pressure, contact and deformation

The main feature is automatic rig creation and skinning for tire deformation. Kloten describes the tool as capable of handling pressure and surface deformation.

This matters because tires are a small detail until they are wrong, at which point the entire vehicle suddenly looks like it is hovering on four decorative bagels. For shots involving cars, trucks, tanks, sci-fi vehicles, off-road setups or stylized mechanical animation, believable contact deformation can add weight without forcing artists to build a custom rig for every wheel.

Availability

Tire Rig Generator is available as a free download via Gumroad. The available public information says the download includes documentation.

Tire Rig Generator on Gumroad

The post Free Tire Rig Generator for Blender Automates Tire Deformation first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

For those who don’t know the tool: Drivers is a Blender rigging and animation add-on that builds driver setups for shape keys, adds viewport control panels, and manages action constraints, all from one sidebar so you can stop spelunking in editors.

What Drivers 2.0 is actually shipping

Drivers 2.0 is a paid Blender add-on that groups three ideas into one place: shape key drivers, viewport control panels, and action constraint management. The pitch stays practical. You pick a mesh, select a bone, set min and max, then wire a shape key to a bone transform with one click. The product explicitly calls out “No graph editor, no scripting.” That alone will make some riggers cheer and others quietly back up their files.

Drivers also frames itself as a workflow organizer for animators and riggers, with a focus on keeping controls in a clean N-panel interface. That is the part that usually gets messy first once a rig grows beyond a face and two hands.

Shape keys without the ceremony

The Drivers tab centers on instant shape key automation. Shape key values can follow bone rotation, location, or scale in real time, and the listing includes support claims for Rigify, Auto-Rig Pro, and custom rigs.

That makes it a tool for people who build facial systems, create corrective shapes, or apply quick pose-based deformations and want the setup to feel less like a spreadsheet and more like an actual rigging task. The appeal is speed, and also staying orgnaized once there are dozens of relationships to maintain.

Drivers 2.0 also bundles bone highlighting and bone colour management into the same UI, so the rig can communicate what is what without relying on naming discipline alone.

Viewport panels that behave like controllers

The Panels tab focuses on in-viewport control panels. It can spawn custom-shape bone panels in the viewport, with square, horizontal, and vertical control styles, and the idea is simple: drag a controller to blend shape keys without leaving the 3D view.

Text labels can be attached to panel bones via font objects, with type, scale, and offset controls exposed in the N-panel. That makes the UI layer explicit, which matters when a rig gets handed off to someone who did not build it.

There is also a master control option that adds a master bone to reposition every panel as one group, with offsets baking automatically when you hit Done. On top of that, a global lock can freeze panels to prevent accidental movement or edits before delivery.

If you have ever watched a control panel drift two pixels per shot because someone grabbed the wrong thing, you already know why that lock button exists.

Actions get their own manager

Drivers 2.0 includes an Action Constraint Manager in an Actions tab. It can assign directional action constraints to any control bone and uses a viewport glow highlight to show which bone is being edited live. The product page also lists compatibility notes that mention Blender 5.x layered actions alongside rig systems like Rigify and Auto-Rig Pro. In the same listing, the details section lists a Blender version range of 5.0 to 5.1, while another compatibility line states Blender 5.1+.

Pricing, license, and where it lives

Drivers 2.0 sells for $30 on Superhive, on a GPL license. The add-on is developed by Weybec,and remember: New tools should earn their keep the boring way: install, stress test, version-check, and only then let them near production rigs.

https://superhivemarket.com/products/drivers
https://weybec.com/

The post Drivers 2.0 cleans up Blender rigs first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

For those who don’t know the tool: Marvelous Designer turns 2D patterns into simulated garments, then exports assets and animation through formats like FBX, Alembic, glTF, and VRM.

Drawing first, pattern later

The loudest shift in 2026.0 is the push toward direct creation on the avatar, with 3D Pencil aimed at skipping some of the usual back and forth between sketching intent and building patterns.

3D Pencil works in the 3D window on an avatar. Activating it from the 3D toolbar opens a Sketch dialog and switches the viewpoint to the front view. The view then stays locked to either the front or back for sketching, with zoom allowed, to keep conversion reliable when the lines become editable 3D pen data.

Sketching is a click and drag action on the avatar. Cleanup happens inside the same tool using an eraser mode. The eraser has a size setting to control how much gets removed in one pass, and the viewpoint can be switched between front and back.

Converting moves the sketch into a 3D pen result and automatically switches to the edit tool for that pen. There is also a sewing behaviour note that matters for garment builders: when 3D pens get created by sketching both the front and the back, flattening both sides automatically sews the front and back together. This is not a promise that all garments suddenly become one-click wonders. It is a workflow: sketch in a fixed view, preview conversion, convert to editable pen lines, then continue editing as needed.

Laces that behave like patterns

The other flagship addition is the Lacing Tool, which formalises a common production detail into a dedicated workflow.

The tool creates lacing by clicking a sequence of designated holes. You pick the starting hole, then continue clicking holes in the desired order until the last or exit hole, and finish with a double-click on the final hole or by pressing Enter. When the path is finalized, an editable lace pattern generates in the 2D window for modification.

Undo controls are built into creation. Backspace undoes the last step, while Esc or Ctrl+Z undoes the entire creation step. That sounds minor, but in practice it signals that the tool expects iterative route tweaking, not a single perfect pass. Just a warning. If you are one of the people who is even nominally an adult, still struggles sometimes with shoelaces. Not judging, brother!

After the path finalises, direction and curvature can be adjusted. A reverse icon appears attached to the cursor immediately after finalising. Clicking a specific hole reverses direction at that point, changing whether the cord enters from the top or bottom of the eyelet. Routing updates in real time in the 3D window.

Curvature adjustment uses a slider to change the cord arc. Increasing curvature is intended to stabilise the simulation by preventing the cord from colliding with or clipping into nearby patterns. The resulting lace is still a standard pattern piece, so thickness, material, and physical properties remain editable in the property editor like any other garment component.

The tool works by eliminating manual intervention by automatically routing the cord and generating an editable pattern for further customisation.

Toon materials, with familiar knobs

2026.0 also adds a toon material workflow under a feature called Express Cartoon. It applies to fabrics, 3D objects, and avatar materials. The workflow is simple: select a fabric style or an avatar, then set Material type to Toon in the property editor, then adjust the exposed properties. The options list is long and reads like a practical toon shading panel rather than a single style preset. If your goal is the next KPop Deamon Hunter, well, go for it.

Base colour can be set as a colour or a map. Opacity has both a value and a map. Shadows get a shade colour and an optional shade colour map, plus hardness and a shift control that adjusts where shadows begin. Emission has both colour and a map. There is also a MatCap section with color and map, described as a fake reflection effect that blends with a MatCap image.

Rim light includes colour, fresnel power to control thickness and sharpness, and lift to adjust position offset. Outlines have a mode, an outline map for masking, a line colour, and a width value in millimetres.

It is worth remembering what this does and does not say. The feature allows a cartoon-style look using those material controls. It does not define a renderer, a lighting model, or a compliance target for any specific engine. That keeps expectations grounded: it is a shading feature inside the tool, with parameters designed to shape a toon result.

Export workflow: fewer surprises, more switches

The 2026.0 feature list calls out new and expanded format support, including glTF and VRM. In production terms, that points toward web compatibility and virtual character workflows, and it sits alongside existing interchange routes that many pipelines already rely on.

On the export control side, play region selection appears as a specific addition for FBX and glTF export in the feature list, enabling selective export of specific animation ranges. For joint animation export, baking keyframes is there to generate keys for empty frames to prevent unintended transformations.

Those items have matching controls visible in the updated FBX import and export documentation. FBX import supports Open or Add load types, scale, axis conversion, and several toggles such as joint animation and cache animation. It also lists trim import behaviour that cannot collide with clothing when simulation is on, plus a collide option toggle for trim in the property editor, and a glue icon workflow to attach trim to clothing.

FBX export includes single- and multiple-object exports, weld and un-weld options, and thin and thick options for exporting with or without rendering thickness. It includes combined UV coordinates and texture export controls, including texture size and seam fill. It also includes a 2026.0 specific note: Weld Turned Sewing Lines allows vertex merging for export even when the sewing line type is set to turned.

Licensing and cost facts that affect teams

A personal monthly subscription is listed at $39 per month and is cancelable anytime, with automatic billing. A one-year prepaid license is listed at $280 as a one-time payment, not automatically billed.

A student subscription is listed at $99 as a one-time payment, not automatically billed, with a note that it can be purchased up to two times over four years after student status verification.

Enterprise options list an enterprise network online monthly plan at $199 per seat, an enterprise network online annual plan at $2,000 per seat, and an enterprise Linux annual plan at $2,300 per seat. An indie studio option is listed as “Contact sales”. There is also an enterprise notice that, from December 2, 2025, the enterprise standalone license was discontinued and shifted to network online monthly and annual subscriptions.

The boring but important note

2026.0 stacks a lot of workflow surface area into one release: new creation tools, new material type controls, and a pile of import and export switches that can change how data lands in downstream tools. The right way to treat that is like any pipeline-facing update. Test the new tools on your ugliest garments (For bonus points: Remake the garment you are wearing right now as a training exercise. Hoodie, PJs, and Fluffy slippers and all), validate the round-trip exports, and confirm that your intended use stays stable before you put it on a deadline.

The post Marvelous Designer 2026.0 adds 3D Pencil and lacing first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

KeyPro replaces the idea that a timeline has to be a thin row of ticks and regret. It adds a compact strip beneath Maya‘s native timeline and renders four separate data layers in the same horizontal space. The core promise is density without clutter. The strip keeps the same broad job as a classic time slider, but it packs in readouts that normally live in separate editors, separate overlays, or separate moments where you sigh and zoom in again.

KeyPro – An advanced timeline for animators. https://t.co/tM44wbldud

Somebody said "Better than AnimBot". I don't know if that's true but it's certainly cheaper and has a killer timeline UI.

Excited to share this one. #characteranimation #maya pic.twitter.com/Mo5MKtvGG1

— Long Winter (@Long_Winter) April 8, 2026

Four layers, one strip, zero panel flipping

KeyPro renders four independently updated layers in the strip, and they update in real time as you work.

One layer draws an audio waveform. It uses cached RMS waveform rendering and draws per pixel at any zoom level. It also automatically reads Maya’s audio node when a scene loads, so the waveform appears without manual hunting.

Another layer shows key density. Every keyframe on every selected node renders as a tick. The ticks change colour based on density across a three-stop ramp that goes from blue to orange to hot pink. The point is fast visual triage for where animation gets heavy.

A third layer is a heat bar. It is a 2-pixel chromatic bar at the top of the strip that encodes how deep your current view span sits relative to the master range. Red indicates you are zoomed deep in, and blue indicates you are at full master scale.

The fourth layer is a master range that persists with the scene as a JSON file. Cyan markers show the start and end, and handles can extend the range for ease and out frames.

If you have ever lost track of whether you are looking at the full shot, the trimmed shot, the shot plus handles, or the shot you swore you would retime later, this combination aims to make that state visible at all times.

Rig-aware tools on top, not hidden in a drawer

Above the strip, KeyPro includes an animator toolbox. It includes tween presets and stepped keys. It also includes eight tools designed around constraint chains, space switching, and rig conventions.

Those rig-focused targets matter because a timeline feature only helps if it respects the reality of production rigs. Key changes often ripple through constraint setups, and space switching workflows can create keys that look simple until you touch them.

The toolset positions itself as production-grade key management, and that phrasing is a marketing claim. Still, the specific focus on constraint chains and space switching describes the kind of problems it intends to solve inside the timeline instead of pushing you out to separate editors.

Interaction that tries to feel native

KeyPro also leans on direct manipulation. Left drag scrubs. Scrolling zooms. Middle drag moves keys. The stated goal is muscle memory. The idea is that the tiemline should feel like it always belonged there, even while it shows you more than the stock UI does.

Who built it and why that matters

KeyPro was made by developer Andrew Conroy. His credits include work as an animator on Ice Age, Life of Pi, and Love Death &Robots. That background does not guarantee anything about your specific rig, your studio pipeline, or your scene scale. But it does set expectations about intent: the tool targets animator pain points inside the daily grind of key management and timing.

Pricing and licensing in plain English

KeyPro sells for 49 US dollars as a one time purchase. The price is a single purchase that you keep. No subscription.

Why this is interesting right now

Timeline UX is one of those corners of animation software that everyone touches and almost nobody talks about until it hurts. KeyPro targets that pressure point directly by compressing multiple kinds of feedback into a single strip and pairing it with a toolbox aimed at everyday rig behaviors. If it lands in your workflow, the win is not a flashy new solver. It is fewer context switches, fewer blind scrubs, and faster decisions about where to spend your cleanup time.

And if it does not land, at least it is a reminder that the most valuable tool upgrades sometimes live in the least glamorous UI row in the room, right under the playhead.

Spec	Detail
Maya Compatibility	Maya 2020 – 2025+ (PySide2 & PySide6 auto-detected)
Integration Method	workspaceControl, docks natively below Maya’s timeline
API Layer	Maya OpenMaya / OpenMayaAnim (MFnAnimCurve for live key drag)
Audio Analysis	Fully cached RMS waveform per-pixel resolution at any zoom
Undo Safety	All key operations wrapped in named undo chunks
Master Range	JSON persisted alongside .ma / .mb scene file
Auto Frame	Graph Editor zoom tracks strip view on SelectionChanged + view pan
Jump to Key	Timeline follows Graph Editor selection (aTools-style behaviour)
Installation	Drag-and-drop installer · token license tied to your purchase
Design System	Consistent with full AXE Suite (Bebas Neue · DM Mono · orange/cyan/green)

The post KeyPro revamps Maya first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

For those who don’t know the tool: Character DNA Addon plugs into Blender for editing MetaHuman DNA based rigs, then routes updates back into a Unreal Engine pipeline without leaving your DCC.

The headline feature: body correctives, now editable

Version 0.6.2 adds an RBF Editor for editing RBF poses on the MetaHuman body rig. MetaHuman body rigs use radial basis function solvers that let the rotation of one joint drive the position, rotation, or scale of another joint. A key use is driving corrective bones to prevent artifacts like volume loss at elbows and shoulders as a limb flexes or rotates. The new editor focuses on making those correctives visible and practical. It makes it possible to visualize RBF poses in a MetaHuman rig, then edit the corrective bones to modify how the rig behaves during animation. For artists, that means fewer blind tweaks and less guesswork when a shoulder collapses in a turn or an elbow caves in during a tight bend.

The practical impact lands in the part of character work that usually feels like plumbing. You only notice it when it breaks. With an editor that targets body correctives directly, the toolchain moves one step closer to treating those fixes like first class animation data instead of hidden rig magic.

Backup Manager: fearless iteration with a parachute

The same release introduces a Backup Manager that automatically backs up DNA files whenever a user makes changes. The point is simple: experiment freely, then roll back to a previous state when needed.

That matters because DNA edits can cascade. A small change can ripple through a face board solve, a body corrective, or a downstream export step. Automatic backups turn that risk into something you can manage, not something you avoid. When the tool saves copies as you work, iteration stops feeling like gambling with your last known good file.

This is also the sort of feature that helps teams even when a single artist uses the add-on. If a file changes hands, a clear backup trail can keep pipeline debugging from turning into archeology.

Compatibility targets: new MetaHumans, new Blender

The 0.6.2 release is listed as compatible with MetaHuman DNA files created in Unreal Engine 5.6 and 5.7, and with Blender 4.5 and 5.0. The same release notes list tests passing on MetaHuman Creator version 6.0.0, Blender 4.5 and 5.0 installed from blender.org, and Unreal 5.6 and 5.7.

There is also a blunt compatibility warning. With Unreal 5.6 changes, MetaHumans v6, and the add-on still in beta, there is no backward support for earlier versions. If you need older versions, the guidance is to use an older add-on release.

That combination sets expectations. This release aims at current MetaHuman and Unreal workflows, not legacy support. If your show or game locks to older builds, you will want to evaluate version choices early, before a character pipeline hardens around an incompatible pairing.

Patch fixes: less time fighting the rig

Alongside the two major additions, 0.6.2 includes a set of patch changes aimed at stability and workflow friction.

Fixes include an invalid pose bone keyframe issue on face board import. There is also a fix for the body rig resetting after adjusting and undoing the head board rig. Another fix targets pushing down a face board action in the NLA editor breaking the rig and bones connection. The release also lists fixes for render crash issues, a migrate legacy data error, and an error exporting a manifest when running the Convert to DNA operator.

Installation and first contact inside Blender

The quick start workflow uses a zip install. You drag and drop the downloaded zip file into an open window of Blender to install it. After installation, Blender shows a tab on the right side of the 3D Viewport bar called Meta-Human DNA. Panels appear grayed out with warning messages until there is an active RigLogic instance, at which point they become active.

For importing, the simplest path is dragging and dropping a DNA file into the Blender scene. If a maps folder exists alongside the DNA file, the importer links textures that follow the same naming conventions as the MetaHuman source assets.

Character DNA files and what they represent

DNA files are a proprietary file format created by Epic Games. DNA is integral to the MetaHuman identity, and DNA files encode details of the shape and rig for MetaHuman heads. The tool itself leans into DNA as the pivot point for workflow. This release adds an automatic backup system for DNA edits, and it frames body rig correctives through an editor that works on the MetaHuman body rig.

For production, the takeaway is that this is not a generic character add-on. It is a workflow that assumes DNA sits at the center, and it treats editing DNA driven rigs as the primary job.

A note on compilation and licensing reality

Because of the terms of the Unreal Engine EULA, the add-on has to be compiled from source, even though an automated build tool exists to help with the process.

That is not just an installation footnote, it has pipeline consequences. Build steps affect IT support, artist onboarding, and version management. They also affect how fast you can update mid-project. If you run a facility pipeline, you will likely want to treat the build as a managed dependency, not an artist side hobby. For individual artists, compilation can still be fine, but it is one more reason to test on a spare machine or a sandbox environment before you bring it into a mission critical workstation.

Pricing and licensing: clear numbers, no treasure hunt

An individual perpetual license costs $79. Team licenses start at $259 and enterprise for $699. The add-on is available in beta. That matters for expectations around change frequency and backwards compatibility. It also means you should treat upgrades like any other pipeline change: evaluate, validate, then roll out.

https://www.polyhammer.com/

https://github.com/poly-hammer/meta-human-dna-addon/releases/tag/0.6.2

The post MetaHuman DNA add-on for RBF editor first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.