Rigging is the step that stops most people from ever animating their 3D character. Blender’s Rigify takes an afternoon to learn, Mixamo only does the body, and neither gives you face expressions or hair bones.
In this guide I rig a character online, in the browser, in about 90 seconds, using JollyAI 3D Rigger. It works on a phone too. I’ll show every step, the settings that matter for Unity, Unreal and Blender, and the mistakes that break a rig.
Disclosure: JollyAI is my own tool. I built it because I wanted a rigger that does fingers, face and hair in one go.
- Upload a GLB, FBX or OBJ (up to 100 MB, one standing character).
- Check the dots: AI places every joint. You drag only the wrong ones; mirror keeps both sides even.
- Add extras: face expressions (blink, smile, talk), 3 bones per finger, hair, ponytail or tail chains.
- Preview free: watch it wave, walk and talk. My test character was rigged in 88 seconds.
- Download FBX or GLB set up for Unity, Unreal or Blender with a Day Pass ($3.99) or PRO.
What Auto Rigging Actually Does
A 3D model straight out of a generator or a sculpting app is a statue. To move it, it needs two things:
- A skeleton: bones for hips, spine, arms, legs, fingers, head and so on.
- Skin weights: how much each bone pulls each part of the mesh, so an elbow bends like an elbow instead of tearing.
An auto rigger finds where the joints are, builds the skeleton and paints the weights for you. The hard part is getting the joints right. That’s why 3D Rigger shows you the joint dots before it rigs, so one wrong guess doesn’t ruin the result.
Before You Start: Prepare Your Model
| Check | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| One character, standing up | The joint finder expects a single upright figure. Remove props, bases and extra characters. |
| Arms away from the body (T-pose or A-pose) | Arms glued to the hips get weighted to the legs and tear when they move. |
| GLB, FBX or OBJ, up to 100 MB | For OBJ and FBX, embed the textures in the file or they won’t come through. |
| Under about 120k triangles | Heavier models are reduced automatically, so very fine detail may soften. |
Step by Step: Rig a Character Online
1. Upload your model
Open JollyAI 3D Rigger and drop your file in. The model appears in a 3D view you can spin with your finger or mouse.
2. Face it to the front
If your character is lying down or facing sideways, use Turn 90° and Stand up until it faces you. Then tap Looks right → find joints.
3. Check the body dots
Green dots appear on the joints: head, neck, chest, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees and ankles. Mirror is on, so if the left elbow is off, drag it and the right one follows. Use the F and S buttons to check from the front and the side; a knee that looks right from the front can still be floating in front of the leg.
4. Check the face dots
Blue dots mark the eyes and mouth. These drive the face expressions (blink, smile, angry, surprised and talk shapes). Masked or faceless character? Tap No face.
5. Pick your extras
- Face expressions: blink, smile, angry, surprised, talk shapes. Great for VTuber-style avatars.
- Finger bones: 3 bones per finger and thumb.
- Hair, ponytail or tail bones: tap the start, then the end of each strand to add a bone chain.
6. Rig it and preview
Tap Rig it ✓. My test character (body, fingers and face shapes) was rigged in 88 seconds. The preview plays built-in test moves: wave, idle, talk, walk and expressions. If an elbow or knee bends badly, tap Fix dots & re-rig, move that dot and run it again.
Previewing is free. To download the full-quality FBX or GLB you need a Day Pass ($3.99 for 24 hours) or PRO ($14.99/month for the first 50 members).
Try it on your own model. Upload, check the dots and watch it move before you pay anything.
Rig my character free →
Settings for Unity, Unreal and Blender
Open Advanced options before you tap Rig it:
| Setting | What to pick |
|---|---|
| Export for | Unity, Unreal or Blender. The FBX then uses that engine’s axes and scale, so it imports the right way up and the right size. |
| Skin weights | AI (default) works on most models, including AI-generated ones. Heat suits clean, closed meshes made by hand. |
| Include test moves | Adds idle, wave, talk, walk and expression clips to the file, handy to check the rig in your engine. |
Unity: import the FBX, set Rig > Animation Type to Humanoid. Bone names follow a standard humanoid layout, so Unity maps them automatically.
Unreal: import as a Skeletal Mesh and use the IK Retargeter to put any humanoid animation on it.
Blender: File > Import > FBX (or glTF for the GLB). Face expressions show up as shape keys.
Cartoons, Robots and Creatures
Because you can move every dot, 3D Rigger isn’t limited to realistic humans. Two-legged creatures, chibi cartoons, robots and animals standing upright all work: put the dots where their joints really are, even if the proportions are odd. Use hair chains for ears, tails and tentacles. Four-legged animals are not supported yet.
3D Rigger vs Mixamo vs AccuRIG
| JollyAI 3D Rigger | Mixamo | AccuRIG | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Runs in the browser, on phones | Yes | Desktop browser | Desktop app |
| Finger bones | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Face expressions | Yes | No | No |
| Hair / tail chains | Yes | No | No |
| Cartoons and creatures | Yes, adjust the dots | Humanoids | Humanoids |
| Price | Free preview; $3.99 Day Pass or PRO to download | Free with an Adobe account | Free desktop app |
If you only need a body rig for a standard human and you’re fine with a desktop, Mixamo and AccuRIG are good free options. If you need a face that talks and blinks, hair that sways, or a character that isn’t a standard human, that’s where 3D Rigger is worth it.
No 3D Model Yet? Make One From an Image
You don’t need to sculpt anything. JollyAI Image to 3D turns one picture into a textured GLB, and its Animate it option rigs it in the same run. For the cleanest result, use one full-body character on a plain background, with arms slightly away from the body. If you want to run it on your own GPU instead, see my ComfyUI Pixal3D image to 3D workflow.
Troubleshooting
The arm tears or pulls the body when it moves
The arm was touching the torso. Move the elbow and wrist dots slightly outward, or pose the model with arms away from the body before uploading.
Knees bend backwards
Check the knee dots from the side view (S). They should sit slightly in front of the leg’s centre line.
Textures are missing
Your OBJ or FBX referenced external image files. Export again with textures embedded, or convert to GLB first.
The face expressions look wrong
Move the blue mouth and eye dots to the exact corners. If your character has no visible face, choose No face.
The upload fails
Keep the file under 100 MB. Reduce the triangle count or texture size in Blender if needed.
FAQ
Can I auto rig a 3D model for free?
Uploading, placing dots and previewing the rigged character in JollyAI 3D Rigger is free. Downloading the full-quality FBX and GLB needs a Day Pass or PRO. Mixamo and AccuRIG are free alternatives for body-only humanoid rigs.
Which file formats can I upload?
GLB, FBX and OBJ, up to 100 MB. Embed textures for OBJ and FBX.
Does the rig work in Unity and Unreal?
Yes. Pick your engine under Advanced options. The bone names follow a standard humanoid layout, so Unity Humanoid and Unreal retargeting map them.
Can I use Mixamo animations on it?
3D Rigger doesn’t include Mixamo clips. Use your own animations, motion capture or CC0 animation packs, and retarget them in your engine.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes. Every step, including dragging the dots, is designed for touch screens.
Can I rig a VTuber model?
Yes for a 3D avatar with blink, smile and talk shapes plus hair bones, exported as FBX or GLB. VRM export is not available yet.
What You Get With PRO (and the Cheaper Options)
3D Rigger is not sold on its own. One JollyAI plan unlocks every tool on the site, so the same subscription that downloads your rig also makes the images, videos, 3D models and voices around it.
| Free | Day Pass | PRO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $0 | $3.99 for 24 hours | $14.99/month for the first 50 members, locked for 12 months (then $19.99) |
| Generations | 1 per day | 25 | 50 per day |
| AI video (MiniMax H3: text, image and reference to video, with sound) | – | Up to 3 | Up to 10 per day |
| AI images (Krea 2, Qwen 2.1) and image editing | – | Yes | Yes |
| Image to 3D (with Animate it and Blocky / voxel) | Watermarked 360° preview | GLB download | GLB download |
| 3D Rigger (body, fingers, face, hair) | Free preview | FBX + GLB download | FBX + GLB download, 10 rigs a day |
| Text to voice | Generate and listen | Generate and listen | Generate and download |
Why the bundle is good value: to do the same job with separate products you would normally pay for an AI image generator, an AI video generator, an image-to-3D tool, an auto rigger and a text-to-speech app, each with its own subscription. With PRO it’s one $14.99 plan, and a full character pipeline (make the image, turn it into 3D, rig it, give it a voice, put it in a video) lives in one place.
Which one should you pick? Rigging one character for a game jam or a single project: take the Day Pass. Making characters, videos or content every week: PRO pays for itself fast. Just curious: start free and preview your rig.
Final Thoughts
Rigging used to be the wall between “I have a 3D model” and “my character moves”. With AI joint detection and a quick dot check, it’s now a 2-minute job you can do on your phone, with fingers, face and hair included.
Ready to make your character move? Free preview, no Blender, no Mixamo account.
Open JollyAI 3D Rigger →
JollyAI is my own tool. Download with a Day Pass ($3.99) or PRO ($14.99/mo for the first 50 members).