What are the steps and prerequisites for generating a Rigify rig in Blender, and what does Rigify not do?

Problem. Rigging controls (FK/IK, spine, fingers) are repetitive. Conditions. Blender with the Rigify add-on enabled. Method. (1) Add a predefined meta-rig (Basic Human without face and fingers, Basic Quadruped, Human, Cat, Wolf, Horse, Shark). (2) Fit the meta-rig bones to the character, in Edit Mode or Pose Mode (then Apply Pose as Rest Pose). (3) Click Generate Rig in the armature properties. Preconditions from the manual. Rigify assumes 1 unit is 1 metre (a human is about 2 units tall in Blender's units as the manual puts it); keep legs and spine straight in front view; give knees and elbows a slight bend so Rigify knows their direction; remove face bones if you animate the face with shape keys. Bone rolls should be consistent (X axis is the bend axis). Strengths. A generated rig no longer needs the add-on, and you can re-generate without losing features or animation data. Failure modes. Mis-set bone rolls or collinear limbs. Limitations. Rigify only automates controls and bones: it does not attach the rig to a mesh, so skinning remains manual or separate (see C3-B572-08). Covers rig generation only, not retargeting (C2-B21-D3-03). Version/date. Manual source fetched 2026-10-23. Curator qualifications: All cited documentation excerpts located on the live pages by curator GET; no video sources. Limitations: Manual text for the main branch; the 'about 2 units tall' note is the manual's own wording. Rig quality on specific meshes was not tested. Evidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.

{
  "citations": [
    {
      "url": "https://projects.blender.org/blender/blender-manual/raw/branch/main/manual/addons/rigify/introduction.rst",
      "note": "Introduction; Basic Rig Generation; Edit Bone Positions; Rigify Human Alignment Tips; Main Features"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://projects.blender.org/blender/blender-manual/raw/branch/main/manual/addons/rigify/basics.rst",
      "note": "Introduction; Basic Rig Generation; Edit Bone Positions; Rigify Human Alignment Tips; Main Features"
    }
  ]
}