Overview
Creating a 3D animation used to require hours of manual rigging work. With Meshy's AI Auto Rigging and AI Animation Generator, you can go from a static 3D model to a fully animated character in under a minute — no rigging experience required.
This guide walks you through the complete workflow: rigging your model, applying animations, and exporting for use in Unity, Unreal Engine, Blender, or any other tool.
Step 1: Upload or Generate Your 3D Model
Head to the Meshy dashboard and navigate to the Auto Rigging tool. You can either:
Upload an existing model — supported formats include FBX, OBJ, and GLB
Generate a new character — use Meshy's Text to 3D or Image to 3D tools, then pass the result directly to Auto Rigging
💡 Tip: If your model has fused geometry (e.g., legs merged together) or poor topology, run remesh first for best rigging results. Check the character auto-rigging workflow guide for a detailed checklist.
Step 2: Apply Textures (Optional but Recommended)
If your model isn't already textured, apply materials before rigging. This ensures your final animated export looks complete and production-ready. Meshy's texture generation can handle this in the same workflow.
Step 3: Configure and Run Auto Rigging
Select your character type to let the AI choose the right skeleton:
Humanoid — for bipedal characters (humans, humanoid creatures, stylized figures)
Quadruped — for four-legged animals and creatures
Smart Rig (Beta) — for custom or fantasy creatures that don't fit standard categories
Click Rig and the AI will automatically generate a full skeleton hierarchy with skinning weights in approximately 30 seconds. Bone naming follows Mixamo conventions, so the rig is immediately compatible with most animation pipelines.
Step 4: Add Animation
Once rigged, you'll have access to a library of 600+ game-ready motion presets, including:
Walk cycles and locomotion
Combat and attack animations
Idle poses and breathing cycles
Jump, dance, and emote animations
Browse the library, select a motion clip, and preview it on your character in real time. The system automatically adapts the animation to your model's proportions.
💡 Tip: Humanoid characters have access to significantly more animation presets than quadrupeds. For more information regarding animation, you can refer to this page.
Step 5: Export Your Animated Model
When you're happy with the result, export in your preferred format:
FBX — best for Unity, Unreal Engine, Maya, and 3ds Max
GLB — best for web platforms, Blender, and Godot
USDZ — best for Apple AR workflows
Bone hierarchies follow industry standards, so animations retarget cleanly and blend with existing motion data in your target engine.
FAQ
1.Why doesn't my rig look quite right?
If your rig doesn't look quite right, run through this checklist
Pose errors → Regenerate the model with a proper T-pose or A-pose stance
Asymmetry → Add "symmetrical" to your generation prompt
Poor topology → Run "remesh" before rigging
Fused geometry → Regenerate the model with explicit separation between limbs
Grounding issues → Reposition the model and re-rig
For a deeper dive into the full workflow, see the character auto-rigging workflow tutorial.
2.Why is walking the only animation available for quadrupeds?
Currently, walking is the only animation we support for quadrupeds. We're actively working on adding more animation types, so stay tuned for updates.
3.What if the feet are stuck together in a humanoid animation?
We recommend generating your model in a T-pose with the feet spread apart. This gives the rigging process clearer separation to work with, which helps prevent the feet from merging or sticking together during animation.
4.Why can't I apply animations after smart-rigging?
Smart-rigged models currently aren't supported by our animation library. We're working on adding this compatibility in a future update.