When a character needs a rig
Rig a character when it has to move. A statue, a prop, a product shot, or a print only needs the mesh. Auto-rig covers humanoid and quadruped characters and previews idle, walk, and run. That feature, and the rigged FBX it exports, is on Studio. A static character can stay on Pro.
September 16, 2026 · Objectify
The test
A rig is a skeleton you can pose. You need one when the character has to idle, walk, or run in an engine. You do not need one for a statue, a prop, a product shot, or a print.
If the asset will only be rotated in a viewer, skip the rig and export the mesh. If you can describe the performance as “it walks,” rig before you export.
What auto-rig covers
Auto-rig handles humanoid and quadruped characters, then previews idle, walk, and run. It is the right first pass when the silhouette is a person or a four-legged animal and those three cycles are enough.
It is not a hand-authored rig for a creature with an unusual limb layout. Those still belong in a DCC tool, starting from the mesh.
Where it sits in the plans
Auto-rig and animation are on Studio, with API access and a shared workspace. Pro still exports FBX, GLB, and the other formats for a static character.
The rigged FBX is the Studio step. Enterprise is for volume, SSO, and custom terms, not for a single character.
Export after the rig
Preview the cycle before you download. If the weight is wrong on a cape, a tail, or a held prop, fix that in your DCC rather than regenerating the mesh.
Engines that already expect FBX should get the rigged FBX. A web viewer that only orbits the character should get GLB and skip the rig entirely.