AXIS Core Addon

Rigs Selector – Initial Setup

When you first open AXIS Core,  you’ll see the Rigs Selector section at the top of the panel.

This is the starting point for all tools, nothing else in the addon will appear until your main rig is linked here.

• Main Rig:

Select your AXIS character rig (usually named AXIS _Rig). This is the primary armature used for all body animation, posing, and retargeting functions within the addon.

• Face Widget:

(Optional) Select your AXIS_FaceWidget if you use a separate facial rig. More info here

When linked, the addon will automatically organize facial poses and animations into their own dedicated library, keeping them separate from the main rig’s data.

• Source Rig:

Choose the external rig you want to retarget animations from. AXIS Core currently supports:

Unreal Engine, Mixamo, ActorCore, HumanIK, and Daz Studio Genesis 9, 8.1, 8, and 3.

The System menu is set to Auto (Detect) by default, and in most cases it doesn’t need to be changed.

Manual selection is only necessary when two systems share similar bone names, for example, Genesis 8 and Genesis 3, which can occasionally cause detection conflicts.

Once a valid AXIS Rig is assigned, the rest of the addon’s tools will appear, including Retarget, Face Mocap (Live Link), Frame Range, Actions, Options, Pose Tools, and Library.

If no rig is selected, a message will appear prompting you to choose one before continuing.

Retarget

Use this section to transfer motion from a source rig onto your AXIS rig.

• Retarget (Pose)

Applies the current frame’s pose from the Source Rig to your Main Rig.

This does not create keyframes, it's a one-shot pose transfer, ideal for quickly matching a stance or checking alignment.

• Bake Animation

Starts a full animation bake from the Source Rig onto your Main Rig.

While baking, a Bake Status panel appears showing a progress bar, processed/total frames, an estimated time remaining (ETA), and a Press ESC to cancel message.

You can cancel the bake at any time by pressing ESC.

• Quick Load & Bake

• Load & Bake

Opens a file browser to select an animation FBX. AXIS Core will:

1. import the FBX file,

2. auto-detect the source system,

3. bake the animation onto your Main Rig, and

4. clean up the temporary import to avoid leaving extra objects in your scene.

Requirements

• A valid Main Rig must be set in the Rigs Selector.

• For Retarget (Pose) and Bake Animation, select a compatible FBX Source Rig (e.g., Unreal Engine, Mixamo, ActorCore, HumanIK, Daz Genesis 9/8.1/8/3).

It is strongly recommended to enable “Simplify” before performing any retarget or bake.
This helps prevent slowdowns during the process, especially with complex characters.

If your model includes Hair Curves, open the AXIS Panel (not the add-on panel), enable Reduce Hair Curves, and set the Intensity slider to 100%.
This will temporarily reduce hair complexity and significantly improve performance while baking animations.

Face Mocap (Live Link)

This tool allows you to import facial motion capture data recorded with the Live Link Face app from Unreal Engine.

It doesn’t work in live-streaming mode, instead, you record your performance in the app, export the animation file, and then import it here.

• Import Head Rotation

Enables or disables the import of head rotation data.

When checked, the head’s movement from the capture will be included.

The Spine Follow slider below adjusts how strongly the torso follows the head motion, lower values keep the spine stable, while higher values make it move more naturally with the head.

• Import CSV

Opens a file browser where you can select the .CSV file generated by the Live Link Face app.

Once imported, AXIS Core automatically applies the full facial animation to your character.

• Clear

Removes the imported facial animation, restoring a clean state with no keyframes or leftover data.

Tips

The Live Link Face app can export multiple CSV types, always use the raw CSV file for best results.

Face Mocap (Live Link) – Quick Tutorial

To capture and import facial mocap from Live Link Face into Blender with AXIS Core:

1. Install the Live Link Face app on your iPhone or iPad.

2. Open the app and go to Settings.

   • Set Mode to ARKit.

   • Enable Head Rotation if you want to capture head movement along with facial animation.

3. Record your facial performance.

4. When finished, tap the slate icon with the magnifying glass (bottom left) to view your recordings.

5. Locate your take, select it, and share/export it in the way that’s most convenient (email, iCloud, Google Drive, etc.).

6. On your computer, download and extract the exported ZIP file (for example: MySlate_5_iPhone.zip).

7. Inside, locate the CSV file (for example: MySlate_5_iPhone.csv).

   • Use this raw CSV file for import.

8. In Blender, open AXIS Core > Face Mocap, click Import CSV, and select your file.

9. Wait for the process to complete, the facial animation will now be applied to the AXIS Rig.

That’s it. Your Live Link Face capture is ready to use inside Blender.

Frame Range

This section defines which frames will be processed when baking or importing an animation.

It applies to Bake Animation, Load & Bake, and Face Mocap (Live Link) operations.

• Auto (from source)

Automatically uses the full frame range from the source animation — either the imported FBX, the selected Source Rig, or the Live Link CSV data.

This option is ideal when you want to bake the entire motion without adjustments.

• Manual

Allows you to define a custom frame range for baking or import:

• Start / End: Set the first and last frame to be processed.

• Step 

Defines how many frames to skip during the bake.

For example, with a 10-frame animation and a step value of 2, AXIS Core will bake every other frame, resulting in 5 frames total.

Tips

The Step setting is especially useful for quickly testing animations without waiting for a full bake.

Setting it to 2 will halve the baking time, 3 will reduce it to roughly a third, and so on.

The animation won’t be perfectly smooth, but it allows you to preview and verify the retargeting results before performing a full 1:1 bake.

Actions

This section manages the animation actions linked to yourAXIS Rig.

• Action Name

Enter a custom name for the animation that will be baked onto the AXIS rig.

If left empty, AXIS Core will automatically assign a default name during the bake process.

• Action List

The dropdown below shows all animation actions currently associated with the AXIS rig.

You can use it to quickly switch between different baked animations.

• Delete Action

Removes the currently selected action from the scene, cleaning up any unused animation data.

Tips

Naming your actions clearly (for example, Walk_Cycle_01 or Idle_Breathing) helps keep your animation library organized, especially when baking multiple takes.

Options

This section provides additional tools and utilities to refine or prepare your retargeting process.

• Clean Target

Clears the current pose of the AXIS Rig before performing a retarget.

This helps prevent unwanted offsets or residual rotations from previous poses or animations.

• Copy Root Translation

When enabled, the AXIS Rig will follow the global movement of the source animation, for example, if the original rig walks forward, the AXIS Rig will also move through the scene.

If disabled, the animation will be baked in place, keeping the rig fixed at its current location.

• Push to NLA

Bakes the current animation and stores it in memory without assigning it directly to the rig’s active action.

This is useful for organizing or combining multiple animations later in Blender’s NLA Editor.

• Import Facial (ARKit)

When importing certain FBX files (for example, from Unreal Engine), the file may include a separate animated head mesh containing ARKit facial data.

This option automatically detects that animation and transfers it to the OMNIA or VERSA character’s facial controls.

• Disable Limit Rotation

Temporarily disables the internal joint rotation limits of the AXIS Rig.

These limits are designed to maintain realistic motion, but some animations may require them to be turned off for correct retargeting.

It’s recommended to keep this option enabled for clean and natural-looking poses unless the animation demands otherwise.

Tips

Before running a bake, it’s good practice to use Clean Target and verify whether Copy Root Translation should be on or off depending on your animation type.

Pose Tools

This section contains essential pose utilities for quick rig manipulation and symmetry control.

• Reset Pose

Resets the entire pose of the AXIS Rig to its default neutral position, clearing all current transformations.

• Toggle Pose/Object Mode

Instantly switches between Pose Mode and Object Mode, allowing you to adjust the rig or return to posing without manually changing modes.

• Flip Pose

Inverts the current pose from one side of the body to the other.

Use Flip Left → Right or Flip Right → Left to create mirrored poses based on the existing side.

• Mirror Pose

Copies the pose from one side and applies it to the other while keeping the original side unchanged.

Copy Left → Right duplicates the left-side pose onto the right side, and Copy Right → Left does the opposite.

Tips

These tools are especially useful for quickly refining symmetrical poses, testing mirrored expressions, or resetting a rig before saving new poses to your library.

Pose Tools (Advanced)

This section includes advanced control tools for switching between IK and FK systems, syncing poses, and adjusting limb stretching. These settings are essential for smooth animation workflows and retargeting accuracy.

• IK/FK Switch (Scene)

Allows you to blend or switch between Inverse Kinematics (IK) and Forward Kinematics (FK) for each limb.

The sliders control the influence for arms and legs, while the Fingers FK/IK sliders manage finger control blending for each hand.

• Global FK (Arms & Legs)

Toggles all arm and leg controls to FK mode at once. This is crucial for baking and retargeting since animations are baked to the FK controls.

AXIS Core automatically activates this setting before baking or retargeting to ensure proper data transfer.

• Global Fingers IK

Enables IK mode for all fingers simultaneously, useful for synchronized hand or grip adjustments.

• Snap FK/IK

Matches the pose between FK and IK modes, allowing you to switch seamlessly while keeping the current limb position intact.

You can snap each limb individually or use Global FK → IK and Global IK → FK for the entire body.

(Note: when snapping from IK to FK, you may need to press the button more than once until the pose aligns correctly. This is a known Rigify behavior.)

• Stretch Controls

Controls whether arms and legs can stretch beyond their default length when IK targets move outside their normal range.

Increasing the Arm Stretch or Leg Stretch value allows for extended reach, which is useful for achieving complex or stylized animation poses.

Library

The Library section allows you to save and manage both poses and animations for your AXIS Rig.

Each saved entry includes a visual thumbnail preview, making it easy to identify and organize your motion assets.

• Poses

  • To save a pose, type the desired name and click Save. AXIS Core will capture the current rig pose and automatically create a thumbnail based on your current viewport view.

  • You can update the preview at any time using the camera icon, allowing you to re-capture the pose from a different angle or zoom level. No scene camera is required — simply adjust your viewport and take the new snapshot.

  • Once saved, your poses will appear as thumbnails inside the library grid. You can select, reload, or delete any pose directly from the interface.

• Animations

• The Export button saves the current animation to the library, creating a thumbnail just like poses.

• The Import button loads any saved animation back into the AXISRig, restoring all keyframes and motion data.

• You can also update the animation’s thumbnail or remove it completely from the library using the icons below.

Note:

The library stores poses and animations regardless of whether they were created in FK or IK mode.

To keep your library organized, it’s recommended to include “FK” or “IK” in your pose or animation names.

This makes it easier to know when to enable or disable Global IK before loading a saved pose or animation. 

Face Widget

This section works exactly the same way, but it stores only the facial poses and facial animations linked to the AXIS_FaceWidget, without interfering with the main rig’s data.

It allows you to create and manage a dedicated facial library, perfect for saving expressions or importing face-only animation clips independently.

Tips

Use clear, descriptive names for your poses and animations to keep your library organized.

Info Section

This section provides general information about the add-on, its compatibility, and access to essential external resources such as documentation, updates, and store links.

AXIS Panel

If the AXIS Panel is not yet installed in the current scene, an Install button will appear.
Clicking it will automatically add the embedded panel, enabling full control over bone layers and rig-specific functions inside the AXIS Core interface.

If it’s already installed, the panel will show an “Already installed” message along with an Update / Reinstall option to refresh or replace the existing panel in the scene.
In most OMNIA or VERSA models, this panel is included by default, but if you import your character into a new scene, you may need to install it again manually.

Retarget Compatibility

Displays all animation systems currently supported for retargeting through AXIS Core:

• ActorCore (Reallusion)

• Mixamo

• Unreal Engine (Mannequin)

• HumanIK

• Genesis 9 (DAZ Studio, not .duf)

• Genesis 8 / 8.1 (DAZ Studio, not .duf)

• Genesis 3 (DAZ Studio, not .duf)

These systems are fully compatible with the OMNIA 2 and VERSA Rig, enabling seamless pose and animation transfer through the Retarget section.

Version and Compatibility

Shows the current add-on version and system compatibility notice.

This add-on is only compatible with the OMNIA 2 and VERSA Rig System, as previous OMNIA 1 rigs are no longer supported in new updates.

Documentation and Support

Provides direct access to the official online documentation, which includes setup instructions, video tutorials, feature breakdowns, and troubleshooting help.
Click Open Online Documentation to view it in your browser.

More & Updates

This section offers quick access to external resources related to updates and additional OMNIA or VERSA content:

• Check Updates – Opens the official Gumroad repository where you can verify the latest version of the AXIS Core Addon.

• Need More Characters? – Opens the creator’s store directory, where you can explore all available O.V characters and editions across multiple platforms.