Control Rig is Unreal Engine’s powerful node-based system for procedurally animating characters directly within the engine. On Day 30, you’ll dive into the fundamentals of Control Rig, giving you creative control over character animation without relying solely on baked animation files.

The day starts by introducing the Control Rig editor, where you can create custom rigs for skeletal meshes using a visual scripting system similar to Blueprints. You’ll begin by setting up basic rigging controls—like moving arms, legs, or facial features—through control nodes. Then, you’ll implement Inverse Kinematics (IK) and Forward Kinematics (FK) systems to animate joints naturally and fluidly, mimicking realistic human motion.

You’ll explore the concept of space switching, which allows you to transition control between world space and local space for animation accuracy. This is especially helpful in character interactions, like picking up an object or pressing a button, where limbs must move relative to something in the scene.

Real-time rig manipulation is another highlight. With Control Rig, you can pose and animate characters directly in your scene or within the Sequencer timeline, enabling fast iteration and on-the-fly animation adjustments. This non-destructive, procedural workflow is ideal for quick edits, stylized movements, or layering animation over mocap.

By the end of the session, you’ll build a simple but functional control rig for a humanoid character, allowing you to animate it interactively in Unreal. This opens the door to customized, dynamic animation systems without leaving the engine—whether for gameplay actions, cinematics, or real-time storytelling. Control Rig adds a powerful layer of flexibility for animators and technical artists alike.