The Rokoko addon is a free, versatile tool for Blender.
Rokoko is the manufacturer of the Rokoko Suit, a motion capture device designed with affordability and simplicity in mind.
The primary aim of the addon is to connect the Rokoko Studio software to Blender, which enables users to transfer their Rokoko mocap, or even live-stream motion data and puppeteer Blender characters in real time.
However, the addon also offers a fully-featured and user-friendly retargeting system that can be set up to work with any mocap data and retarget it to any rig. This has made the addon popular even among users who don’t own Rokoko hardware.
In this article, I'm focusing on the retargeting features of the addon.
Basic Retargeting Workflow
1. Scene Preparation
After installing and activating the addon, import both your Source rig (the armature containing your mocap animation) and your Target rig (your character’s armature) into the Blender scene.
2. Assign Rigs
Open the Rokoko panel in the 3D Sidebar (N-panel). Under the Retargeting section:
- Select your mocap armature as the Source.
- Select your character’s armature as the Target.
3. Build the Bone List
Click the Build Bone List button. This generates a mapping table between the two armatures.
- Manual Review: Always double-check that source bones (e.g., "LeftArm") are correctly paired with target bones (e.g., "Arm.L").
- Complex Rigs: If you are retargeting to a complex system like Rigify, the automatic mapping will likely be wrong and incomplete. You will need to manually adjust the bone pairs and fill in any blanks.
- Presets: Once you’ve perfected a mapping for a specific rig type, save it as a Preset. This allows you to skip the manual setup the next time you use that same rig character.
4. Match the Poses
For the best results, both rigs should be in the same pose, typically a T-pose.
- A-Pose Adjustment: If your character is in an A-pose while the mocap is in a T-pose, manually rotate the Source rig's arms in Pose Mode to match the Target.
- Use Pose Setting: If you have manually adjusted the pose, ensure you change the "Use Pose" setting from Rest to Current.
- Auto Scale: In most cases, keep Auto Scale enabled. This allows the addon to compensate for height and proportion differences between the two armatures.
5. Retarget
Click Retarget Animation. The addon will process the keyframes and bake the motion onto your Target rig.
If all went well, your character will now perform the mocap animation when you press Blender's Play Animation button. Below, you'll find in-depth video guides that go beyond these basics and cover many edge cases and advanced workflows.
Rokoko addon & Blender compatibility
While the Rokoko addon is a great free retargeter, the main issue you may encounter is that the addon has not yet been updated to fully work with the latest Blender version.
If you get Python errors or unpredictable behavior, chances are that the addon is not yet compatible with your Blender version. In such cases, you could try to switch to an older Blender version or consider more robust Retargeting solution such as Auto-Rig Pro.