Rigging

Source: src/mpfb/ui/rigging/applypose/

Parent panel: MPFB_PT_Rig_Panel ("Rigging")

Overview

The "Load pose" panel applies a saved pose to the currently active armature. Poses are stored as .json files in the user's data directory under poses/, organised into sub-directories by rig type and mode.

Two categories of poses are supported:

• Full poses — replace the entire current pose of all bones. Applied from the poses/{rig_type}_{fk|ik}/ directory.
• Partial poses — override only a specific subset of bones, layered on top of the existing pose without changing the rest. Applied from poses/{rig_type}_partial/.

The dropdown menus only list poses that are compatible with the active rig's type and its current FK/IK mode. This prevents accidentally applying a pose designed for a different rig or a rig in a different mode.

On the first time the panel is drawn, RigService.ensure_global_poses_are_available() is called. This copies any system-provided pose files that come with MPFB from the addon's data directory into the user's data directory, making them permanently available even after addon updates.

A third option allows importing a pose from a MakeHuman BVH animation file. This is a destructive operation that changes bone roll angles and should only be used when specifically needed.

The panel only appears when the active object is an armature.

Panel

MPFB_PT_ApplyPosePanel ("Load pose")

Attribute	Value
bl_label	"Load pose"
bl_category	RIGCATEGORY
bl_parent_id	MPFB_PT_Rig_Panel
bl_options	{'DEFAULT_CLOSED'}
Base class	Abstract_Panel
Poll	Active object must be an armature
Properties prefix	"POSES_"

Draws: available_poses dropdown → Load pose button, then available_partials dropdown → Load partial pose button, then Import MH BVH Pose button.

Operators

MPFB_OT_Load_Pose_Operator

Attribute	Value
bl_idname	mpfb.load_pose
bl_label	"Load pose"
bl_options	{'REGISTER', 'UNDO'}
Poll	ANY_ARMATURE_OBJECT_ACTIVE

Applies the selected full pose to the active armature. Steps:

1. Identifies the rig type using RigService.identify_rig(). Rigs with "default" in their name are normalised to just "default".
2. Detects whether the rig is in FK or IK mode by checking whether any bone name ends with "_ik". Sets the directory suffix to "_fk" or "_ik" accordingly.
3. Constructs the path poses/{rig_type}_{mode}/{pose_name}.json inside the user data directory.
4. Loads the JSON file and applies all bone rotations using RigService.set_pose_from_dict().

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MPFB_OT_Load_Partial_Operator

Attribute	Value
bl_idname	mpfb.load_partial
bl_label	"Load partial pose"
bl_options	{'REGISTER', 'UNDO'}
Poll	ANY_ARMATURE_OBJECT_ACTIVE

Same as Load Pose, except:

• Uses the _partial directory suffix to look up the pose file.
• Calls RigService.set_pose_from_dict(..., from_rest_pose=False), which applies the saved bone values on top of the current pose rather than from the rest position. Bones not mentioned in the partial pose file are left exactly as they are.

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MPFB_OT_Load_MH_BVH_Operator

Attribute	Value
bl_idname	mpfb.load_mhbvh_pose
bl_label	"Import MH BVH Pose"
bl_options	{'REGISTER', 'UNDO'}
File filter	*.bvh
Poll	ANY_ARMATURE_OBJECT_ACTIVE

Opens a file browser filtered to .bvh (BioVision Hierarchy) animation files. After the user selects a file, calls AnimationService.import_bvh_file_as_pose() to extract the first frame of the BVH animation and apply it as a static pose to the armature.

Warning: This operation changes the bone roll angles of all bones in the rig, making the armature behave differently for subsequent posing and animation. Only use this when you specifically need to bring in a MakeHuman BVH pose and are prepared to deal with the side effects.

Properties

Both properties are defined directly in applyposepanel.py (not in JSON files) because their option lists are populated dynamically by scanning the file system at draw time.

Property	Type	Description
available_poses	enum (dynamic)	Lists all full pose .json files found in poses/{rig_type}_{fk|ik}/ in the user data directory. The list is filtered to only show poses that match the active rig's type and mode. Empty if no matching poses are installed.
available_partials	enum (dynamic)	Lists all partial pose .json files found in poses/{rig_type}_partial/ in the user data directory. Empty if no matching partial poses are installed.

Related

• RigService — provides identify_rig(), set_pose_from_dict(), and ensure_global_poses_are_available()
• AnimationService — provides import_bvh_file_as_pose()
• Pose file format — the .json format used for stored poses