Mutant Tools is a block-based modular rigging system for Autodesk Maya, built for speed, stability, and efficiency. Developed by Blue Tape Rigging Studios, it lets riggers stack guide-driven blocks into production-ready rigs, and gives animators fast, clean controls.
Current release: v1.6 (see Config/version.json).
- 🧱 Block-based building – stack blocks, place guides, build. Rebuild any time without losing skin, controller shapes or guide data.
- 🏎 Fast viewport evaluation – v002+ blocks use matrix-based builds, uvPin instead of follicles and proxy attributes, tuned for parallel evaluation.
- 🔁 Versioned blocks – every block keeps its old versions (
_v001,_v002, …) so existing rigs keep building the same while new rigs get the upgrades. - 🎭 Realistic & cartoony – stretch/squash, bendy limbs, soft IK, ribbons, sticky lips, toon eyes and more.
- 🧩 Presets – ready-made templates for humans, toons, game rigs, quadrupeds, birds, vehicles and props.
- 🎮 Game-ready output – root/convert-body blocks and Unreal game templates.
- 🤖 Scriptable – everything is Python, with a headless build path and an MCP bridge for AI-assisted work.
Blocks live in Blocks/, one folder per category:
| Category | Examples |
|---|---|
000_Presets |
Toon, Human Body/Face, Human Game, Unreal Game, Quad, Car, Bird, Prop templates |
001_Studio |
Custom orients & rotate orders, Toon Eye, Pickwalk, Vis Attrs, SN Lips, SN Renamer |
002_Biped |
Spine, Clavicle, Pelvis, Limb, Head, Hand, Foot, Eyes, Smart RFL, Leg Soft IK |
003_Facial |
Jaw, Mouth, Eyelids, Brows, Cheeks, Nose, Tongue, Teeth, Sticky Lips, Eyelashes |
004_Animals |
Wings, Tail, Quad Limb, Quad Spine, Snake, Ant Leg, Animal Mouth |
005_Clothes |
Cap, Pin, Skirt, Tie, Shirt, Cape |
006_Vehicles |
Wheel, Auto Wheel, Chassis, Steering Wheel, Doors, Drift, Push |
007_Games |
Root, Convert Body, Slide/Push Correctives |
008_Props |
Single FK, Rivet, Ribbonizer, Chain, Squash, Lattice, Reverse FK/Spline |
009_Data |
Load Skin, Load Ctrls |
010_Other |
BaseA, Code, Space Switches, Surface Constraint, Skin, Setter, Proxy Attr |
Each block is a JSON definition plus an exec_*.py build script. Blocks can run at different build phases (RunBeforeBuild, RunBeforeLoadCtrls, RunAfterBuild) and can define an on_attr_changed hook to react live to their settings (e.g. Hand finger toggles create/delete guides).
- Spine v002 – no end flip, joint count, tweakers, stretch/squash multiplier, unlimited twist, pivot slide.
- Limb v002 – parallel evaluation, bendy curve, controller scale, soft IK, SN orients.
- Head v003 – matrix neck, joints from the Neck guide, stretch and SN orients.
- Hand / SmartHand v002 – IK fingers with no-flip pole vectors, FingerScale, follows block parent scale.
- Foot v002 / LegSoftIK v003 – built for Limb v002 legs, scales with the limb GlobalScale ctrl.
- SN Renamer – new studio block for renaming to SN conventions.
UI tools live in UI/ and are reachable from the Mutant-Tools menu and the Bluetape Rigging shelf:
- AutoRigger / Block Builder – main block rigging UI.
- Guide Placements & Presets – place, mirror and save guides; load templates.
- Helpers – rigging utilities, Geo Update tab (save/select skin joints), ArkKit blendshape tool, mocap tab.
- Face Install, Zombinator, Proxy Maker, Strict Skinning, Butcher – facial setup, mesh/skin utilities.
- Anim Loader, Games & Crowds, Variant Manager, Versionize – animation, game and pipeline tools.
Supports Maya 2022 – 2026 (PySide2 and PySide6).
Drag & drop (recommended)
- Download the latest release and unzip it anywhere.
- Drag easy_install.py into the Maya viewport.
- The installer copies the tools, installs the Bluetape Rigging shelf and adds the Mutant-Tools menu (auto-loaded on startup). The menu checks for new versions on its own.
Manual
- Copy the
Mutant_Toolsfolder intomaya/<version>/scripts/. - Copy shelf_Bluetape_Rigging.mel into
maya/<version>/prefs/shelves/. - In Maya's Script Editor (Python):
import Mutant_Tools.Utils.mt_menu as mt_menu mt_menu.create_mutant_menu() mt_menu.put_in_userSetup()
Full guide: INSTALLATION_GUIDE.txt · Video walkthroughs
- Tests – static checks for every block, no Maya needed:
python -m pytest Tests/test_blocks.py -v - Headless build – Dev/build_no_ui.py builds a rig without the UI.
- Maya MCP bridge – Dev/MayaMCP/ lets Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex and other MCP clients read and drive a live Maya session (start it from the MCP menu in the main window). Includes guide fitting helpers (GUIDE_FITTING.md) and FBX skeleton retargeting.
- AI coding guide – Docs/AI_MT_COMMAND_RULES.md and Docs/AI_MT_COMMAND_TUTORIAL.md. For Meta Mutant: Docs/AI_META_MUTANT.md.
- Releases – push a
v*tag; the release workflow zips the repo, creates the GitHub release and syncs it to Gumroad.
🚀 Elevate your rigging pipeline with Mutant Tools today!