Lattice Rig – Blender Add-on

Overview

The Lattice Rig add-on provides an advanced workflow for creating, managing, and editing Lattice modifiers in Blender.
It enables artists to generate lattice rigs with control empties, parent them to characters or rigs, mirror deformations symmetrically, and apply/remove lattice modifiers across multiple objects with ease.

This tool is especially useful for:

• Facial rigging using lattices

• Character deformation setups

• Batch deformation of multiple meshes

• Quick non-destructive mesh shaping

Features

🔧 Lattice Creation

• Fit Modes:

  • Combined: One lattice fits all selected meshes.

  • Per Object: Creates one lattice per selected mesh.

  • Active Only: Creates a lattice only for the active mesh.

  • Weight Group: Fits a lattice to the active vertex group of the active mesh.

• Custom resolutions (U, V, W).

• Multiple interpolation modes (Linear, Cardinal, Catmull-Rom, BSpline).

• Choose control empty shapes (cube, sphere, arrow, etc.).

🎛 Control Rig

• Automatically generates empties for each lattice control point.

• Each empty is linked with drivers to control the lattice point’s position.

• Supports different empty display shapes for better visualization.

🔗 Parenting Options

• Auto mode: Automatically parents the lattice to the mesh or its armature modifier.

• Custom mode: Manually parent the lattice to a specified armature and optional bone.

• Automatic armature/bone detection operator.

🛠 Lattice Editing

• Toggle lattice visibility in viewport.

• Change resolution (U, V, W) and interpolation per axis.

• Assign vertex groups to lattice modifiers and sync across objects.

• Symmetry tools: Mirror lattice deformations across U/V/W axis with one click.

⚡ Modifier Management

• Apply or remove all lattice modifiers from selected objects.

• Apply/remove individual modifiers with cleanup.

• Optional auto-delete unused lattices after applying/removing.

Installation

1. Download the add-on .zip or .py file.

2. In Blender, go to Edit > Preferences > Add-ons > Install.

3. Select the file and enable Lattice Rig from the add-on list.

4. Access it from 3D View > Sidebar (N) > Lattice Rig tab.

Usage

1. Select mesh objects in the viewport.

2. Open Sidebar (N) > Lattice Rig > Create Lattice Rig.

3. Choose Fit Mode, resolution, and interpolation.

4. Click Create Lattice.

   • Control empties are created and parented.

   • Lattice modifiers are added automatically.

Example Workflows

• Facial Rigging:
  Fit a lattice to a character’s head mesh → Parent to head bone → Use control empties for facial deformation.

• Batch Mesh Editing:
  Select multiple meshes → Fit mode = Combined → Create lattice → Deform them all at once.

• Corrective Shapes:
  Create lattice with Weight Group mode → Limit deformation to specific vertex groups → Apply as needed.

Panels & Operators

Create Lattice Rig

• Fit Mode (Combined / Per-Object / Active Only / Weight Group).

• Resolution (U, V, W).

• Interpolation Type (BSpline, Linear, etc.).

• Control Points Shape (Cube, Sphere, Arrow, etc.).

• Parenting Options (Auto / Custom).

  • Custom mode: Select Armature + Bone.

  • Detect Parent tool (Eyedropper).

Edit Lattice (when lattice is active)

• Toggle visibility.

• Adjust resolution and interpolation.

• Assign vertex groups to modifiers.

• Symmetry tools: Mirror lattice deformations.

Modifier Management

• Apply All: Applies all lattice modifiers on selected meshes.

• Remove All: Removes all lattice modifiers from selected meshes.

• Apply/Remove (per modifier) directly in the UI list.

Tips

• Use Weight Group mode to create corrective deformations limited to facial areas (eyes, mouth, etc.).

• For rigged characters, parent the lattice directly to bones for localized deformations.

• Keep remove lattices after action enabled if you want a clean scene after applying modifiers.

Known Limitations

• Complex setups with multiple armatures may require manual parenting.

• Performance may degrade with extremely high lattice resolutions.