afk.ai/Auto-rig/Quadrupeds
Auto-rig a quadruped with AI
Upload a dog, cat, wolf, horse or deer and an AI finds its four legs, spine, neck and tail. afk.ai fits a quadruped skeleton to them, weights the skin and plays walk, run and idle cycles straight away. Download it as a GLB for Unity, Unreal, Godot or Blender.
Before is the sample model as it's uploaded: a mesh with no bones. After is the same quadruped on afk.ai's skeleton, playing its animations.
How it works
- 1
Upload
Drop in your quadruped as a GLB, a self-contained glTF or an FBX. Sign in with Google; it's free.
- 2
The AI finds its body
An AI reads the mesh and works out where everything is. On a good graphics card it runs right in your browser; otherwise the cloud rigger does it.
- 3
Skeleton and skin
afk.ai fits its quadruped skeleton to what the AI found and weights the skin, so the mesh bends at the joints.
- 4
Animate and export
Preview every animation on your model, then download one GLB with the skeleton, skin weights and all of the animations.
What the quadruped rig includes
Two four-legged skeletons: one for animals with paws (dogs, cats, wolves, foxes) and one for long legs and hooves (horses, deer, cows).
Four-legged (fox): 49 joints
- Hips and a four-bone spine
- Head, jaw, nose and both ears
- Four legs: shoulder or pelvis, upper, lower, ankle and foot
- A five-bone tail
13 animations
Bark, Bite, Death, Fall, Fetch, Howl, Idle, Idle Alert, Jump, Run, Sit, Sneak, Walk.
Download the rigged fox (.glb, 0.8 MB)The sample above with its skeleton and all 13 animations. CC0: use it for anything.
Hoofed (horse): 56 joints
- Hips, a six-bone spine and ribcage
- Head, mouth and both ears
- Front legs from the shoulder blade down to the hoof
- Back legs from the pelvis down to the toe
- A four-bone tail
13 animations
Death, Eating, Head Butt, Idle, Kick, Lay to idle, Rear, Run, Sleep, Trot, Turn Left, Turn Right, Walk.
Download the rigged horse (.glb, 1.1 MB)The sample above with its skeleton and all 13 animations. CC0: use it for anything.
Models that rig best
- Standing on all four legs, with the legs apart and straight, fits best.
- When afk.ai asks what it is, pick Four-legged for paws and Hoofed for hooves.
- One animal per file. A herd in one model gets one skeleton.
Use your rigged quadruped in Unity, Unreal, Godot or Blender
Unity 6
- Open Window > Package Manager, click +, choose Add package by name and enter com.unity.cloud.gltfast (glTFast).
- Drag the .glb into Assets. It becomes a prefab with the mesh, skeleton and one Animation Clip per animation.
- Create an Animator Controller, drag the clips into it and assign it to the Animator on the prefab.
- Prefer FBX? Export one from Blender, then in Unity set Rig > Animation Type to Generic (creatures aren't Humanoid avatars) and click Apply.
Unreal Engine 5
- Drag the .glb into the Content Browser (or +Add > Import). Unreal 5.1 and later import glTF natively.
- Click Import in the options dialog. You get a Skeletal Mesh, its Skeleton, a Physics Asset and one Animation Sequence per animation.
- Creatures keep their own skeleton, so there's nothing to retarget to the mannequin.
Godot 4
- Copy the .glb into your project folder. Godot imports it as a scene with a Skeleton3D and an AnimationPlayer holding every animation.
- For cycles like walks and idles, double-click the .glb, select the animation, set Loop Mode to Linear and click Reimport.
- Instance the scene and play one: $AnimationPlayer.play("Walk").
Blender
- File > Import > glTF 2.0 (.glb/.gltf), and pick the file.
- The mesh comes in on its armature, with the first animation active: scrub the timeline to play it.
- The other animations are on NLA tracks named after them. Click a track's star (Solo) to play it.
Questions
›Which animals does the quadruped rig fit?
The four-legged skeleton suits animals with paws, like dogs, cats, wolves and foxes. The hoofed skeleton suits long legs and hooves, like horses, deer and cows. Both have a spine, neck, head with a jaw, four legs and a tail.
›Can I use the rigged animal in a commercial game?
Yes. Your model stays yours, and the animations are CC0 (public domain), so you can ship them in a commercial game without credit.
›Does Mixamo rig dogs or horses?
No. Mixamo's auto-rigger only handles two-legged humanoids. afk.ai was built for the animals and creatures it can't rig.
›Is afk.ai free?
Yes. Rigging, the animations and the GLB export are free. You sign in with Google, and the site is supported by ads.
›What do I need to run it?
A computer with Chrome or Edge. With a decent graphics card the AI runs in your browser (the first rig downloads the 1.1 GB AI model once). On phones and weaker computers, afk.ai offers its cloud rigger instead.