Cinevva Rig for Blender: Getting Started in Ten Minutes
Last updated: September 2026.
Ten minutes gets you from download to a game-ready export, and another one-time purchase gets you rigging on your own machine. The export half needs no account, no key and no network. Rigging needs the $29 key (launch price) for offline rigging, or a Cinevva account with credits for online rigging.
1. Install the extension
Download the zip from the add-on page. In Blender 4.2 or newer open Edit > Preferences > Get Extensions, click the drop-down arrow in the top right, choose Install from Disk..., and pick the zip. Blender lists two permissions before it enables the add-on: network access for signing in, rigging online or downloading the local engine, and file access for storing that engine, your exports and temp files. Both are shown because Blender asks every extension to declare them.
If the Rig button later says online access is off, turn on Preferences > System > Network > Allow Online Access. Export never needs it.
2. Find the Cinevva tab
In the 3D Viewport press N to open the sidebar and click the Cinevva tab. The header shows which mesh is selected and its state. With nothing selected it says so and asks you to import or select a mesh.
3. Export your first model, free
Select a mesh. The Export card runs a size analysis and shows where the bytes of the exported file would go: geometry, textures, animation and shape keys. Textures are usually the biggest slice, which is why the presets cap and re-encode them. Pick the preset for where the file is going:
| Preset | Format | What it sets |
|---|---|---|
| Web | GLB | Y-up, Draco compression, WebP textures capped at 1024 px |
| Unity | FBX | Forward -Z, up Y, unit scale applied, textures embedded, capped at 2048 px |
| Unreal | FBX | Forward -Y, up Z, Unreal bone axes, textures embedded, capped at 2048 px |
| Godot | GLB | Y-up, no Draco, textures capped at 2048 px |
Press Export. The size figure updates after the export so you can compare it with the analysis. The per-engine details behind each preset are in the Unity, Unreal and Godot checklists.
4. Rig a character
Select the character mesh and open the Rig card. Without a key the card shows the purchase. Pay once with Stripe in your browser and this machine activates itself (or click I have a key if you bought earlier). The first offline rig downloads the local engine, about 2.4 GB, once. The card shows the download progress and lets you cancel with Esc.
Then rigging asks one question: which of four rendered views shows the front of your character. Click it in the viewport, choose the body plan, and press Rig. About half a minute later a skinned, Mixamo-named armature sits inside your mesh with your materials and modifiers untouched, and the panel reports how many bones it built and how many fingers it found.
Bend an elbow and a knee in Pose Mode before you go further. The thirty-second rig check covers what to look for.
5. Play an animation
Open the animation browser docked in the viewport, pick any of the 260 clips, and it plays on your character. Every clip is CC0, so a shipped game needs no licence line. Export with the preset for your engine and the clips travel with the file.
Online rigging instead
If you'd rather not download the engine, choose online rigging in the Rig card and press Sign in with Cinevva. A one-time code appears in Blender and you approve it in your browser. Online rigs cost credits from your Cinevva account. A key covers offline rigging on up to three machines.
When something goes wrong
The panel says what failed in plain words. If it's the add-on rather than your mesh, write to [email protected] with your Blender version, your OS and the message. The changelog lists the Blender versions each release supports.
Related
- Cinevva Rig for Blender: download, price and questions
- Changelog: every release and what changed
- How to rig a character in Blender: Rigify, manual armatures and the one-click route
- Blender weight painting problems: fixing weights by hand, and skipping the step