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BLBlender

Bone Engraver

by Shane Rider·Workflow

Images © Shane Rider. Used for product review; image policy.

Why we like it

Bone Engraver earns its place for exposing something Blender doesn't surface directly, the actual internal order of bones, alongside rename and matrix tools built for pipelines that pass rigs through FBX and game engines.

What is Bone Engraver?

Bone Engraver is a Blender add-on that groups several armature tools under a single 'Bone Engraver' tab in the N-Panel. Its renaming side lets you build a rename mapping for bones in the active armature and apply it locally to one armature or globally across multiple actions and rigs. A Global Rename option covers every action in the file, and Auto Sync Bone Rename mirrors changes across Actions, Drivers, and NLA tracks in real time while keeping a history of what you changed. These operations update drivers, constraints, and F-Curve references scene-wide and handle interlinked animation strips such as stashed, NLA, and linked duplicates.

The Bone Reorder Tool provides an outliner-style hierarchy viewer for manually reordering bones inside an armature data-block through a controlled export-import workflow. Because Blender stores bone order in a fixed internal list, reordering can affect export behavior, parenting logic, and animation data consistency, which matters for imported FBX files and game engines that depend on bone index.

The Bone Matrix Mapper captures, analyzes, remaps, and restores bone transformation matrices, aimed at technical animators, riggers, and pipeline developers working with imported assets. A demo video is available.

Who is Bone Engraver best for?

Bone Engraver is best for technical animators, riggers, and pipeline developers working with imported assets such as FBX from Maya or game engines.

How much does Bone Engraver cost?

Bone Engraver is completely free to download and use.

Key features

  • Bone Renamer builds a rename mapping for bones in the active armature and applies it locally to one armature or globally across multiple actions and rigs
  • Auto Sync Bone Rename mirrors renaming across Actions, Drivers, and NLA tracks in real time, keeps a change history, and works via the properties panel or the F2 shortcut
  • Updates drivers, constraints, and F-Curve references scene-wide and handles interlinked animation strips including stashed, NLA, and linked duplicates
  • Bone Reorder Tool with an outliner-style hierarchy viewer for manually reordering bones inside an armature data-block from the N-Panel
  • Bone Name Transfer copies bone names from another armature or an action with matching likeness and the same rig
  • Bone Matrix Mapper captures, remaps, and restores bone transformation matrices for FBX imports, pose correction, and animation transfer
  • Optionally caches the rename mapping for repeat jobs

Tags

#rigging#armature#bone renaming#bone reorder#FBX#matrix mapper#animation pipeline#Blender

Frequently asked questions

Does Bone Engraver update drivers and constraints when I rename bones?

Bone Engraver's renaming tools update drivers and constraints with bone reference paths when applicable, so those links follow the new names. They also rename bone keys across all animations and update F-Curve references scene-wide, and they handle interlinked animation strips including stashed actions, NLA tracks, and linked duplicates. The Global Rename option extends this across every action in the Blender file, while Auto Sync Bone Rename mirrors the same updates across Actions, Drivers, and NLA tracks in real time. You can also optionally cache the mapping for repeat jobs.

Does Bone Engraver work with FBX imports?

Bone Engraver includes tools aimed at imported assets. The Bone Reorder Tool addresses broken bone orders that can come from imported files such as FBX, along with mismatched rigs and game-engine compatibility constraints tied to bone index dependence. Because Blender keeps bone order in a fixed internal list, reordering affects export behavior, parenting logic, and animation data consistency. The Bone Matrix Mapper is tailored for FBX-related workflows too, capturing, remapping, and restoring bone transformation matrices for imported assets, pose correction, and animation transfer where the transform state of bones needs to be preserved.

How does Auto Sync Bone Rename work?

Bone Engraver's Auto Sync Bone Rename is a hands-free switch you activate once and leave on. With it enabled, you rename bones as you go through the properties panel or with the F2 shortcut, and it mirrors those renaming operations across Actions, Drivers, and NLA tracks in real time. It keeps a history list of what you changed and updates references the same way the other renaming tools do, so names stay consistent without running a separate batch pass for every change you make.

Is Bone Engraver free to use?

Bone Engraver is listed as free here in our catalog. Licensing terms can change over time, so check Shane Rider's page on Superhive for the current details before relying on it in a production pipeline. The add-on bundles the bone renaming tools, the Bone Reorder Tool, and the Bone Matrix Mapper under a single Bone Engraver tab in Blender's N-Panel, and a demo video is available. That combination covers renaming, reordering, and matrix remapping for armatures within one package.

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