🔹 Torso Rig in Blender / 3D Animation
A Torso Rig is the rigging setup (bones + controls) that allows you to animate the upper body (chest, abdomen, hips, spine) of a character.
It’s part of the character’s armature that makes the torso bend, twist, stretch, and squash in a natural way.
🔑 Key Elements of a Torso Rig
Spine Bones
A chain of bones running from the hips → chest → neck.
Controls the bending and twisting of the body.
Hip / Pelvis Control
Usually a separate bone for controlling the hip rotation and body weight shifting.
Chest / Upper Body Control
A control bone for rotating or leaning the upper body independently of the hips.
IK / FK Spine Setup (Advanced)
FK (Forward Kinematics): Rotate spine bones one by one (good for arcs and smooth motion).
IK (Inverse Kinematics): Move a chest or hip controller and the whole spine bends accordingly (good for posing).
Advanced rigs often include IK ↔ FK switching.
Stretch / Squash Options (optional)
Sometimes added for cartoony rigs, allowing the torso to stretch or squash.
🔹 Why Torso Rig is Important
Adds realism: breathing, leaning, twisting, dancing, etc.
Makes characters feel alive instead of stiff.
Gives animators flexibility (hips stable while chest twists, or full-body bends).
🔹 Example
In a humanoid rig:
The torso rig lets you animate a character bending forward, twisting at the waist, or stretching upward.
Without a proper torso rig, the character would look stiff and unnatural.
✅ In short:
A Torso Rig is the part of a character rig that controls the spine, chest, and hips, allowing natural upper-body movement in animation.
