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2026.09.08 - Web

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Ragdoll is now (freely!) available in your web browser, as a limited subset of the Maya plug-in and Blender addon.


Introduction Video

Sit back and spend the next 15 minutes learning all about this new release. :)


What is Ragdoll?

Ragdoll started out as an Autodesk Maya plug-in back in 2021. Since then, it's seen use in countless feature films, games, short films, personal projects and more.

See our (brand new!) landing page for a birds-eye view.

Shortly after release, Ragdoll began its journey outside of Maya and landed in Blender. Since then, we've been working on getting even further removed from the tall barriers of entry of both May and Blender, making it accessible to anyone with access to a web browser (including on tablets and phones!).

So as to keep releases flowing, rather than waiting for the fully featured application to drop at once, we're releasing the software in phases. Each usable on their own.

This first release focuses on posing - and includes Ragdoll's "Pose Mode" - which is where you interactively manipulate your characters by clicking-and-dragging on the model as if you were posing an action figure in real life.


What is included?

This release is both a Maya version and a Web version.

Ragdoll for Web is a subset of Ragdoll for Maya. As a plug-in, much of the heavy lifting is still performed by Maya, such as modeling and rigging.

Currently available is:

  • Shape Mode
  • Limit Mode
  • Scene Scale Mode
  • Pose Mode
  • Performance Mode
  • Play Mode

Meaning you can launch Ragdoll right now and start posing the default asset, alongside 7 other characters of various proportions.
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Four by Four in Action

Ready for production, model and all.

Love

There's just never enough of it.

Nunchucks

For your fight sequences.

Pro Tip

Some assets are special.

  • The scholar have self-collisions disabled per default, letting limbs intersect and pass through each other as you pose.
  • The worker and creature both have fingers, making them suitable for detailed hand interactions.
  • The split is the same as manikin, except with split joints. Making it more expressive.
  • The fourbyfour is articulated with rolling wheels, suspension and hinges on doors as you would expect.


How does it Work?

Rotate gizmo

Keep the hierarchy stiff as you drag any limb.

Hold SHIFT to "Freeze Parenthood" - as in, to prevent the immediate parent from moving at all.

Move gizmo

Especially useful to place a character in your scene.

And to place feet, preserving their orientation unless something opposes it, like the floor.

Hold SHIFT to "Freeze Parenthood" - as in, to prevent the torso from moving as you drag.

https://content.ragdolldynamics.com/139a0506-f746-44a6-b120-25685c11309c.mp4

Pinch gizmo

Particularly useful to adjust hips and anything surrounded by body parts you'd like to keep as-is.

Also useful for making small adjustments to things like bendy limbs.

TAB for Asset Library

If you are on Ragdoll for Web, pressing TAB brings up available assets.

Double-click on an asset to load.

Ctrl + Click to mask selection

Use the Ctrl/Cmd key, or click the Mask gizmo, to prevent a limb from moving.

Sometimes, dragging has unintended consequences. Use the Mask gizmo to prevent a limb from moving.

Particularly useful for foot manipulation.

And close-up detail where careful manipulation is important.

Middle-click + Drag on timeline to control time

Middle-click drag on the timeline to "jog". That is, play forwards or backwards, where the further you drag the faster you go.

Especially useful for relaxing a character onto the ground. Just the feet, or keep going.

The rules of masking still applies, which can open up for creative opportunities.

Gizmo Options

Find options for each gizmo by clicking a gizmo a second time.

Some notable options are:

Option Description
Relax Count Upon releasing the mouse, how many additional frames should Ragdoll simulate to relax intersections and limits?
Freeze Parenthood Whether or not the parent should move as you drag
Transfer on Release Whether to use the dragged pose with Smooth and Restore gizmos
Pressure How strong your drags are; lower this for more precision


Posing Examples

So what does it actually look like to pose in Ragdoll for Web?

Up side down

Salt Bae

A More Humane Tower

Human Kebab


Export and Import

For Maya and Blender users, you can also export your character and drag-and-drop it into Ragdoll for Web, for an interactive preview of your work.

Perfect for sharing and letting others test out your creations, without the overhead of any software at all. Send it to HR or your marketing team.


Completely Local

There is no "cloud", no data reaches any other server than your local disk. Browsers these days are capable of not only displaying text and video, but complete 3D applications like Ragdoll too.

Dragging a file into your browser window incurs zero network traffic, as no data is sent anywhere. The experience - including any saved files - are completely local to your machine (and browser session).

To re-iterate, for anyone searching for keywords like "privacy" and "cloud", do not fret. :)


File Format

Ragdoll for Web supports .rag files from any version of Ragdoll since 2022. This format is known as "Legacy" and is being superceeded by a newer format with support for keyframes and UI confirmation of Ragdoll Web and Standalone. You can export either format from Maya, Ragdoll for Web can load both. But Maya's own load and import currently only supports the Legacy format.


Target Audience

As a limited release, it is suitable for a limited audience. We've chosen to focus this initial release on an audience of illustrators and concept artists - those using 3D posing tools for producing reference material for their work.

The next phase then extends upon the functionality of this release to incorporate keyframing for stop-motion and anime-style animation, directly within Ragdoll, without the need for Maya or Blender.

You can read more about the complete set of phases here.


Example Poses

"Come At Me" "Shooting from the hip" "How do you do"
"Stray Bullet" "An average tummy ache" "Thriller"
"Did you hear that?" "One second.." "Past the final warning"
"He's over there" "Allow me a moment to think" "Got shot"
"Making progress" "Gleeful" "Who, me?"
"Aaaaaaaaah!" "How about this?" "Going places"
"Up when you're down" "A different perspective"
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Maya

Not to worry, there is a new release for you too. 😄


Simulated, Animated or Mixed

A new behaviour was introduced, to simulate a group of Markers as one.

Notice how in the first behaviour - Animated - the character follows animation to the letter. When Simulated, the animation is a guide for the simulation. And in the new Mixed behaviour is a mixture of the two; following the animation exactly but still responding to forces including gravity.

It is primarily used in Pose Mode, to preserve the orientation of children while posing, such as fingers.


Quality of Life

The little things we take for granted.


Rotate and Move Gizmos

The "FK" and "IK" gizmos has seen an overhaul and are now called "Rotate" and "Move" to better reflect what they do.


Default Play Mode on Exit

Inside of Maya, when you exit the Manipulator in a mode other than the default "Play" mode Ragdoll would preserve that mode for when you return. This is primarily to preserve the pose and history you may have worked hard to achieve.

But, it was also confusing if you hadn't spent time posing and had nothing to preserve. There's a toggle to pick a preference.

This was on per default since the previous release, now it is off.


Shuffle Color

On creation, every Marker gets a random "Ragdoll-range" hue. You can now throw the dice post-creation with the new "Shuffle Color" option.


Copy Color

Quickly line up colors amongst your many pieces, to make better sense out of what belongs together, with the new "Copy Color" option.


Collision Group Attribute Editor Page

It now has a nice AE page.

You can also now keep using the Manipulator when the collision group node is selected, and create collision groups from within the Manipulator!