Drivers 2.0

Drivers 2.0 is a Blender rigging addon by Weybec Studio that lives in the N-panel under the Weybec tab. It bundles three powerful tools into one clean interface: bone-driven shapekey automation, custom viewport control panels, and a per-bone action constraint manager.

🎛️ Drivers 📐 Panels ⚡ Actions

Drivers 2.0 — control panels, shape key drivers, and action linking all in one N-panel.

What Each Tab Does

DriversShapekey Automation

Point a bone at a mesh, pick a transform channel and axis, set a min/max range, and add a fully scripted driver to any shape key with a single click. No graph editor wrestling needed.

PanelsViewport Control Panels

Generate custom-shape bones (Square, Horizontal, Vertical) that act as in-viewport slider panels. Assign shape keys to directions, add text labels, group everything under a Master Control bone, and lock the rig when done.

ActionsAction Constraint Manager

Per control-bone action slots with direction limits, GPU bone highlights, and a one-click workflow for binding animations to bone positions. Works with Blender 3.6 all the way through Blender 5.x.

💡 Location: N-panel (press N in viewport) → Weybec tab → switch between Drivers / Panels / Actions with the three tab buttons at the top.

Installation

Install the Addon

Download the addon Zip folder
Blender → Edit → Preferences → Add-ons
Click Install, select the zip file
Enable "Rigging: Drivers 2.0"
Open the N-panel in any 3D viewport (N key) and click the Weybec tab

Compatibility

Blender 5.1 and later
Fully compatible with Blender 5.x (layered actions, new slot API)

After Install — First Steps

Select your character's armature in the viewport
Enter Pose Mode
Open the Weybec N-panel tab
Use the three tabs at the top to switch between Drivers, Panels, and Actions

Drivers Tab

Automatically wires bone transforms to shape key values using Blender's driver system. No Python scripting or graph editor required — just pick a bone, set a range, and click the driver button next to any shape key.

Picking a mesh, setting rotation range, and adding a driver to a shape key in seconds.

Setup — Step by Step

Switch to the Drivers tab in the Weybec panel
In the Mesh field, pick the mesh object that has your shape keys
Select the armature bone you want to use as the driver source in Pose Mode
Set Type — Rotation, Location, or Scale
Set Axis — X, Y, Z (or W for Quaternion rotation bones)
Set Direction — Positive or Negative influence
Enter Min and Max values (degrees for rotation, units for location/scale)
Click the driver icon button next to any shape key to apply

Driver Settings Explained

TypeTransform Channel

Rotation — reads Euler rotation in degrees (−180° to 180°). Best for jaw opens, brow raises, etc.
Location — reads local bone position in Blender units
Scale — reads local bone scale (use 1.0 as baseline, e.g. min 1.0 max 2.0)

AxisWhich Component

Picks which axis of the transform is read. For Rotation + Quaternion bones, a W option also appears automatically.

Min / MaxTravel Range

The shape key goes from 0.0 to 1.0 as the bone moves from Min to Max. Formula: (value − Min) / (Max − Min), clamped to [0, 1].

Shape key value follows bone rotation in real time after the driver is applied.

Mesh Picker

The Mesh field appears at the top of both the Drivers and Panels tabs — it's shared. Click Set to store the active object as the target mesh, or Clear to reset. The shape key list below updates automatically once a valid mesh with shape keys is assigned.

💡 Tip: Each driver button overwrites any existing driver on that shape key. You can safely re-apply if you change the bone or range settings.

Supported Bone Types

Any bone in Pose Mode — works with Rigify, Auto-Rig Pro, custom rigs
Bones in Euler rotation mode for Rotation type
Bones in Quaternion rotation mode — W axis exposed automatically
Root bones, IK targets, FK chains — anything with a local transform

Panels Tab

Creates in-viewport control panels — custom panels with control bones to drive shape keys directly in the 3D view. No more hunting through the Properties panel for shape key values.

Viewport control panels — move the bone inside the frame to blend shape keys in real time.

Panel Types

SquareJoystick control

A square frame with a single controller bone inside. Supports four directions (Up, Down, Left, Right), each assigned to a separate shape key. Great for complex facial regions like mouth corners or eye gaze.

Horizontal controlLeft ↔ Right

A wide rectangular frame for single-axis horizontal movement. Assign one shape key to the positive direction and one to negative. Has a Direction Mode: Both, + Only, or − Only.

Vertical controlUp ↕ Down

A tall rectangular frame for single-axis vertical movement. Same direction mode options as Horizontal. Good for brow height, jaw open, chest breathing.

Adding a Panel — Step by Step

Select your armature and enter Pose Mode
In the Panels tab, choose a panel type: Square / Horizontal / Vertical
For Horizontal/Vertical, choose Direction Mode: Both / + Only / − Only
Click Add Panel
The panel bones appear at the 3D cursor location or besides the selected posebone
Select a panel bone to see its settings appear below
Assign shape keys to each direction in the panel editor

Labels

In the panel editor (select any panel bone to see it), expand Settings → Label:

Adding a text label.

Click Add Label to attach a font object as a custom shape
Type any text in the Label field — updates live in the viewport
Adjust Z Offset to move the text above or below the frame
Adjust Scale to resize the text
Click Remove Label to delete it

Bone Colors

Select one or more bones in Pose Mode, then pick a color from the Bone Color dropdown in the Panels tab. Applies to all selected bones instantly. Available colors: Default, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Teal, Cyan, Blue, Violet, Pink, White.

changing bone colors for a clean rig UI.

Master Control

The Master Control is a special parent bone that lets you reposition all your panels as a group:

adding master control to the panel.

Click Add next to Master Control — a cross+circle bone appears centred below your panels
To reposition, click Adjust Placement — all panel bones unparent temporarily
Grab and move the master bone to the desired location
Click Done — Reparent Panels — all panels re-parent and keep their relative offsets
Click Remove to delete the master bone (panels remain in place)

⚠️ Adjust Mode: While the master is being adjusted, panels do NOT follow it. They stay in their original positions until you click Done. This is by design — baking happens on Done.

Lock / Unlock Panels

The lock icon button next to "Add Panel" toggles a global lock. When locked, panel bones cannot accidentally be moved or their settings changed. Use this for final delivery rigs.

locking extra bones in the panel.

Actions Tab

The Actions tab manages Action constraints on a per-control-bone basis. Each bone can have multiple action slots, each fired by a directional movement with optional travel limits. A live GPU highlight system shows exactly which bones are being edited.

Assigning action constraints to a control bone with direction limits and GPU bone glow.

Core Concepts

Control Bone Slots

Data is stored per armature, per control bone. Select a pose bone and the panel shows that bone's action slots. Selecting other bones to assign them does not reset or hide the current panel — a Switch button appears if you've moved to a different slot bone.

Action Items

Each slot holds one action item: an Action datablock + a direction (Up / Down / Left / Right) + an optional travel limit. The addon auto-detects which local axes map to world Up and world Right for that bone, so directions always make intuitive sense regardless of bone orientation.

Limit Buttons

Each direction item has a limit toggle. Lock icon = set a LIMIT_LOCATION constraint on that axis. X icon = remove the limit. Limits integrate with panel bones automatically — if a panel bone already has a Smart Limit, the action fires exactly at the bone's physical travel boundary.

GPU Bone Highlight

Multi-layer bloom glow highlights the selected control bone and its custom shape in the viewport.

When an action slot is in edit mode, the addon draws a glowing highlight over the target bone directly in the 3D viewport using a POST_PIXEL GPU draw callback:

Multi-layer bloom (8 glow passes) — soft halo plus sharp bright line
Head circle with outer ring indicator
Respects custom shapes — wireframe follows the actual control shape
Respects custom_shape_transform bones (e.g. ARP arm IK controls)
Follows IK / constraints / drivers in real time via the evaluated depsgraph

Highlight Settings

Color — pick any RGB color for the glow (updates live)
Spread — controls glow radius and line thickness
Show Highlight toggle — hide the glow without exiting edit mode

Actions Tab Workflow

Select the armature, enter Pose Mode
Select the control bone you want to drive an action
In the Actions tab, click Add Slot
Pick the Action datablock to use
Choose a Direction: Up / Down / Left / Right
Set the travel Threshold (how far the bone moves to reach full action)
Optionally enable the Limit button to constrain the bone's physical movement
Click the radio button to enter edit mode and see the GPU highlight
Click again or use Switch when selecting a different bone slot

💡 Tip: The panel is "pinned" to the active control bone slot. You can freely select other bones in the viewport to assign references without losing your current slot editor state.

ℹ️ Blender 5.x: The addon handles the new layered action slot API automatically. If an action has slots, the first slot is assigned to the constraint — no manual configuration needed.

Help & Tips

Common Issues

Shape Key List is Empty

Make sure the correct mesh is set in the Mesh field at the top of the tab
The mesh must have shape keys (at minimum a Basis key)
Click Set with the target mesh selected in the viewport

Driver Doesn't Respond

Check that the correct bone is selected in Pose Mode when you apply the driver
Verify Min ≠ Max — identical values produce a zero-division fallback
Make sure the bone's rotation mode matches — Euler fields show for Euler bones, W appears only for Quaternion
Open the Graph Editor and check the Drivers view to inspect the generated expression

Panel Bones Snap Back on Master Adjust

This is normal — panels unparent during Adjust mode so they stay visible in place
Move the master bone to the new location, then click Done — Reparent Panels
The baking happens automatically on Done — offsets are preserved correctly

GPU Highlight Not Visible

Make sure the action slot is in edit mode (radio button lit)
Check that Show Highlight is enabled in the Actions tab settings
Increase the Spread value if glow is too subtle on your monitor
The glow only shows in the 3D viewport, not in renders

Action Tab — "Switch" Button Appears

This means the bone you've selected is a different control slot from the currently pinned one
Click Switch to move the panel to the new bone's slots
The old slot remains saved — no data is lost

Master Control Adjust Mode Stuck

You must click Done — Reparent Panels to exit adjust mode
Do not change modes (Object Mode, Edit Mode) manually while adjusting
If stuck, undo (Ctrl+Z) back to before Adjust was clicked

Best Practices

Build drivers first, then create panels — panels can reference the same bone as the driver source
Use the 3D Cursor to pre-position where panels spawn before clicking Add Panel
Name your panels immediately after adding — the panel ID is auto-generated (letters A–Z) but the display name is fully editable
Lock all panels with the lock button before handing a rig to an animator
For facial rigs, Square panels work best for eyes and mouth; Horizontal/Vertical for brows and jaw
Keep panel rigs in a separate armature from the deform rig — link them via constraints