What It Does
bq_HeadRig automated the creation of character head rigs in After Effects. Instead of manually setting up expressions and controllers, the plugin let you animate left/right and up/down head turns separately, then combined them into a single two-axis controller. The result was a rigging system where moving one controller in 2D space produced natural-looking head turns across both axes.
Key Features
Two-axis rigging. The plugin separated head animation into left/right and up/down components. You animated each axis independently using different properties (position for one, rotation for another, for example), then the plugin combined them into a unified controller.
Head Controller. This single null object controlled the entire rig. Moving it left triggered the left-turn animation, moving it up triggered the up-turn animation, moving it diagonally blended both.
Motion Path Nulls. These let you keyframe the scale, rotation, or position of already-animated motion paths, adding extra dimension to the head turns.
Rig swapping. The plugin could duplicate existing rigs or swap them out entirely, even if they were already animated. Useful for creating character variations or replacing temp rigs with final assets.
Isolation controls. You could isolate left/right or up/down axes to tweak one direction without affecting the other.
v1.1 controller functions. The final version added three customization tools: Value Controller for linking properties to custom sliders, Keyframe Slider for scrubbing through keyframe ranges, and Group Switcher for toggling between layer sets.
Who It’s For
Character animators working with vector or raster heads in After Effects. The plugin was particularly useful for projects with multiple characters requiring consistent rigging, or for animators who needed to iterate quickly on head turn animations without rebuilding rigs from scratch.
Pricing
bq_HeadRig operated on a pay-what-you-want model before being discontinued in 2016. It is no longer available for purchase. The plugin supported After Effects CS6 through CC 2017.
Alternatives for head rigging in modern After Effects include using the Joysticks ‘n Sliders script with parented layers, or third-party character animation tools like Joysticks ‘n Sliders, Duik Bassel, or RubberHose for limb-based character work.