MB-Lab
MB-Lab is a free, open-source Blender add-on for creating humanoid characters, from realistic people to anime characters and elves.
What MB-Lab is
MB-Lab is a free, open-source Blender add-on for creating humanoid characters, from realistic people to anime characters and elves. It provides hundreds of morphing parameters for adjusting appearance, physical attributes, expressions, and poses, with real-time interpolation and automatic character generation. Its meshes include eyes, teeth, tongue, gums, and eyelashes, and are designed for subdivision and sculpting. Animation tools include a fitted skeleton, inverse kinematics, BVH retargeting, and an expression mixer for facial animation. Users can load clothing and polygon hair, then adapt them to characters and poses with proxy fitting. The wiki lists support for Blender Cycles and EEVEE, with shaders and texture maps for realistic and anime models. Experimental tools can build characters from a rough 3D draft or body measurements, with 33 dimensions supported. MB-Lab exports BLEND and JSON files, including rigged exports. The final version, 1.8.1, requires Blender 4.0.0 or later. The repository is archived and read-only since July 21, 2024, and says development moved to Charmorph. The README also lists known issues with BVH animation import, MB-Dev tools, hair shaders, and skin appearance on finalization.
Good
- Free and open-source Blender add-on
- Hundreds of morphing parameters and automatic generation
- Includes rigging and facial animation tools
- Supports BLEND and JSON exports
Watch out
- Requires Blender 4.0.0 or later
- Repository is archived and read-only
- README lists buggy BVH animation import
- Hair shaders may render incorrectly
Who it suits
MB-Lab may suit Blender users creating and animating humanoid characters who can work with its stated Blender requirement. Its archived status is relevant for anyone considering it for an ongoing project.
Verdict
MB-Lab offers character creation, morphing, rigging, and export tools at no cost. Its final release is archived, and the listed known issues are worth weighing before adopting it.
Plans and prices
From MB-Lab's own pricing page, checked 7 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| MB-Lab | Free | Blender 4.0.0 or later |
The facts
Each one read from MB-Lab's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- Animation
- It includes a fitted skeleton, inverse kinematics, BVH retargeting, and an expression mixer for facial animation.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Assets
- Users can load clothing and polygon hair, with proxy fitting to adapt them to characters and poses.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Character creation
- It can create human characters and adjust phenotypes, physical parameters, expressions, and poses.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Character styles
- It can create realistic characters and special characters such as anime characters and elves.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Experimental features
- Experimental tools include character auto-modeling from a rough 3D draft and modeling from body measurements, with 33 dimensions supported.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Integration
- MB-Lab is an add-on for Blender, and its rigging is described as intended to match external applications and motion-capture files.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Known issues
- The README lists buggy BVH animation import, possible unknown bugs in MB-Dev tools, outdated hair shaders that render incorrectly, and slight skin color and bump-map changes on finalization.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Model topology
- Its character mesh includes features such as teeth, tongue, eyelashes, gums, and eyes, and is designed for subdivision and sculpting.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Parametric morphing
- It offers hundreds of morphing parameters, real-time parameter interpolation, and automatic random character generation.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Project status
- The repository says MB-Lab 1.8.1 is the final version and that development moved to Charmorph; GitHub marks the repository archived and read-only since July 21, 2024.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- MB-Lab is a free, open-source Blender add-on for creating humanoid characters.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Rendering
- The wiki lists support for Blender Cycles and EEVEE, with shaders and texture maps for realistic and anime models.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Requirement
- The final MB-Lab 1.8.1 release requires Blender 4.0.0 or later.checked 7 Oct 2026
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