Animators, this is for you! New videos have been added to the Character Animation training. Hjalti shows the two most essentials tools when animating.

Selection Sets

When using complex rigs (such as BlenRig), the animator is left to use the Armature's layer system to show/hide bones. So it's up to the rigger, but what if the animator wants a specific set of bones from a bunch of layers? You can use Selection Sets to store that selection, name it, hide the rest, done! Check out how Hjalti uses this awesome tool in production:

Pose Library Thumbnails

Once you select your bones, it's time to build a pose. Blender has a built-in Pose Library system, but it's lacking a few features that are essential for animation, mainly: thumbnails. This will be tackled in Blender 2.8 with the new asset manager, but for the time being this handy little add-on will make your life easier.

So in the end these add-ons are not only for character animation, with a bit of imagination you can use it for anything with an armature, really. Give them a try!