Real-Time Character Deformation Without Retargeting: RigX × Facegood at SIGGRAPH 2026
What if a high-end digital double with over 100,000 vertices, 800+ facial combinations, an 8K wrinkle system and complex custom deformation could run in real time on an off-the-shelf laptop?
That was one of the things we set out to demonstrate at SIGGRAPH 2026 in Los Angeles.
Throughout the event, RigX and Facegood collaborated at our booth and during our live presentation to showcase a complete real-time facial performance workflow.
Facegood provided the HMC (Head-Mounted Camera) system and live facial performance capture, while RigX processed the captured performance and drove the character’s deformation directly in Unreal Engine. The result was a highly detailed Siren character responding to live performance data in real time, without a conventional retargeting stage. And the goal was not simply to show that it works. We wanted to demonstrate what becomes possible when the deformation system itself is designed for real-time performance from the ground up.
A Different Approach to Character Rigging
RigX is a new generation of character rigging and deformation technology built around one fundamental idea:
Complex character deformation does not have to come with complex runtime costs.
Traditional high-end character pipelines often require multiple layers of joints, corrective shapes, blendshapes, simulation systems and other runtime components to achieve the desired level of deformation. These systems can produce excellent results, but the resulting characters can become increasingly expensive to run as fidelity and complexity increase.
RigX takes a different approach.
It provides a lightweight deformation layer designed to handle complex character movement and deformation in real time, while working with existing character pipelines and arbitrary topology.
This makes it particularly interesting for high-end digital doubles, highly deformable characters, creatures and real-time applications where both visual fidelity and performance matter.
Nearly 100K Vertices Running in Real Time
For the SIGGRAPH demonstration, we pushed the character well beyond a simple real-time demo.
The Siren character featured a head with over 100,000 vertices, combined with a full custom facial system containing:
- 800+ facial combinations
- An 8K wrinkle map system
- Custom facial deformation
- Detailed expression control
- Complex character-specific deformation
- A full custom RigX setup designed for real-time operation
Despite this level of detail and complexity, the system was able to run in real time on an off-the-shelf laptop. This is an important part of what we are building with RigX. Real-time character technology should not require heavily compromising the quality of the character simply to make it performant.
The objective is to move that balance.
Facegood HMC → RigX → Unreal Engine
The collaboration with Facegood allowed us to demonstrate the complete workflow live. Facegood provided the HMC system used for facial performance capture, giving us live facial data from the performer. That performance data was then used to drive the RigX character in Unreal Engine. RigX handled the character’s deformation, transforming the captured performance into detailed facial movement across the highly complex character setup. The important part is what was happening between capture and final output. There was no conventional retargeting stage between the captured facial performance and the RigX character.
Instead, the performance was used directly to drive the RigX deformation system, allowing the character to respond immediately on stage.
Facegood captured the performance.
RigX handled the deformation.
Unreal Engine displayed the final character in real time.
800+ Facial Combinations and an 8K Wrinkle System
The facial system was designed to demonstrate how far we could push the character while keeping the runtime system lightweight. The character contained more than 800 facial combinations, allowing a large range of expressions and facial configurations to be generated from the custom RigX setup. We also incorporated an 8K wrinkle system to add additional surface detail and support the level of facial fidelity expected from a high-end digital double. Combined with approximately 100K vertices on the head, this created a significantly more demanding character than the simplified assets typically used for real-time demonstrations. Yet the entire system remained capable of running interactively on readily available hardware.
That is the point.
The goal is not simply to make a complex character. The goal is to make a complex character practical in real time.
Built for High-Deformation Characters
One of the areas where RigX can make a significant difference is characters that need to deform far beyond what a conventional rig is typically designed to handle. Extreme facial expressions, stylized characters, creatures, digital doubles and characters with significant changes in shape all put additional demands on a deformation system. RigX is designed to handle these situations as part of the deformation layer rather than requiring an increasingly complicated collection of runtime solutions.
For production, this opens possibilities across:
Digital Doubles
High-fidelity scanned characters with detailed facial and body deformation.
Real-Time Games
Characters that need to maintain high visual quality while meeting strict runtime budgets.
Cinematics and Virtual Production
Performance-driven characters that need to respond immediately to live input.
Creatures and Highly Deformable Characters
Characters with deformation requirements that go far beyond traditional human rigs.
Crowds and Large Character Counts
Lightweight deformation becomes increasingly important as the number of characters increases.
Custom Character Development with Piotr Zielenski
The Siren character shown during the demonstration was developed in collaboration with Piotr Zielenski, whose character work was an important part of bringing the demonstration together.
The character was built specifically to push the RigX system and showcase what can be achieved with a highly detailed custom character rather than a simplified technical test asset.
The combination of custom character work, high-resolution topology, facial expressions, wrinkle detail and real-time deformation allowed us to demonstrate the technology in a much more production-oriented context.
Character work: Piotr Zielenski
[View Piotr Zielenski’s work on ArtStation →]
Why This Matters
The interesting part of this demonstration is not simply that a character can run in Unreal Engine. Real-time characters have existed for years. The challenge is achieving high-end deformation, high-resolution digital doubles and complex facial systems while keeping the runtime system lightweight enough to be genuinely useful in production.
That is the problem RigX is designed to address.
At SIGGRAPH 2026, we showed that a character with approximately 100K facial topology, 800+ facial combinations, an 8K wrinkle system and custom deformation could be driven by live Facegood HMC capture and evaluated in real time on an off-the-shelf laptop.
This is the direction we believe real-time character technology needs to move toward:
More deformation.
More fidelity.
Less runtime overhead.
More direct workflows.
RigX × Facegood
The SIGGRAPH 2026 collaboration with Facegood gave us the opportunity to put this workflow in front of the industry and demonstrate it live rather than simply showing a pre-recorded result.
Facegood supplied the HMC and live facial capture technology. RigX provided the real-time deformation system. Unreal Engine brought the complete character to life on stage.
From live facial performance to RigX deformation and directly into Unreal Engine, the entire process was running in real time.
Live performance. Real-time deformation. No conventional retargeting.
And this is only one example of what RigX is being built to do.
We are continuing to develop the system toward increasingly complex characters, digital doubles, real-time gameplay and large-scale character workflows where deformation quality and performance need to exist together.
RigX — Real-Time Character Deformation Technology.