Viewport Display Panel

Reference

Mode

All Modes

Panel

Armature ‣ Viewport Display

Display As

This controls the way the bones appear in the 3D Viewport; you have four different visualizations you can select.

../../../_images/animation_armatures_properties_display_octahedral.png

Octahedral bone display.
../../../_images/animation_armatures_properties_display_stick.png

Stick bone display.
../../../_images/animation_armatures_properties_display_b-bone.png

B-Bone bone display.
../../../_images/animation_armatures_properties_display_envelope.png

Envelope bone display.
Octahedral

This is the default visualization, well suited for most of editing tasks. It materializes:

  • The bone root (“big” joint) and tip (“small” joint).

  • The bone “size” (its thickness is proportional to its length).

  • The bone roll (as it has a square section).

../../../_images/animation_armatures_properties_display_type-octahedral.png

Note the 40° rolled Bone.001 bone.

Stick

This is the simplest and most non-intrusive visualization. It just materializes bones by sticks of constant (and small) thickness, so it gives you no information about root and tip, nor bone size or roll angle.

../../../_images/animation_armatures_properties_display_type-stick.png

Note that Bone.001 roll angle is not visible (except by its XZ axes).

B-Bone

This visualization shows the curves of “smooth” multi-segmented bones; see the Bendy Bones for details.

../../../_images/animation_armatures_bones_properties_bendy-bones_b-bones-1.png

An armature of B-Bones, in Edit Mode.
../../../_images/animation_armatures_bones_properties_bendy-bones_b-bones-3.png

The same armature in Object Mode.
Envelope

This visualization materializes the bone deformation influence. More on this in the bone page.

../../../_images/animation_armatures_bones_structure_envelope-pose-mode.png
Wire

This simplest visualization shows the curves of “smooth” multi-segmented bones.

../../../_images/animation_armatures_properties_display_type-wire-pose-mode.png

An armature of Wire, in Pose Mode.
../../../_images/animation_armatures_properties_display_type-wire-edit-mode.png

The same armature in Edit Mode.
Show
Names

Displays the name of each bone.

Axes

When enabled, the (local) axes of each bone are displayed (only relevant for Edit Mode and Pose Mode).

Shapes

When enabled, the default standard bone shape is replaced, in Object Mode and Pose Mode, by the shape of a chosen object (see Shaped Bones for details).

Group Colors

Use the Bone Group colors to color the bone. For more details see Bone Groups.

In Front

When enabled, the bones of the armature will always be shown on top of the solid objects (meshes, surfaces, …). I.e. they will always be visible and selectable (this is the same option as the one found in the Display panel of the Object data tab). Very useful when not in Wireframe mode.