QuickPath RKNZ
A lightweight, real-time motion path visualization addon for bones and objects — made because I got frustrated with Blender's native motion path system while animating and just wanted something that worked better for me.
Why QuickPath RKNZ over Blender's Native Motion Paths?
Blender's built-in motion path tool works, but it has real frustrations in a production workflow:
- It freezes Blender while calculating. Native paths require a full scene evaluation at every frame, which means Blender locks up during calculation — especially painful on complex rigs.
- Paths don't update automatically. You have to manually click "Update All Paths" every time you move a key. There's no live feedback as you animate.
- No per-path customization. Every path looks the same. You can't color-code different bones, control line weight, or distinguish past from future motion at a glance.
- No organization tools. All paths are a flat list with no way to group, label, or manage them beyond the basic object panel.
Features
Real-Time Live Update
Paths automatically recalculate whenever you move a keyframe — no manual refresh needed. Toggle live update on or off at any time from the top of the panel.
Fast Sampling Without Freezing
QuickPath samples bones and objects by evaluating F-curves and constraints directly, without scrubbing through every frame. For rigs with supported constraints (Copy Location, Copy Transforms, Child Of, Damped Track, and more), calculation is near-instant. Complex rigs fall back to a frame-set method automatically.
Active Entry Glow
The currently selected entry in the list gets a soft glow effect in the viewport, making it easy to identify which path you're looking at.
Dot Markers
Optional keyframe dot markers drawn along the path. Size is adjustable per entry, giving you a clear sense of spacing and timing rhythm directly in the viewport.
Adjustable Line Width
Control the thickness of each path line individually for better visual clarity across complex rigs.
Collections / Folders
Group related entries into named folders. Collapse folders to keep the list clean. Front and visibility toggles on a folder affect all entries inside it at once.
Checked Entry Batch Operations
Check multiple entries to batch-apply operations across them:
- Apply Params — copy the active entry's color, line width, dot size, and color mode to all checked entries
- Calculate All Checked Paths — recalculate all checked entries using the active entry's frame range
- Clear All Checked Paths — clear cached path data for all checked entries at once
Per-Entry Frame Range
Each entry has its own start frame, end frame, and step interval — completely independent of the scene or other entries. Set a tight range around an action for fast recalculation, or a wide range to preview a full sequence.
Global Frame Range (Calculate All)
The Calculate All Entries (Global Range) button in the Global Frame Range box recalculates every entry in the list using a shared frame range — useful for a quick full refresh of all paths at once.
Main Controls at a Glance
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Show Paths | Toggle path drawing on/off globally in the viewport |
| Dots | Toggle keyframe dot markers on/off globally |
| Checkbox (per entry) | Mark an entry as "checked" for batch operations |
| Color swatch | Set the path color; expands to Before/After colors if enabled |
| Front button (cube/xray icon) | Toggle whether this path draws in front of geometry |
| Visibility button (eye icon) | Hide or show this path in the viewport |
| Add Selected | Add the currently selected bones or objects as new tracked entries |
| Add Folder | Create a new collection to organize entries |
| Calculate This | Recalculate this single entry using its own frame range |
| Clear This | Remove the cached path data for this entry |
| Calculate All Entries (Global Range) | Recalculate every entry using the global frame range settings |
I've only tested this on Blender 5.1, so I honestly can't guarantee it works on other versions. If you run into any errors or bugs, feel free to reach out to me on Discord (rikokenz)
Tested & worked on : 4.2, 5.1
There is another build of this addon that should work on legacy addon system on my github. Tested on : 3.6
What's New
2.2.0 May 30th, 2026
v2.2.0
- Added force slow path button to force motion path to use Blender native motion path
- There is still a bug when using force motion path, the motion path & dots color can't splitted. I will fix it if I have time.
v2.1.0
- Fixed QuickPath tracked item that had relation with object using vertex parenting to fallback to default Blender motion path
v2.0.0
- Reworking entire UI of the addon
- Added more option to customize the motion path
- Added support for constraint influence animation tracking
- Added support for object constraints alongside bone constraints
- Added support for animated parent hierarchy evaluation
- Added support for armature object constraint evaluation
- Added support for Child Of constraint world-space correction
- Added support for constraint target armatures & subtargets
- Added support for animated constraint influence F-Curves
- Added support for frame number text drawing overlay
- Added support for live matrix override system
- Added support for live pose override system
- Added compatibility improvements for Blender 3.x → 5.x Action Layers
- Added advanced F-Curve iteration compatibility layer
- Added constraint state fingerprint caching
- Added F-Curve fingerprint caching
- Added smarter KEYFRAME mode resampling detection
- Added detection for constraint property changes
- Added detection for missing transform keyframes
- Added warnings for: un-keyed constraint targets, offset armatures without transform keys, missing object actions, invalid constraint setups
- Added automatic slow-path fallback evaluation
- Added support for constrained object path calculation
- Added utility functions for: object constraint evaluation, armature transform key detection, related F-Curve tracking, live pose writing, orphan cleanup
- Improved motion path accuracy for: parented armatures, parented objects, constrained bones, constrained objects
- Improved world matrix reconstruction logic
- Improved realtime path updating behavior
- Improved dependency graph update handling
- Improved cache invalidation reliability
- Improved resampling performance
- Improved path calculation stability
- Improved compatibility with complex rigs
- Improved compatibility with layered animation workflows
- Improved handling of muted constraints
- Improved internal draw pipeline organization
- Improved internal path cache management
- Refactored transform evaluation pipeline
- Refactored constraint application system
- Refactored F-Curve access helpers
- Refactored live update workflow
- Refactored resample trigger logic
- Fixed motion path inaccuracies caused by: Child Of constraints, animated parent transforms, armature object constraints, untracked constraint influence animation, nested transform hierarchies
- Fixed cases where constrained FBX/rig motion paths evaluated incorrectly
- Fixed several edge cases involving cached path recalculation
- Fixed multiple dependency graph refresh issues
- Fixed several realtime update inconsistencies for animated rigs
I'll give it a 5 stars for now, even tho I got an error in 5.0 and 5.1 (works in 4.5 for me). I submitted a bug report on GitHub.
The bigger issue however... your listed site is super NSFW. Come on, man! You can get people in very uncomfortable situations :)