Head

Head builds a central head with Main, two independent skull chains, and options for the jaw, squash/stretch and the neck’s IK target.

Configuration

In Module Manager, choose Head in Module Bank, or its instance in Scene Modules. The capture shows a new creation’s defaults: 1 Upper Skull, 1 Lower Skull, with IK, Squash and both jaw controls enabled.

Head · CONFIGURATION · Poseidon theme.

Callout	Purpose
1 · Side & Colors	Side stays on C, without mirroring. Output Color sets the joint color.
2 · Topology	Upper Skull and Lower Skull set two independent counts, with a minimum of 0. 0 removes that chain; the Manager defaults to 1 / 1.
3 · IK	Adds the IK control, Options, and the ik / neck_target ports. Enabled by default.
4 · Squash	Squash / Stretch adds the deformation control. Bend distributes bending across the stages; Preserve Skull Volume compensates the transverse axes. All three are enabled by default. Couple Neck Volume is disabled by default and requires IK and a connected Neck.
5 · Jaw	Jaw adds the jaw; Second Jaw Control adds Jaw Tip. Both are enabled by default.
6 · Design	SHAPE and COLOR adjust each layer. An Upper or Lower Skull row affects every control in that chain.

On an existing instance, counts and build options require Rebuild. Shapes and colors update immediately. A disabled option does not build its controls or their outputs. Cheeks use the separate Cheek module.

Placement

Placer	Purpose
Main	Rest position, orientation and scale of the head. Place it at the desired junction with the neck.
Upper Skull / Lower Skull	One placer per stage, in two chains under Main. Indices start near Main; new stages are appended to the end of each chain.
Squash	Anchors the deformation control. Its local distance from Main sets the response height: a greater distance reduces the effect of the same displacement.
Jaw / Jaw Tip	Place Jaw at the jaw pivot, then Jaw Tip at its second pivot. The Jaw placer stays attached to Main, and Jaw Tip to Jaw.

Placers expose translation, rotation and scale. Upper and Lower start on either side of Main along the longitudinal axis; adapt these positions to the character. Changing a count preserves the placement of surviving stages.

The IK control starts at the Main placer’s position, with world-aligned axes before the ik input is applied. It has no separate placer.

Controls

Control	Purpose
Main	Local head pose, with translation, rotation and scale. Show Bend Adjustments shows the Upper/Lower Skull controls without disabling their effect.
Upper Skull / Lower Skull	Two independent FK chains. Each stage exposes translation, rotation and scale.
IK	Upper target of the connected Neck, with translation, rotation and scale. This control does not switch Head between FK and IK.
Options	IK Visibility shows or hides IK. Its parent optionsOffset group lets you reposition Options; the control’s transform channels remain locked.
Squash	Longitudinal translations compress or stretch the skull; transverse translations bend it when Bend is enabled. Squash Stretch sets the intensity from 0 to 1; at 0, these effects and Neck coupling are neutral.
Jaw / Jaw Tip	Manual pose with translation, rotation and scale. Jaw follows the last Lower Skull, or Main when that chain is empty; Jaw Tip follows Jaw.

Squash follows Main. Preserve Skull Volume compensates transverse scale in the local deformation. With Couple Neck Volume, stretching the skull thins the connected Neck, while compression thickens it. This option does not enable or disable IK control of the neck.

The illustrated configuration has 8 controls and 5 deformation joints: Main, Upper Skull, Lower Skull, Jaw and Jaw Tip. IK, Options and Squash do not add joints.

Module Preview

Head · Module Preview · Poseidon theme.

Inputs and outputs

Ports are centered (C) and provide the matrix channels driver and reference.

Direction	Port	Purpose
Input	base	Space received by Main, usually from the Neck.tip output.
Input	ik	Independent space for the IK target; available when IK is enabled.
Output	main	Main head deformation, including squash when enabled.
Outputs	upper_skull_01…	One output and joint per Upper Skull stage.
Outputs	lower_skull_01…	One output and joint per Lower Skull stage.
Output	jaw_01	Jaw, when Jaw is enabled.
Output	jaw_02	Second control, when Jaw and Second Jaw Control are enabled.
Output	neck_target	Upper neck target, without a skin joint; available when IK is enabled.

To connect Neck in Module Graph, connect the driver + reference pairs:

Output	Input
Neck · C · tip	Head · C · base
Head · C · neck_target	Neck · C · tip

The Head.ik input keeps an independent space; without a connection, it stays at identity. Local Main, skull and jaw movements do not drive this target. The Manager does not create these connections automatically.