Hey Wayne,
With Blender, can you make a basic humanoid armature template that you fit to characters later on?
Yes. Then there's also auto rigging like cloud rig and riggify
Hi Andrew,
It is possible to reshape an existing rig to match a different model, however it requires you to move and align a bunch of bones manually. This works (and I've done it a lot in my younger years), but it is very prone to human error and requires some problem solving skills to be able to complete that task.
That is where an auto rigging solution like Rigify comes into play.
You proportion the meta rig (template) to match the character and then generate it. The computer will then build all the components according to where you placed those bones.
I would still recommend some basic rigging knowledge before using rigify though as things don't always go according to plan, and it is only able to build solutions for common setups (like characters). If you want to rig props or a character that is just a little bit different to 'normal', then using an Autorigger can actually be the long way of doing it.
Just to add on to using addons like Riggify or also Auto-rig Pro and to say again what Wayne said, It's always a good idea to know what is going on under the hood. Ie, it's a good plan to know how to do things the long, hard, or traditional way before using an addon to speed up the process. I haven't touch either of the aformentioned addons so I have no idea how they actually work. But I've just finished Wayne's Core Rigging course (and boy is it good), and I can only assume I would now have a better chance with getting to know how rigging addons work.
That being said, yeah can we make our own rigs to save as assets (or whatever the right term for a rig asset might be) to import in a future project? Whether it's humanoid, or dogoid, or catoid etc etc if we weren't to use an addon that probably already has rigs for dogs and cats?
Rigify does have options to help with rigging cats, dog, and horses. Yes you can definitely use a rig as an asset. The simpler it is the easier it is to adjust to different characters. As Wayne pointed out, you have to adjust all MCH and control bone along with the DEF bones.
Thanks Wayne and everyone who also helped. Sounds like there's plenty of options!