Deformation Basics

Before starting to work with Deformation effects, you should :

Setting the Performance Preferences
Displaying the Deformation Controls
Deformation in the Network and Timeline Views

Setting the Performance Preferences

There are some preferences that you must set in order to work efficiently with the Deformation effects.

You can customize the display of deformation, its functionality, and the performance of the system by altering the preferences—see the Preferences Guide to learn more.

When using deformation, set the Use Hardware Vertex Texture Fetching if Available option for optimal performance—see the Preferences Guide to learn more.

Displaying the Deformation Controls

Before you can manipulate the deformer outside of the Setup mode, you must enable the Deformation Controls.

If you have just created the bone rig, the controls will still be showing. However, when you close your project, the deformers are turned off. By enabling the Deformation Controls, the controls will display when you reopen a project so can you see the ones you need while you are animating.

You can also select all the modules from Network view and select View > Show > Controls from the top menu.

Deformation in the Network and Timeline Views

The Deformation effect layers and modules are visible in the Network and Timeline views. You can modify their values and set up function curves using both views.

Refer to the Compositing Guide to learn how to work with functions.