About Regions of Influence

To increase the quality of your animation and the accuracy of the deformation effect, you can modify the regions of influence around the deformation chains. A region of influence is the zone around the deformer within which art will be influenced by the deformation. The deformer has the power to shape all art contained within the influence area on its own element or on its children elements.

Zones of influence are different depending on the deformer type and zone type you selected. Note that the Game Bone deformers do not support regions of influences. Game Bone deformers are set to Infinite and cannot be changed.

You can find the settings for the zones of influence in the Layer Properties of the Curve, Bone and Envelope nodes, as well as in the Rigging tool properties—see Deformation Toolbar.

To understand better the various parameters available in the nodes' layer properties, you should know more about the following terms:

  • Radius: The radius determines the size of a zone. The radius value is the length from the central point of the zone to its edge. By increasing the radius value, you increase the size of the area.

Radius

  • Transversal: The transversal parameter is related to the width of the zone in relation to the bone. The transversal value cuts across the bone.

  • Longitudinal: The longitudinal parameter is related to the length of the zone in relation to the bone. The longitudinal value is parallel to the bone's length.

Longitudinal

NOTE You can also prevent a child’s element from undergoing its parent deformation by connecting it through a kinematic output—see About Assembly.