Animating Multiple Points

When animating Curve, Envelope and Free Form deformers, the position of each point is independent from one another. In situations where you need to animate several deformation points simultaneously, you can select several deformation points, then move then together.

By default, this only allows you to move the selected points laterally. However, if you are working with Curve or Envelope deformations, you can also rotate or scale a selection of deformation points by using the Show Manipulator option of the Deformation toolbar. This option will display a manipulator bounding box with scale and rotation handles, which works similarly to the one you can use to transform drawing strokes with the Select tool or drawing layers with the Transform tool.

NOTES
  • You can only select and manipulate several points with Curve, Envelope and Free Form deformations.
  • You can only use the deformation manipulator with Curve and Envelope deformers.
  1. Do one of the following:
    • In the Camera, Timeline or Node view, select one of the drawing layers linked to the deformation chain you want to animate.
    • In the Timeline or Node view, select the deformation group or any part of the deformation chain you want to animate.
  1. In the Deformation toolbar, either:
    • Click the Show the Selected Deformation Chain and Hide All Others button to show the selected element's deformation chain and hide any other deformation chain that is currently displayed.
    • Click the Show Selected Deformers button to show the selected element's deformation chain along with any other deformation chain that is currently displayed.

The selected deformation controls appear in the Camera view.

  1. Click on one of the deformation points you want to animate to select it.

  1. While holding the Ctrl (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) or Shift key, click on each other deformation point that you want to animate to add them to the selection.

  1. Click and drag on any of the points to move them simultaneously.

    TIP You can also use the arrow keys to nudge the selected points in any direction.
  1. Do one of the following:
    • In the Camera, Timeline or Node view, select one of the drawing layers linked to the deformation chain you want to animate.
    • In the Timeline or Node view, select the deformation group or any part of the deformation chain you want to animate.
  1. In the Deformation toolbar, either:
    • Click the Show the Selected Deformation Chain and Hide All Others button to show the selected element's deformation chain and hide any other deformation chain that is currently displayed.
    • Click the Show Selected Deformers button to show the selected element's deformation chain along with any other deformation chain that is currently displayed.

The selected deformation controls appear in the Camera view.

  1. In the Tool Properties view, enable Control Selection Mode mode.

  2. Draw a lasso around all the deformation points you want to select.

    The points in the lasso become selected.

    TIP If you already have points selected, you can hold Ctrl (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) or Shift to add the points in your lasso to the selection.

  3. Click and drag on any of the points to move them simultaneously.

    TIP You can also use the arrow keys to nudge the selected points in any direction.
  1. Using one of the two methods above, select several points in your curve or envelope deformation chain.
  2. In the Deformation toolbar, enable the Show Manipulator option.

A manipulator bounding box appears around your selection.

  1. If you want to rotate or scale your selection from a specific pivot point, drag and drop the pivot point of the manipulator to the preferred position.

  1. Do one of the following:
    • If you want to scale your selection, click and drag one of the square scale handles in the corner of the manipulator.

    • If you want to rotate your selection, position your mouse just outside of the manipulator, near a corner. When your mouse cursor displays a rotation wheel , click and drag to rotate the manipulator.

    • If you want to move your selection, click and drag on one of the selected points.

      TIP You can also use the arrow keys to nudge the selected points in any direction.