Tutorials

Quick shapes with the Temporary Deform Tool

Tilting an eye and bending a strand of hair on a key, without adding a deformer. The Temporary Deform Tool lays a box or a path over the selection, and the edit lands in the keyform the parameters sit on.

1. Put the parameters on a key

The tool edits the current keyform, so the parameters must sit on a key. Pick the key you want to shape, for example Angle Z at 30. Between keys the tool changes nothing.

2. Turn an eye with Rotation

1. Select the eye's meshes (white, iris, lashes) on the canvas or in the Part palette.
2. Modeling > Temporary Deform Tool > Rotation.
3. A box appears around the selection with red control points and an anchor in the middle. The anchor is the centre of the turn: drag it onto the middle of the eye.
4. Drag a control point to turn the eye. Hold Shift to snap to steps of 15°.

Ctrl+drag moves a control point without deforming, to put it somewhere easier to grab. Each drag is one undo step.

3. Let go

Click the green check at the top left of the view, press Unbind in Tool Details, or press Esc. While the tool is in use the Part and Deformer palettes are greyed out.

4. Bend a strand with Temporary Path

1. Select one strand of hair.
2. Modeling > Temporary Deform Tool > Temporary Path Deformation.
3. Click from the root of the strand down to the tip to lay control points along it. Click on the path to insert a point; Alt+click deletes one.
4. Drag a point near the tip: the strand follows the path, and the root stays where it is. Shift+drag keeps the move horizontal, vertical or at 45°.

Let go as before.

5. The other methods

The same menu has Enlarge/Reduce, Free Transform, Perspective, Distort and Temporary Warp Deformation (a grid whose size you set in Tool Details), and Transform method in Tool Details switches between them while the tool is in use. It works on meshes and warp deformers, not on rotation deformers. Each method can get a shortcut in Settings > Keyboard. See Temporary Deform Tool.