SoftModifying Objects


The Soft Modification tool gives you the ability to sculpt, or smoothly modify, dense surfaces (Figure 4.72).

Figure 4.72. Choose the Soft Modification tool from the toolbar.


You can use this tool for modeling as well as animation, because its parameters can be keyframed as long as the construction history has been enabled (see Chapter 1 for more about construction history). The Soft Modification tool's uses range from adjusting a dense facial mesh, to creating smooth terrain, to animating bulging muscles on a superhero's arm (Figure 4.73).

Figure 4.73. Faces, smooth terrain, and muscles are just a few examples of what Soft Modification can do.


The Soft Modification tool works by tapering the effect of adjusting points on surfaces. This allows smooth adjustments of a surface across several points. This technique is especially useful when you're working with dense surfaces: Without the Soft Modification tool, it would be far too timeconsuming to individually move the large number of components required to make smooth changes.

As with the other translation tools, you can activate the Soft Modification tool and then select the area of the object you want to soft-modify. Or, if you select an object first and then choose the Soft Modification tool, the effect is automatically applied to the center of the object. The effect can be moved at any time, unless you delete the construction history.

To soft-modify an object:

1.

Create a primitive polygonal plane (Create > Poly Primitives > Plane), give it Subdivisions Height and Width of 100, and scale it to about 20 times its original size (Figure 4.74).

Figure 4.74. In the Channel Box, increase the Subdivisions Width and Height to create a dense polygon plane.


2.

Make sure your plane isn't selected, and then click the Soft Modification tool in the toolbar.

3.

Click the part of the object where you want to create the soft modification (softMod).

A softMod node is added to the surface, and its manipulator becomes active (Figure 4.75).

Figure 4.75. Add a softMod to a surface.


4.

Select the y translate axis of the manipulator, and drag it up (Figure 4.76).

Figure 4.76. Drag the y axis of the softMod manipulator.


5.

Click the Cycling Index to display the Falloff manipulator (Figure 4.77).

Figure 4.77. The Cycling Index is a circle with a line through it under the softMod manipulator. Click the Cycling Index to toggle on the Falloff manipulator.


6.

Click and drag the red circle surrounding the Falloff manipulator to increase or decrease the drop-off area (Figure 4.78).

Figure 4.78. Click and drag the red circle around the Falloff manipulator to adjust the dropoff area.


7.

Click the translation icon on the Falloff manipulator, and drag it from side to side (Figure 4.79).

Figure 4.79. Using the Move tool, click and drag the Falloff manipulator.


8.

Press to open the Attribute Editor for the softMod (Figure 4.80).

Figure 4.80. Edit the falloff curve in the softMod Attribute Editor.


9.

In the Falloff Curve section of the Attribute Editor (Figure 4.81), click the ramp to create a new edit point (Figure 4.82).

Figure 4.81. Click the graph in the Falloff Curve section...


Figure 4.82. ...to create edit points.


10.

Click and drag the edit point into the desired position.

or

Click the box with an x in it to delete the edit point.

11.

Add two edit points, and position them as they are in (Figure 4.83).

Figure 4.83. The softMod now has a smooth, wavelike shape.


You can see the results of editing the falloff curve on the surface of the softMod you created.

Tips

  • Before clicking the Soft Modification tool in the toolbar, be sure you don't have any objects selected on your screen. If you do, a softMod node will be added to any selected objects when you choose the tool.

  • If you deselect the Falloff manipulator, you can click the S icon floating above the surface and then press to reactivate it.

  • Soft modification can work on selected components as well as the entire object.





Maya 7 for Windows and Macintosh(c) Visual Quickstart Guide
Maya 7 for Windows & Macintosh
ISBN: 0321348990
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 185

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