The Lattice

The Lattice is one of Maya's most used, and most functional, deformers. You can use it to simplify CV selection on a complex surface, to create the point of a character's elbow, or to provide added control to surface areas prone to creasing (for example, elbows and knees).

Lattice deformers surround deformable objects with a box-like shape called a lattice (Figure 13.18). The lattice is then used to select and deform the surface by moving, rotating, or scaling the lattice structure (Figure 13.19). Lattices are also deformable objects, which means you can add other deformers to deform the lattice (and the object it's deforming).

Figure 13.18. A lattice applied to a primitive NURBS sphere.

Figure 13.19. By moving lattice points you deform the surface.

An important option of the Lattice deformer is Divisions, found under the Lattice's Shape node in the Channel Box; A lattice is one of the few Maya objects that have options under its Shape node. Adding more divisions to a lattice indirectly adds more lattice points for future selection. A lattice point is created at every lattice crossing.

To use a Lattice to deform a surface:

1.	Create a NURBS primitive sphere.
2.	From the Deform menu, select Create Lattice (Figure 13.20). Figure 13.20. Select Create Lattice to apply a lattice to the surface. A Lattice deformer is added to the selected surface.
3.	Set the Pick Mask selection type to "Select by component type" (Figure 13.21). Figure 13.21. Set the Pick Mask selection type to "Select by component type" to show the lattice points. Lattice points appear on the corners of the lattice.
4.	Select a corner lattice point (Figure 13.22). Figure 13.22. Lattice points appear at each of the lattice cross-sections.
5.	Move the lattice point away from the surface (Figure 13.23). Figure 13.23. Moving one lattice point moves multiple CVs on the surface. The original surface is now deformed by the change in the lattice shape.