Soft Modification Tool

The Soft Modification Tool is a deformer with variable falloff attributes that lets you push or pull 3D geometry much like a sculptor would push or pull on a piece of modeling clay to change its form. Color feedback lets you see the area of influence of the deformer on the component or surface.

By default, the amount of deformation is greatest at the center of the push/pull, and gradually falls off further away from the center. You can control the falloff of the deformation to create various deformation effects.

See the softMod command in the Maya Technical Documentation for softMod deformer node attributes.

Usage notes

• Soft Modification works like a deformer in that it controls a set of points (CVs, vertices) with a varying degree of influence that you can specify.
• Soft Modification produces a separate softMod node to produce the transformation, which can be animated.
• You can control the effect of the soft modification by adjusting the Soft Modification Options, the soft modification manipulators, and the softMod node attributes. Setting the tool options in the Soft Modification Options affects the next soft modification, not the current one. If you want to adjust the current soft modification options you will need to adjust the softMod node attributes using the Attribute Editor.
• If the Mask Unselected and Falloff Around Selection options are turned on simultaneously, the selected vertices will move similar to a Move Tool operation on the vertices. That is, only the selected vertices will be moved, and no falloff will occur because of the masking that occurs.
• The Soft Modification Tool is similar to the Proportional Modification Tool (Modify > Transformation Tools > Soft Modification Tool). However, the Soft Modification Tool provides history and more control (for example, over falloff and color feedback). The Proportional Modification Tool only works on components. The Soft Modification Tool works on components, objects or multiple objects. The Proportional Modification Tool only works on multiple NURBS surfaces. The Soft Modification Tool works on multiple surfaces of any surface type. The Soft Modification Tool can be used with the Edit Membership Tool.