Specifies the placement of the deformer node in the deformable object’s history.
It’s important to keep a node’s history in mind when using deformers. The deformation effect provided by a particular deformer can depend on where Maya places the deformer in the node’s history. The reason is that the deformation effect can vary depending on the order in which Maya evaluates the deformations, which is called the deformation order.
In general, you can apply as many deformers to an object as you like. By default, the order in which deformers act on a deformable object’s original shape is the order in which the deformers were created. The deformers created first act on the original shape first, and the deformers created last act on the original shape last.
Maya typically places the deformer immediately before (as an Input) the deformed shape.
This is the same as Before unless the deformer is going to act on a shape node with no history. In this case, the order will be the same as After.
When you create a number of deformers for an object with Default, the result is a deformation chain whose order is the same as the order in which you created the deformers.
Maya places the deformer immediately before the deformable object’s deformed shape. In the object’s history, the deformer will be placed right before the deformed shape. Default typically provides this type of placement.
Maya places the deformer immediately after the deformable object. You can use After to create an intermediate deformed shape somewhere in the middle of the object’s history. With After, the original shape of the object is not hidden.
Maya splits the deformation into two deformation chains. You can use Split to deform an object in two ways at the same time, creating two final shapes that originate from the same original shape.
Maya places the deformer in parallel with the existing input nodes in the object’s history, and then blends the effects provided by the existing input nodes and the deformer. A parallel blender node (default name: parallelBlendern) that blends the effects of the existing input nodes and the new deformer is placed before the final shape.
Parallel is useful when you want to blend the influences of several deformers acting on a single object. For example, if you create a Bend deformer with Automatic placement for an object, and then create a Sine deformer with Parallel placement, you can directly control how much influence each deformer has on the object by blending the influence of each deformer.
The parallelBlender node provides a weight channel for each deformer, which you can edit.
Specifies whether the deformer set is in a partition. Sets in a partition can have no overlapping members. If on, the Partition To Use and Partition Name options become available. Default is off.
Lists any existing partitions, and a default selection New Partition. If you select New Partition, you can edit the Partition Name field to specify the name of a new partition. (Available if Exclusive is on.)
Specifies the name of a new partition that will include the deformer set. The suggested partition name is deformPartition, which will be created if it does not already exist. Typically, you might put all your exclusive deformer sets in the partition named deformPartition. However, you can create as many partitions as you like, and name them whatever you want. Only available if Exclusive is on.