Set weights for target shapes

When you set the weight of a target shape, you are defining the influence that the target shape has on the blend shape that is on the base object. You can set target shape weights in either the Shape Editor or the Channel Box. Once the weights are set, you can key the weight values over several frames to animate the shapes - see Key the blend shape weights.

You can also set the weight of a group of target shapes in the Shape Editor, or set the overall weight of the blend shape itself on the base object - see Scale the influence of the blend shape.

To set target shape weights

  1. In the Shape Editor, select a target shape.
  2. Adjust its Weight slider to a value between 0.000 and 1.000 (100% weight), or enter a value in the Weight text box.

    A value of 0 means that the target shape has no effect on the base, while a value of 1 shows the full effect of that target shape on the base shape.

    In the Weight text box, you can enter values outside the 0 - 1 range to either invert (negative values) or amplify (values over 1) the target’s influence - see Shape Editor for details.

To set the weight of a group of target shapes

  1. In the Shape Editor, create or select a group of target shapes - see Create groups of target shapes or blend shape deformers.
  2. Adjust the group's Weight slider to a value between 0.000 and 1.000 (100% weight), or enter a value in the Weight text box. This sets the group's overall weight value, which includes the current weight for each of the target shapes within that group.
  3. To reset the group's weight value to 0, right-click the group and choose Reset, or choose Reset Group Members to set the weight value to 0 for each of the target shapes in that group.

To set target shape weights to zero

  1. In the Shape Editor, select one or more target shapes.
  2. Choose Shapes > Reset, or right-click a target shape name and choose Reset.

To set the target shape weights in the Channel Box

  1. Select the base object that is being deformed.
  2. Select one of its blend shape deformer nodes (blendShapen node) from the INPUTS list in the Channel Box.
  3. Below it, click the name of the target shape's channel you want to edit.
  4. In the view panel, middle-drag to change the weight value of the selected channel, or enter a value in the channel's field.

    Press the Ctrl key while dragging for finer control, or the Shift key for coarser control.

Related topics

Parent topic: Shape Authoring