Deform
Twist, bend, taper, stretch, or bone-skin geometry.
What it does
Deform reshapes geometry or a volume with a small set of classic tools. Bend wraps it around an arc, Twist rotates progressively along an axis, Taper and Stretch scale it along that axis, and Slant shears it. Two further modes work differently: Bones drives the shape with a posed skeleton (bone skinning), and Shrink Wrap projects it onto the surface of another mesh.
Every mode works along a chosen Axis and pivots around an Origin offset from the shape's own bounds. Clamp, with a Limit Min/Max range, confines the deformation to part of the shape. A Strength field wired in fades the deformation in and out spatially, point by point.
When to use it
Bending a strip into an arc, or curling an object around a point.
Twisting, tapering or stretching geometry along one axis.
A shape driven by a rig: connect a posed skeleton into Skeleton and switch to Bones.
Wrapping or conforming one shape to the surface of another: switch to Shrink Wrap and connect a target mesh.
Deforming part of a shape only: turn on Clamp and set the Limit Min/Max range.
| Parameter | Type | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
source | Collection or Volume | — | Source shapes or volume to deform |
skeleton | Points | — | Posed skeleton with @world_matrix and @rest_matrix (connect Pose output) |
target | GPU Geometry | — | Target mesh to project onto (connect a mesh output) |
strength | Field | — | Spatial strength field — modulates deformation per-vertex (0 = none, 1 = full) |
mode | String | "Bend" | Bend: arc. Twist: rotate along axis. Taper: scale along axis. Stretch: elongate. Slant: shear along axis. Bones: skeleton skinning. Shrink Wrap: project onto target surface. One of: Bend, Twist, Taper, Stretch, Slant, Bones, Shrink Wrap. |
angle | Number | 0 | Deformation angle in degrees |
factor | Number | 0 | Deformation strength multiplier |
axis | String | "X" | Axis along which the deformation is applied. One of: X, Y, Z. |
origin | Vec3 | (0, 0, 0) | Pivot offset (X,Y,Z), in world units, from the deformed group's bounds center |
clamp | Boolean | false | Restrict deformation to the region between limit_min and limit_max |
limit_min | Number | 0 | Start of deformation region (0 = bottom/left of bounds) |
limit_max | Number | 1 | End of deformation region (1 = top/right of bounds) |
envelope_radius | Number | 2 | Envelope radius as multiplier on bone length |
max_influences | Number | 4 | Maximum number of bone influences per point |
falloff | String | "Smooth" | How weight falls off with distance from bones. One of: Linear, Smooth, Sharp. |
surface_project_radius | Number | 100 | Maximum distance to search for target surface (world units) |
shrink_wrap_influence | Number | 1 | Blend between original position (0) and projected position (1) |
shrink_wrap_offset | Number | 0 | Offset along surface normal after projection (positive = hover above) |
Gotchas
Bend, Twist, Taper, Stretch and Slant work on both geometry and volumes. Bones (skeleton skinning) and Shrink Wrap (surface projection) are geometry-only, so switching to either with a volume connected has nothing to do.
The Skeleton input expects a posed skeleton with world and rest matrices, the output of a pose or rig node, not a plain point cloud.
Shrink Wrap does nothing until a target mesh is connected. With Target unconnected the shape passes through unchanged.
Envelope Radius and Falloff matter in Bones mode only. Envelope Radius sets how far each bone's influence reaches, as a multiple of its own length, and Falloff shapes how that influence fades: Smooth is the softest, Sharp the tightest.
Worked example
Add a Deform node and connect your shape or image into Source.
Leave Mode on Bend and raise Angle to curl the shape around an arc.
Switch Axis to change which direction the bend runs.
Turn on Clamp and narrow Limit Min/Max to confine the bend to part of the shape.
To rig-drive it instead, connect a posed skeleton into Skeleton and switch Mode to Bones.