Edit lattice deformers

 
 
 

To move, rotate, or scale the influence lattice

  1. Select the lattice deformer handle node (default name: ffdnLattice).
  2. Move (translate), rotate, or scale the handle to change the effect of the deformation.
  3. Move or rotate the handle pivot point by pressing the (Linux and Windows) or (Mac OS X) key, moving the pivot point, and then pressing the or key again.

    Remember that you can access the deformer handle’s local axes (Display > Transform Display > Local Rotation Axes), its rotate and scale pivots (Display > Transform Display > Rotate Pivots or Scale Pivots) and its selection handle (Display > Transform Display > Selection Handles).

To edit by moving, rotating, or scaling lattice points

  1. Select the lattice deformer handle node (default name: ffdnLattice).
  2. Go into component mode by clicking the Select By Component Type button in the Maya toolbar.
  3. Select lattice points.
  4. Move (translate), rotate, or scale the points to change the effect of the deformation.
    Tip

    You can navigate along lattice deformer points using the pickwalk hotkeys:

    • To navigate left and right press the or keys
    • To navigate up and down, press the or keys
    • To navigate in and out press + or +

To edit lattice channels with the Channel Box

  1. Select a lattice deformer node (default name: ffdn).

    One quick way to select the lattice deformer node is to select the object being deformed, and then select the lattice deformer node in its history from the Channel Box (under INPUTS).

    Note that you can control which attributes are listed as keyable attributes (channels) in the Channel Box with the Channel Control editor (select Window > General Editors > Channel Control).

  2. In the Channel Box, the following channels are listed by default:
  3. Click the name of the channel you want to edit.
  4. In your scene, -click and move the mouse to the left or right. By moving the mouse, you interactively change the value of the selected channel. As you move the mouse, note that pressing the key gives you finer control, and pressing the key gives you less control.

To edit lattice attributes with the Attribute Editor

  1. Select the lattice deformer node (default name: ffdn).
  2. Open the Attribute Editor by selecting Window > Attribute Editor. The default shortcut is +a.
  3. Edit the attributes.

    See ffdLatticeShape.

To reset the lattice

  1. Select the lattice.
  2. Select Edit Deformers > Lattice > Reset Lattice.

    See Edit Deformers > Lattice > Reset Lattice.

To reset lattice points after tweaking

  1. Select the lattice.
  2. Select Edit Deformers > Lattice > Remove Lattice Tweaks.

    See Edit Deformers > Lattice > Remove Lattice Tweaks.

To prune lattice deformer set membership

  1. Select deformable objects whose currently unaffected points you want to prune from the deformation.
  2. Select Edit Deformers > Prune Membership > Lattice.

    Maya removes the deformable object’s points currently unaffected points from the lattice.

    Note

    Prune Membership only removes points from the deformation if they are currently not affected by the deformer. Therefore, if you try to prune the membership of an object whose points are all controlled by the deformer, you will receive the error message “No components could be pruned.”

To select the lattice shape display

  1. Select the lattice deformer.
  2. Select Display > Animation > Lattice Shape.

    The lattice deformer selects between displaying its lattices and the “L” icon.

To turn lattice shape display on or off

  1. Select the lattice deformer.
  2. Select Display > Animation > Lattice Points.

To show all lattice deformers

  1. Select Display > Show > Show Deformers > Lattices.

To hide all lattice deformers

  1. Select Display > Hide > Hide Deformers > Lattices.

Toggling lattice shape handle (L icon)

  1. To help control screen clutter and display performance, you can select between displaying an “L” icon as the lattice deformer handle and displaying the deformer’s lattices.

To group the deformed lattice and the base lattice

  1. Select the deformed lattice and base lattice.
  2. Select Edit > Group.

    If you have grouped the base lattice and the deformed lattice, a simple way to select the two lattices in the scene (without opening the Outliner) is to select the deformed lattice and press the Up Arrow key to get the group node.

You can also parent the lattice to the geometry in two ways, depending on when you’re parenting.

To parent the lattice to the geometry

  1. Do one of the following:

To change lattice deformer performance settings

  1. Select Window > Settings/Preferences > Performance Settings.
  2. In the Performance Settings window, note the Deformers section.
  3. Click the performance of Lattices to On, Off, or Interactive. (For more information, see the Basics guide.)
  4. When you’re done, click Close.

To change lattice resolution settings

  1. Select Window > Settings/Preferences > Performance Settings.
  2. In the Deformers section, set the Lattice Resolution to Per Node, Global, or Interactive.
  3. Click Close.

To delete a lattice deformer

  1. Select the lattice you want to delete.
  2. Select Edit > Delete or use the default shortcut (Linux and Windows) or (Mac OS X) key.

    All the lattice deformer’s nodes are deleted, and the deformed object is returned to non-lattice deformed state.

If you want to delete a lattice deformer and preserve its lattice deformations, you need to delete history as follows:

To delete a lattice deformer and preserve the deformation

  1. In the scene view, select the deformed object and then select Edit > Delete by Type > History.

    All the lattice deformer’s nodes are deleted and the lattice deformations are preserved.

    Warning

    Deleting history deletes all your deformed object’s history nodes, not just those associated with the lattice deformation.