pymel.core.animation.nonLinear

nonLinear(*args, **kwargs)

This command creates a functional deformer of the specified type that will deform the selected objects. The deformer consists of three nodes: The deformer driver that gets connected to the history of the selected objects, the deformer handle transform that controls position and orientation of the axis of the deformation and the deformer handle that maintains the deformation parameters. The type of the deformer handle shape created depends on the specified type of the deformer. The deformer handle will be positioned at the center of the selected objects’ bounding box and oriented to match the orientation of the leading object in the selection list. The deformer handle transform will be selected when the command is completed. The nonLinear command has some flags which are specific to the nonLinear type specified with the -type flag. The flags correspond to the primary keyable attributes related to the specific type of nonLinear node. For example, if the type is “bend”, then the flags “-curvature”, “-lowBound” and “-highBound” may be used to initialize, edit or query those attribute values on the bend node. Examples of this are covered in the example section below.

Flags:
Long name (short name) Argument Types Properties
after (af) bool ../../../_images/create.gif ../../../_images/edit.gif
 

If the default behavior for insertion/appending into/onto the existing chain is not what you want then you can use this flag to force the command to stick the deformer node after the selected node in the chain even if a new geometry shape has to be created in order to do so. Works in create mode (and edit mode if the deformer has no geometry added yet).

afterReference (ar) bool ../../../_images/create.gif ../../../_images/edit.gif
 

The -afterReference flag is used to specify deformer ordering in a hybrid way that choses between -before and -after automatically. If the geometry being deformed is referenced then -after mode is used in adding the new deformer otherwise -before mode is used. The net effect when using -afterReference to build deformer chains is that internal shape nodes in the deformer chain will only appear at reference file boundaries, leading to lightweight deformer networks that may be more amicable to reference swapping.

autoParent (ap) bool ../../../_images/create.gif
 
Parents the deformer handle under the selected object’s transform. This flag is valid only when a single object is selected.
before (bf) bool ../../../_images/create.gif ../../../_images/edit.gif
 

If the default behavior for insertion/appending into/onto the existing chain is not what you want then you can use this flag to force the command to stick the deformer node before the selected node in the chain even if a new geometry shape has to be created in order to do so. Works in create mode (and edit mode if the deformer has no geometry added yet).

commonParent (cp) bool ../../../_images/create.gif
 
Creates a new transform and parents the selected object and the deformer handle under it. This flag is valid only when a single object is selected.
defaultScale (ds) bool ../../../_images/create.gif
 

Sets the scale of the deformation handle to 1. By default the deformation handle is scaled to the match the largest dimension of the selected objects’ bounding box. [deformerFlags] The attributes of the deformer handle shape can be set upon creation, edited and queried as normal flags using either the long or the short attribute name. e.g.Flag can appear in Create mode of commandFlag can have multiple arguments, passed either as a tuple or a list.

deformerTools (dt) bool ../../../_images/query.gif
 
Returns the name of the deformer tool objects (if any) as string string ...
exclusive (ex) unicode ../../../_images/create.gif ../../../_images/query.gif
 
Puts the deformation set in a deform partition.
frontOfChain (foc) bool ../../../_images/create.gif ../../../_images/edit.gif
 

This command is used to specify that the new deformer node should be placed ahead (upstream) of existing deformer and skin nodes in the shape’s history (but not ahead of existing tweak nodes). The input to the deformer will be the upstream shape rather than the visible downstream shape, so the behavior of this flag is the most intuitive if the downstream deformers are in their reset (hasNoEffect) position when the new deformer is added. Works in create mode (and edit mode if the deformer has no geometry added yet).

geometry (g) unicode ../../../_images/query.gif ../../../_images/edit.gif
 

The specified object will be added to the list of objects being deformed by this deformer object, unless the -rm flag is also specified. When queried, this flag returns string string string ...

geometryIndices (gi) bool ../../../_images/query.gif
 
Complements the -geometry flag in query mode. Returns the multi index of each geometry.
ignoreSelected (ignoreSelected) bool ../../../_images/create.gif
 
Tells the command to not deform objects on the current selection list
name (n) unicode ../../../_images/create.gif
 
Used to specify the name of the node being created
parallel (par) bool ../../../_images/create.gif ../../../_images/edit.gif
 

Inserts the new deformer in a parallel chain to any existing deformers in the history of the object. A blendShape is inserted to blend the parallel results together. Works in create mode (and edit mode if the deformer has no geometry added yet).

prune (pr) bool ../../../_images/edit.gif
 
Removes any points not being deformed by the deformer in its current configuration from the deformer set.
remove (rm) bool ../../../_images/edit.gif
 
Specifies that objects listed after the -g flag should be removed from this deformer.
split (sp) bool ../../../_images/create.gif ../../../_images/edit.gif
 

Branches off a new chain in the dependency graph instead of inserting/appending the deformer into/onto an existing chain. Works in create mode (and edit mode if the deformer has no geometry added yet).

type (typ) unicode ../../../_images/create.gif
 
Specifies the type of deformation. The current valid deformation types are: bend, twist, squash, flare, sine and wave

Derived from mel command maya.cmds.nonLinear

Example:

import pymel.core as pm

import maya.cmds as cmds

# To create a bend deformer with curvature 0.5
#
pm.nonLinear( type='bend', curvature=0.5 )

# To edit the curvature of the bend deformer
#
pm.nonLinear( 'bend1', e=True, curvature=0.2 )

# To query the curvature of the bend deformer
#
pm.nonLinear( 'bend1', query=True, curvature=True )

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