Point Deform

How it works

Each grain is bound to nearby vertices of the fill mesh. While inactive, it follows those vertices as the source moves or deforms. Once activated, it participates in the grain simulation.

Binding & release velocity

Point DeformDefault: Off

Makes inactive grains follow the animated fill mesh until they activate. The mesh drives the grains, rather than the grains deforming an output mesh.

NeighborsDefault: 8

Number of nearby fill-mesh vertices used to drive each grain's deformation. Higher values blend movement over a wider set of vertices.

Max Bind DistanceDefault: 0.0

Maximum distance from a grain to fill-mesh vertices used for Point Deform binding. A value of 0 allows binding without a distance limit.

Inherit VelocityDefault: On

Give newly activated grains the velocity of their Point Deform motion.

Velocity ScaleDefault: 1.0

Multiplier applied to the velocity inherited when a grain activates.

Max VelocityDefault: 30.0

Maximum speed allowed for inherited Point Deform velocity. A value of 0 gives no inherited velocity.

Keep the fill mesh’s vertex layout consistent through the animation. Set binding controls before initialization. Velocity controls are shown when Inherit Velocity is enabled. Max Velocity = 0 gives no inherited velocity; it does not mean unlimited speed.

A simple release

1. Animate the fill mesh with stable topology, then choose it as Fill Volume.
2. Enable Point Deform. In Activation, key Grains Active off before release and on at the desired release frame.
3. Start a fresh simulation at frame 1. Inactive grains follow the source until release.
4. Enable Inherit Velocity to carry the source motion into the newly active grains. Use a scale or cap to adjust the handoff.

For a spatial release, configure Empty, Object, Mask, or Infection activation before starting. The panel reports the active grain count while Point Deform is in use.