# deforming text in maya Maya has many cool deformer things that allow you to warp and distort your object. You can create 3d text with the [[type tool in maya]] and then use some of these tools to deform your text. As with all things Maya, when you are happy with the deformation, be sure delete history to bake in the new geometry. ## Curve Warp This tool allows you to flow your text on a curve, similar to Photoshop’s Text on a Curve. ![[Pasted image 20220921150217.png]] 1. Create your 3d text 2. Create a curve for the text to follow. It helps to make the curve longer than the length of the text element 3. Pick the text element and then **Shift-Pick** the curve 4. Using the pull-down menus, choose **Deform > Curve Warp** Choose the **curveWarp** tab in the Attributes Editor to make changes. The **Offset** slider lets you move the text along the curve. The **Envelope** slider adjusts the range from the straight text before and the curved text after. It allows you to dial back the effect. ## Lattice Deformer The Lattice Deformer creates a bounding box around the object that can be adjusted with Lattice Points (similar to Control Points). You can adjust the number of subdivisions on the lattice to fine-tune the adjustment. ![[Pasted image 20220921150943.png]] 1. Create your 3d text 2. Using the pull-down menus, choose **Deform > Lattice** 3. A bounding box will appear around your object 4. To adjust the number of subdivisions, pick the just the Lattice Box. In the Attributes Editor, go to the **ffd1** tab. 5. **Right-Click** on the Lattice Box and choose **Lattice Points** 6. Adjust the points as you would any other vertex or control point using move, scale, rotate ## Non-Linear Deformers Non-linear deformers are strange tools that do cool things. They allow you to modify your geometry using just sliders and adjustments instead of fiddling with control points or other mesh tools. To apply a deformer choose your object and use the pulldown menus for **Deform > Nonlinear >** and choose one of the given deformations. The choices are fairly obvious for the effect they will create. Note: the number of subdivisions in your object will affect the quality and form of the deform. You may need more or fewer subdivisions to get the effect you are looking for. ![[Pasted image 20220927093802.png]] The targeted object will now have the deformer applied. There will be a tab in the Attribute Editor for the object with sliders to control the intensity of the effect. There will also be a graphic in the design space that shows where the deformer is located. Here’s a cube with a bend deformer being applied. ![[Pasted image 20220927094242.png]] Each deformer will have different sliders to create the effect. All the deformers will settings for a **High Bound** and **Low Bound** or **Min Radius** and **Max Radius** to control the range of the effect. Here is that same cube with the same bend with the High Bound turned down. Notice how it only affects part of the cube. ![[Pasted image 20220927094416.png]] The targeted object and the deformer exist as separate entities in a spatial relationship. How they are positioned in relation to each other affects how the deform looks. Moving one without the other will alter the effect. Here is that same cube above with the deform tool moved away from the cube geometry. Notice how the cube is getting stretched. ![[Pasted image 20220927094830.png]] Here is the cube with the deform tool rotated in a few different planes. ![[Pasted image 20220927095021.png]] Finally, you can have multiple deformations active at the same time. Simply select the object and add another deformation. Here’s the cube with both a Bend and a Wave deformation. ![[Pasted image 20220927095652.png]] To make the deforms permanent, use the pulldown menus for **Edit > Delete by Type > History**. The deform tools disappear and the object has the new geometry. --- Learn more: - [deforming objects in maya from maya help and learning](https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/maya/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2023/ENU/Maya-CharacterAnimation/files/GUID-B1AB118B-D620-4A74-88AA-11E8569D0E60-htm.html) - [create non-linear deformers from maya help and learning](https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/maya/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2023/ENU/Maya-CharacterAnimation/files/GUID-43C7E0B5-2789-42A0-ADEF-E25FE1B4E67D-htm.html) --- tags: #3d #maya #resources home: [[! 3d modeling- maya]]