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Point On Curve Deformer aka leastSquaresModifier node

Calebos
Advocate

Point On Curve Deformer aka leastSquaresModifier node

Calebos
Advocate
Advocate

 This deformer looks a bit weird. It has no Envelope(this is the reason why it is so much painful to work with this deformer) and it takes a lot time to find out how to connect or manage its attributes. Is it possible to clear these problems out? Or maybe to put some useful information about this deformer to online user's manual?

 

 Thanks.

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s_ehrenhaus
Collaborator
Collaborator

This is in fact rather wired.. you can access it through the craete deformers menu.

(By selecting a parametric curve point and then accessing the Point On Curve operation in the Create Deformers menu)

However, in the documentation it has been classified as a math node, which in my eyes makes sense as this seems to be a very simple node. link to node doc

I use this node to easily create selectable poleVector control relationship lines for example. 

It gets quite interesting because this basically allows you to have a nurbs curve run explicitly through a point in space. Now I know you can also achieve that by simply connecting something your curve EPs but this just allows to keep those ep connections free for whatever else one would need them for...

I dont know, but yeah would be cool if other people could share what stuff they have been using this node for.

 

Did you have any plans in particular with this Calebos?

 

-S

 

PS: a thing that I just noticed, all of its node specific i/o plugs dont display in the node editor, not even if you force show ALL attributes.

Be Happy 🙂
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Calebos
Advocate
Advocate

Hi,

 

 thanks for the response. I know all attributes of this deformer but what troubled me first was connection of pointConstraintUVW. When you do it with classical way(Connection Editor) it is not visible there ... and for example finding the explicit name of it was hell a bit. I needed to make a custom attribute on the locator(that one used as the transformation node for Point On Curve Deformer) which is driving the U parameter of the curve. It would be good to have some falloff aswell. When you have dense curve it would by very helpful.

 And at last the Envelope. It is not wise to put the exact math node to deformer menu where you expect tools with Envelope. I use this attribute oftenly. 

 

 Good thing is this math is useful for nurbs surface aswell but it looks it will work just with 0->1 parametrization.

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pshwayka
Advisor
Advisor

You've probably figured out all of the stuff shown in the video linked below, but it's a pretty good introduction to using that tool...

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQtfaXrB3CI

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Calebos
Advocate
Advocate

Just another "feature" is that when you want to control the curve per each edit point(just create nurbs curve with 3 edit points and select each one, create 3 constraints) and move locators a bit, control points of the curve are not moving as desired, leaving these between edit points behind. In other words: there is functional just parametric feature. Everything else is waste of work.

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