9

Flex Modifier 697
Weights and Painting rollout
When you first apply Flex to an object, the
modifier automatica lly s ets vertex weights based
on distance from the modifier’s center. The
higher a vertex weight, the less prone it is to being
affected by Flex effect s. The modifier applies the
highest weights to vertices closest to its center,
and the lowest weights to vertices farthest from
the center. So, for exa mple, with a cylinder whose
pivot point is at the base, y ou’ll get the greatest
amount of flexing at the top. But with a sphere, all
of whose vertices are equidistant from the pivot
point (center), all vertices have, by default, equal
weight values.
The Paint Weights cont rols let you use a spherical
brush with adjustable radius and falloff to change
vertex weights in the viewports, thus controlling
theamountoflag.TheVertexWeightscontrolslet
you apply absolute or relative weig hting to single
vertices or groups of vertices.
Paint Weights group
Pai nt—At any sub-object level, click Paint,
andthendragthecursoroverthemeshinthe
view por ts to "paint" vertex weights using the
current Strengt h and Feather settings. Vertex
colors changes to reflect the new vertex weight.
Painting changes vertex weig hts relative to their
currentvalues;itdoesnotapplyanabsolute
weight. Longer strokes over an area of the mesh
wi ll increase or decrease ver tex weights more t han
short strokes, and repeated st roke s over the same
area will cause incremental changes in weight
values unless they’re a lready at their extremes.
ThevertexcoloringshownatanyFlexsub-object
level provides an approximate indication of
weighting. The colors are determined by the
settings in Customize menu > Customize User
Interface > Colors tab > Elements: G eometry.
In this list are three color entries: Subselection
Hard, used to display vertices with the hig hest
Weight values; Subselection Medium, used to
display vertices with medium Weight va lues; and
Subselection Soft, used to display vertices with low
Weight v a lue s .
Strength—Sets the amount by which painting
changes weight values. Higher values change
weighting more quickly. At St rength=0, p ainting
does not change weight values. Range=-1 to 1;
Default=0.1.
Negative values allow you to remove weight.
Tip: When painting, you can use the Alt key to
invert the strength.
Radius—Sets the size of the brush in world units.
Range=.001 to 99999; Default=36.
Note: If you position the mouse cursor over the
object before painting, you can see a wireframe
representation of the spherical "brush" that depicts
the Radius setting.
Feat her—Sets the falloff in strength f rom the center
of the brush to its edge. Default=.7. Range=.001
to 1.
Vertices at the center of t he brush are always
changed by the f ull amount of the Strength sett i ng,
but the higher the Feather setting, the less ver tices