Hi everybody (Hi Dr Nick!)
When we create an FFD deformer, Maya creates a lattice and a base object.
When we take a closer look at the FFD Deformer node we see that it contains a 'baseLattice' and a 'deformedLattice'. Both have a matrix and points.By default, the deformed lattice is connected to the DeformedLattice matrix and points, and the FFDBase.worldmatrix is connected to the baseLatticeMatrix.
I'm trying to replace the FFDBase by a custom FFD, assuming that an FFD's resulting deformation is the calculated based on the difference between the 'baseLattice' and the 'deformedLattice'.(?)
-1- Edit the Lattice's
pointsBase and Lattice are different so the mesh deforms.
-2- Duplicate the altered lattice and connect the new 'worldLattice' attribute to the 'baseLattice.LatticePoints'. (also connect the matrices to calculate transforms)
One would expect that the mesh would pop back to the original mesh because the 'baseLattice' and the 'deformedLattice' are identical.
BUT.The mesh stays deformed as if the FFD node does not take into account the 'baseLatticePoints' fed into it.
The FFD node seems to allow 'baseLatticePoints' but it does not work as expected.
I also tried connecting the 'latticeOutput' and even 'latticeInput' attributes.
I'm wondering if this is a bug? Or am I doing something wrong?