Effects

Mesh

The mesh effect allows you to map the contents of a layer to a custom mesh of triangles and then animate and deform the mesh with bones or by hand.

A common use case for the mesh effect is for building deformable character rigs out of imported images.

Note#

Layers with vector contents are implicitly rasterized when a mesh effect is applied to them.

Add Mesh Tool#

To add control points to the mesh

1. Select the Add Mesh Tool in the sidebar. Its icon shows a mesh with a plus sign.
2. Tap or drag on the canvas to add new control points to the mesh.

Every time you add a new control point to the mesh, the triangles of the mesh are automatically updated to include the new control point.

Only the layer regions where the mesh has triangles remain visible when effects are enabled. You therefore need at least three control points in the effect to see any part of your layer through the mesh.

Tapping on the Add Mesh Tool button again brings up additional options.

Point Spacing#

The point spacing setting can be used to adjust how far apart new control points are inserted when you either drag on the canvas or when you use the Generate Mesh option.

Generate Mesh#

Use the Generate Mesh option to let ToonSquid automatically generate a mesh that covers the layer contents. Use the Point Spacing slider to adjust the distance between the control points in the generated mesh.

Note#

For the best deformation results you should manually create the mesh by placing the control points based on which edges and regions of your layer's contents need to deform and place the control points closer together or further apart based on the amount of deformation that the specific region will experience.

Cut Mesh Tool#

In order to delete triangles and control points from the mesh

1. Select the Cut Mesh Tool in the sidebar. Its icon shows a mesh with a scissors.
2. Drag across all triangles that you want to delete. Control points that would end up not being connected to any other points are automatically deleted as well.

Transform Mesh Tool#

To move the control points of the mesh

1. Select the Transform Mesh Tool in the sidebar. Its icon shows a mesh with a cursor.
2. Drag the control points to move them around.

If effects are disabled in the editor when you use the transform mesh tool, the control points are repositioned relative to the layer contents. This is the equivalent of editing the bind pose of a bone rig. The "bind" position of the control points defines how the layer contents should map onto the mesh.

When effects are enabled in the editor, the tool will create keyframes for the control points that you move in order to animate the mesh.

Smudge Mesh Tool#

To move multiple control points of the mesh within a larger region

1. Select the Smudge Mesh Tool in the sidebar. Its icon shows a mesh with the smudge tool symbol.
2. Drag over the control points to move them around.

You can adjust the radius and strength of this tool with the sliders at the top. Control points closer to the center of the drag are moved more than points at the edge of the drag radius.

If effects are disabled in the editor when you use the smudge mesh tool, the control points are repositioned relative to the layer contents. This is the equivalent of editing the bind pose of a bone rig. The "bind" position of the control points defines how the layer contents should map onto the mesh.

When effects are enabled in the editor, the tool will create keyframes for the control points that you move in order to animate the mesh.