Houdini 21.0 Nodes Geometry nodes

ML Deform geometry node

Use an ML model to deform the skin of a character.

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Overview

This node can use a trained ML model to deform the skin of a character. It uses the same inputs as Bone Deform SOP with a fourth input for residual blend shapes. Each residual blend shape defines a displacement point in the skin mesh. Internally, the ML model predicts weights to combine the residual blend shapes to apply a correction to the rest skin.

Note

ML Deform assumes assumes the model was trained on a data set that was created with the help of ML Pose Serialize using its default settings. These settings are Mode set to Subskeleton and Include World Rotation turned on. Also, Joint Group needs to match the joint group used with ML Pose Serialize to create the training data set. These requirements would be met if the ML Train Deformer recipe was used for training.

See Machine Learning documentation for more general information.

Parameters

Model File

The trained model in ONNX format that inputs a serialized pose and outputs a tuple of weights for the residual blend poses.

Reload Model

Force a reload of the .onnx file.

Execution Provider

Determines which ONNX execution provider to use for inference. By default, the node attempts to pick the best available provider and prefers to use GPU acceleration.

Automatic

Chooses the best provider for the current system. This option prioritizes CUDA if installed, DirectML/CoreML as a fallback depending on the platform, and CPU inference if no GPU provider is available.

CPU

Perform inference using on the CPU.

CUDA

Perform inference using CUDA/cuDNN. CUDA and cuDNN must be installed using the packages provided by NVIDIA.

DirectML

Only available on Windows. Performs inference using the Windows Direct Machine Learning library.

CoreML

Only available on macOS. Performs inference using Apple’s Core ML library.

Joint Group

The joint group to serialize the pose for inclusion into the data set on which Model File was trained.

Enforce Joint Limits

When on, then the specified joint limits are applied to a pose before it goes into the model.

Joint Limits

Specify the name of a dictionary attribute that contains joint limits.

Inputs

Skin to Deform

The skin that deforms by a proxy geometry which does a tissue simulation.

Capture Pose

The capture pose for the capture weights on the Bone Surfaces.

Animated Pose

A deformed pose. Not used and is passed straight on to the corresponding output.

Residual Blend Shapes

Packed primitives containing residual blend shapes. The first residual blend shape always adds a weight of 1. The remaining residual blend shapes are scaled by the weights predicted by the ML model before they are applied.

Outputs

Deformed Skin

The skin that deforms by a proxy geometry which has gone through a tissue simulation.

Geometry nodes