Is there an geometry operator in Houdini like the deform by surface in XSI?

sascha

I'm not sure but simply judging from “deform by surface”, it might be:
- Points mode of the Lattice SOP
- use WireCapture/WireDeform. Despite the name, you can use NURBs surfaces. There's an example using curves in the help.
- Inflate SOP

You'll have to provide a much better description before I can help you as I'm not an XSI user.

Deform by surface is something different. The deformer distorts an object by remapping the XZ plane to the UV space of a surface.
Here you can see the effect: http://www.coolcalb.com/tutorials/Volleyball/Volley-ball.htm [coolcalb.com]

I believe you are looking for the creepSOP.
-k

Maybe following example describes better the operation I'm looking for: http://www.renderregion.com/deformBySurface.gif [renderregion.com]. In the foreground is the undeformed geometry which is deformed by the Nurbs sphere in the background. I just want to map any poly or Nurbs geometry onto a Nurbs surface. I use it quite often for modeling in XSI in different ways, but it's always the same principle.

Looks like Creep or pasted surface would do it.