Puppet Pin builds a triangle mesh over the layer's opaque pixels. Pins placed on the mesh pull it, and the image bends with it, as in After Effects' Puppet tool. Pins are keyframed from the moment they are placed.
How to use it
- Select a layer and choose Effects ▸ Puppet Pin, or pick the Puppet Pin tool in the toolbar.
- Click Generate Mesh in the effect's settings. The mesh is built from what the layer shows at the playhead. The label next to the button reports triangles and pins.
- With the Puppet Pin tool in Pin mode, click on the layer to add pins. Drag a pin to pose the layer; the drag sets a key at the playhead.
- Move the playhead and pose again to animate.
In the viewer
- Click a pin to select it; ⇧-click adds to the selection.
- Delete removes the selected pins. ⌥-click (Alt-click) a pin to delete it.
- A pin with a rotation hold has a handle you can drag to turn it.
The Puppet Pin tool's options bar chooses what a click places:
| Mode | What it does |
|---|
| Pin | Poses the layer: click to pin, drag a pin to bend. |
| Starch | Stiffens part of the mesh so it bends less there. |
| Overlap | Where the mesh folds over itself, chooses what draws in front. |
| Option | What it does |
|---|
| Radius (Pin mode) | How far a pin's pull reaches. Outside every pin's radius the layer stays still; 0 = the whole layer moves with the pins. |
| Rotation (selected pins) | Turns the selected pins and holds them there; the mesh turns with them. Free lets them turn freely again. A pin linked to a null takes its null's rotation. |
| Scale (selected pins) | Grows or shrinks the mesh around the selected pins, across their Radius (or a quarter of the layer without one). |
| Amount (Starch mode) | Stiffness of new or selected Starch pins. |
| In Front (Overlap mode) | How far in front new or selected Overlap pins draw. |
| Extent (Starch and Overlap) | How far the pin's influence spreads, px. |
Effect parameters
| Name | What it does | Default / range |
|---|
| Triangles | Mesh resolution. More bends smoother and costs more. | 400, 20–5000 |
| Expansion | Grows the mesh past the layer's edge, px, so soft edges come along. | 3, 0–100 |
| Show Mesh | Draws the mesh in the viewer. | Off |
Changing Triangles or Expansion rebuilds the mesh on its own. Pins stay where they are.
| Button | What it does |
|---|
| Generate Mesh / Regenerate Mesh | Rebuilds the mesh from the layer at the playhead. Use it after the layer's shape changes. |
| Link Pins to Nulls | Makes a null for each pin, named Pin 1, Pin 2…, parented to this layer, and lets it drive the pin. Animate the nulls, or parent them to other layers, to pose the puppet. Dragging a linked pin moves its null. |
Limits
- Up to 32 pins, 16 Starch pins and 16 Overlap pins per effect.