Pins and mesh warp

Pins bend artwork without bones. Put pins on a shape and drag one: the artwork bends, held by the pins that stay put. A path bends through its own nodes; an image, a text or a group bends through a mesh of triangles laid over it.

WHAT YOU’LL MAKE

The flag's free end swings down in 1.5 seconds, bending the whole flag, then holds and starts over. This one is the real exported SVG, playing.

Step by step

1. Pick the Pin tool

   Press W. The Pin tool is in the pins button of the tools on the left.

2. Pin the flag by the pole

   Click the flag close to the pole. A pin appears where you clicked, and a mesh of triangles covers the flag: it's a group, so it bends through the mesh.

3. Pin its free end

   Click near the other end of the flag for a second pin. A pin you don't move holds the artwork where it is.

4. Move the playhead to 1.5s

   Drag the red playhead along the time ruler to 1.5s.

5. Bend the flag

   Drag the second pin down. The flag bends between the two pins, and the pin gets its own track, Pin 2: at rest at 0s, bent at 1.5s.

6. Play it

   Press Space. The flag bends until 1.5s, holds until the end of the 3-second animation and starts over.

Keys