How do I bake a deformer?

This article outlines how to bake a deformer. If you are unsure what ‘baking’ entails, please see What is baking?

Step 1: Add a Transformation Switch before baking

A Transformation Switch needs to be present in a deformation chain before baking, otherwise an error message will occur. If you don’t already have a Transformation Switch on your deformer, follow these steps before continuing to one of the other options.

1. In the Camera, Timeline or Node view, select the drawing node with the deformer.
2. In the Deformation toolbar, select the Create New Deformation Chain button. You do not need to create a new deformer.

3. Inside the Deformation group, the Transformation Switch will automatically be added and connected properly.

4. In the Deformation toolbar, manually switch the deformer back to Transformation 1.

5. The deformer is now ready to bake.

Option 1: Convert Deformed Drawing to Drawings

Using this technique will simply turn a deformed drawing into a series of vector drawings that reflect the deformer motion. This can make it easier to edit and adjust the timing, and the deformer will not be affected.

1. In the Timeline view, locate the drawing layer that is under the deformer you want to bake down.
2. Select the drawing cells that cover the section of the (deformer) movement you want to bake.

3. In the top menu, select Animation > Deformation > Convert Deformed Drawing to Drawings.
4. A progress bar will appear. Wait for it to complete.

5. The drawing layer will now contain the deformer movement in the form of drawings.

Option 2: Convert to New Drawing & Add Deformation

This technique is best used for creating a new drawing substitution with its own deformation chain. This can only be used on ONE frame at a time to prevent the creation of multiple or unneeded deformation chains. This is useful when you want a new substitution drawing that not only bakes in the animation from the above deformer, but that will also have a duplicate deformation chain added for its own separate animation.

1. In the Timeline view, locate the drawing layer that is under the deformer you want to bake down.
2. Select the drawing cell that you want to bake to.
3. In the top menu, select Animation > Deformation > Convert to New Drawing and Add Deformation Chain.
4. A progress bar will appear. Wait for it to complete.

5. The drawing layer will now contain a single baked frame with a new deformation chain.

Q&A 

Question: 

I tried to bake my deformers, but I got an error that the drawings need to be under a rig that supports multiple deformation chains? 

Answers: 

Baking deformers require a Transformation Switch to be part of the deformation change inside the group. See Step 1 on how to add one.

Question: 

When baking the deformer my pencil lines turned into brushstrokes, is this normal?

Answer: 

The baking process converts pencil lines into brush strokes.  This is why it's important to separate the Line Art and Colour Art layers.  Brush strokes can be converted back to pencil lines, see Converting Brush Stroke to Pencil Lines.  Converting brush strokes to pencil lines will require some editing, and  works best with a line that is very clean and easily readable.  Some textures will refuse to convert to pencil nicely.

Question: 

I’m using a deformer that isn’t a Bone, Envelope or Curve deformer, and the drawings disappear when I bake them?

Answer: 

Double check the version of Harmony you are using. Harmony 24 introduced the ability to bake Weighted Deformers, Mesh Warps, Free Form Deformers and Shape Aware Deformers. Previous versions are limited to Bone, Envelope or Curve deformers.