Morph Animations

Morph Animations

A morph is a mesh that blends between shapes. Set Visual Type: Morph, or Single Morph for a skinned character that also morphs. Blender's shape keys are the targets; the 4DS Morph sidebar tab groups them the way the format does.

Groups and targets

Morph data is organised into groups, each holding an ordered list of targets that are shape keys. The first target in a group is its basis, and everything in the group is written against it.

Button	What it does
+	Makes a new shape key and adds it — the group's basis first, then its targets, named G1_Basis, G1_Target1 and on.
The shape-key button under it	Adds a key the mesh already carries, picked from the ones this group does not hold.
−	Removes the target and its shape key. A key another group still holds stays on the mesh, and the report says so.
▲ ▼	Reorder the group's targets. The basis is pinned to the first slot.
Transfer	Copies the active morph target from every other selected object onto this one.
Apply as Basis	Rebases the group on the target you picked.

The region

Which vertices a group covers is not something you set. A group that came out of a file keeps the region the file listed for it — those vertices whether they move or not — and a group made in Blender covers the vertices its own targets move. The panel says which of the two it is, and picking a group brings its region up as the mesh's active vertex group, where Blender's own tools reach it.

What the export does with them

• Groups shorter than the longest are padded with their own basis, because every region is written with the same target count.
• A vertex moved by more than one group is given to whichever moved it most — the engine applies regions in order and the last write wins, so overlapping regions would otherwise let a later basis overwrite an earlier pose.
• Per-target normals are stored alongside positions and preserved.