Bender3D

Resolve 21 describes Bender3D as a 3D deformer for bending, tapering, twisting or shearing geometry based on the geometry bounding box. The orange SceneInput is required and Output remains classic Fusion scene3d; pixels are created only by Renderer3D.

The current manual's basic setup is straightforward: ImagePlane3D, Shape3D, Text3D or another 3D object → Bender3D → typically Merge3D → Renderer3D. Placing Bender3D before Merge3D isolates deformation to that object branch, which is usually the clearest single-object rig.

Bender3D can also sit after Merge3D. In that position it sees multiple objects in one scene, but only geometry is modified. Cameras, lights and materials pass through unaffected: the camera does not bend and the light does not become deformation geometry.

The defining limitation is topology: Bender3D does not tessellate or create vertices. It only repositions vertices that already exist, so a low-poly plane, Text3D or Shape3D produces a faceted Bend/Twist. Smooth deformation requires more source subdivisions upstream.

Bender Type has four modes: Bend, Taper, Twist and Shear. These are different deformation formulas rather than four labels around one Amount slider; several controls have mode-dependent meaning and visibility.

Amount changes deformation strength and is usually the cleanest master animation control after Type, Axis and source topology have been established.

Axis selects the working X/Y/Z axis. Bend uses it together with Angle; the other modes evaluate deformation around the specified axis. If the result points the wrong way, test X/Y/Z before compensating with arbitrary Transform3D operations.

Angle is documented for Bend and Shear and controls the deformation direction around the selected axis. It is hidden for Taper and Twist. That is expected conditional UI, not a missing control.

Range restricts deformation to a smaller portion of the geometry. Bend/Taper/Twist expose Min/Max, while Shear does not expose Range. A localized Range workflow therefore has to use a mode that actually provides it.

Center is visible in the current Resolve Inspector and the bundled capture shows a 0.5 baseline, but the Resolve 21 Bender3D text does not define Center in a separate control section. Treat 0.5 as the captured starting state and avoid inventing exact normalized or mode-specific mathematics without a live target-build A/B.

Group Objects matters only for a multi-object SceneInput. Disabled, component objects are deformed individually. Enabled, Bender3D treats the incoming objects as one group and uses a common center for deformation. This is not a boolean operation, a Merge3D replacement, or a physical topology merge.

Node placement defines scope. Before Merge3D, Bender3D conveniently targets one object. After Merge3D it can process the geometry of the whole scene, and Group Objects decides whether component objects are evaluated individually or as one group.

Because Bender3D derives deformation from geometry bounds, placement relative to upstream Transform3D can change the effective result. Treat this as rig-order behavior: topology/deformation first and large world placement downstream is the easier baseline, while imported, animated or non-uniform transforms should be A/B tested in the target build.

If the result has shading artifacts, separate them from topology. Too few subdivisions damage the silhouette; normals/smoothing issues are a different class of problem and should be diagnosed separately, for example with ReplaceNormals3D.

The bundled current Inspector captures confirm Bend with Amount, Axis, Angle, Center, Range and Group objects; Taper hides Angle; Shear hides Range. These screenshots agree with the Resolve 21 reference for the documented conditional controls.

No live Resolve 21/21.1 production-mesh run was performed in this pass. Exact Amount amplitude, Center's mode-specific mathematics and edge cases involving imported/animated/non-uniform transforms remain target-build verification items rather than certified facts.