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I am working on an animation in which a long mesh (similar to a snake) uses a Curve modifier to deform around a spiral curve. The mesh is animated to move on the the Y axis and this is how it deforms along the curve.

I have kept the vertices on the curve minimal so I can easily adjust their tilt to make the mesh follow the curve in a specific way. The problem is that, when the mesh deforms along the curve in the animation, it looks jerky and jumpy because of the low vertex count on the curve.

If I convert the curve to a mesh and apply a subdivision modifier, the mesh's deformation along the curve becomes smooth in the way I want, but I lose the vertex tilts that I have calculated.

Is there a way to make the curve more smooth for the animation, or preserve the tilts I have calculated after converting to a mesh?

Thank you!

EDIT: Blend file added:

enter image description here

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    $\begingroup$ please provide blend file because we have no idea how your mesh geometry is. thx. $\endgroup$
    – Chris
    Commented Jan 25 at 7:01
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    $\begingroup$ First thing that comes to my mind: right at the top of the Curve Properties below the 2D/3D buttons, what have you set as Resolution Preview U? The default 12 or something lower? And have you tried increasing the resolution? But maybe I'm getting this wrong. $\endgroup$
    – Gordon Brinkmann
    Commented Jan 25 at 8:26
  • $\begingroup$ Do you need to animate the tilt, or just set a 'rest' tilt accurately? $\endgroup$
    – Robin Betts ♦
    Commented Jan 25 at 9:56
  • $\begingroup$ Blend file is added. I do not need to animate the tilt, I only need to set an accurate "rest" tilt. I have tried increasing the Resolution Preview U, and that does not seem to have any affect. Thanks for the responses! $\endgroup$
    – Wy Bert
    Commented Jan 25 at 17:29

2 Answers 2

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One approach might be to align the normal of the spiral, (by adjusting its tilt) to the normal of the surface it's wrapped around, using the logic described here. Unfortunately I haven't found a way to bake the tilt into the spiral for later use by the standard Curve deform modifier, so the deformation has to be handled by the same group, using the logic described here:

enter image description here

There may be a re-arrangement of the interface that suits you better. This is the result..

enter image description here

If it needs more refinement, for example a reasonable interface to vary the tilt with respect to the surface normal, along the spiral.. (?) .. call back.

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The best solution for me ended up being to convert my original curve's spline type to "Nurbs," re-calculate each vertex's tilt to make the mesh follow the curve in the way I wanted, increase the curve's "Smooth" to 30, and move the Curve modifier to after the Subdivision modifier on the mesh. The geometry nodes setup that was suggested here seems promising as well, and experimenting with it helped me understand how these variables work together.

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