Like ShapeDeform, SimpleDeform uses particles to create procedural particle based deformations or 'skinning' operations on meshes. The basic idea is to control vertices of a mesh via particles that are nearby. This operator is meant to be a simpler and easier way to deform meshes. Specifically, this operator is great when used together with  the MPM Flow solver and elastic material properties.

ON - (Bool) This input data stream determines whether the operator is considered 'on' or 'off'. You can connect other operators to this input channel such as a Bool Helper to activate/deactivate the whole operator.

Time - (Time) This input data stream is used to define the local time for the operator when the user wants to override the default system time.

DeformParticle - (Particle) connect any particle to this input which should be affected by SimpleDeform.

DeformPGroup - (Group) connect a particle Group to this input which should be affected by SimpleDeform.

UI Control Parameters - those input data streams are the equivalent of the UI controls, keep in mind that there is no visual indication that an operator is connected to any of those inputs! It might be needless to adjust a value if it gets overwritten by a connected operator.

VertexBornParticle - outputs the vertex particles, those particles are placed at each vertex of the deforming object.

SurfaceBornParticle - outputs the surface particles placed at each face at the center of the deforming object

VolumeBornParticle - outputs the particles created inside of the deforming object

ABreakBornParticle - if particles tear or break off the original mesh, the data will be present at this output.

DeformParticle - outputs the original particle that is to be deformed

Deform- from this drop down list you may choose any particle group to act as the deforming object for any of the SimpleDeform operations.

Include Subgroups - check this option to include Sub Groups   Vertex Particles - check this option to enable mesh deformation and create a particle at every vertex position in the mesh. If this is unchecked no deformation will be done and Surface or Volume particle settings can be used to create particles similar to the VolumePosition operator.

PGroup - from this drop down list you may choose any particle group to act as the deformation driver for any of the SimpleDeform operations.

Include Subgroups - check this option to include Sub Groups

Mass - sets the mass of the newly created vertex particles

Size - defines the size of the newly created vertex particles.

Surface Particle - check this option to create particles on the objects surface in addition to other existing particles.

PGroup - from this drop down list you may choose any particle group to create the surface particles in.

Mode - there are two methods to distribute surface particles.

Random - this option distributes particles randomly across the objects surface.

Raster - choose this option to evenly distribute particles across the surface of the deforming object.

Number - sets the amount of particles to be distributed across the surface of the deforming object. This is only valid when Random distribution is selected

Raster - sets the minimum distance between particles, created on the surface of the deforming object. The amount of particles is defined by the minimum distance between particles on the surface.

Thickness - sets the thickness (volume) of the raster particles. Depending on the sign of the thickness value, thickness can be inwards or outwards of the surface.

Mass - sets the mass of the newly created vertex particles

Size - defines the size of the newly created vertex particles.

Volume Particle - check this option to fill the inside of the deforming object.

PGroup - from this drop down list you may choose any particle group to create the volume particles in.

Raster - choose this option to evenly distribute particles across the surface of the deforming object.

Spread - adds a random variation to the raster position. A value of 1 would create a maximum randomness of the volume particles.

Margin - lets you add a negative or positive margin towards the hull of the object. A naegative value will move the margin inwards while a positive will move it outwards.

Mass - sets the mass of the newly created vertex particles

Size - defines the size of the newly created vertex particles.

Auto Break - check this option to split off or break off affected surface triangles from the mesh.

Threshold - sets the minimum distance at which a surface should break off.

Detach - when a particle group is selected, the broken off faces are not deleted. Faces marked as broken off, will become a new born particle stored in the selected group.

Random Seed - sets the random seed for this node, only.  

In general a value of -1 will turn off any Data XChannel usage.

Mapping 1 - sets the mapping Channel to use for a UV transfer to the newly created particles.

Data Channel - defines the particle DataChannel to use to store the UV data for the particles created by SimpleDeform.

Mapping 2 - sets the mapping Channel to use for a UV transfer to the newly created particles.

Data Channel - defines the particle DataChannel to use to store the UV data for the particles created by SimpleDeform.

Mapping 3 - sets the mapping Channel to use for a UV transfer to the newly created particles.

Data Channel - defines the particle DataChannel to use to store the UV data for the particles created by SimpleDeform.

Type - sets the method to use to interpret 3D coordinates.

Object - uses the object space coordinates

Object Realtive - uses the longest edge of the object to normalize the UV space.

Bounding Box Normalize - uses the object's Bounding Box in all axis and normalizes each axis between 0 and1.

World - uses the world coordinates.

Data Channel - defines the particle DataChannel to use to store the UV data for the particles created by SimpleDeform.