“Blender Mesh Tension” is a Blender addon for creating “tension maps” for deforming objects. This makes it possible to define the behavior of the object or its material when it stretches or compresses during deformation.
Compared to other Tension Maps tools built with Geometry Nodes, this addon/python solution is relatively slow.
I tested this addon in Blender 5.1 and it worked without a problem.
QuickStart Guide
After installing the addon, you have to go to the top menu Render > Lock Interface. For whatever reason, the addon requires this Blender setting to be enabled.
Then select the object that you want to create tension maps for, go to Properties > Data tab and enable Tension Maps.
This will automatically create two Vertex Groups (”tension_stretch” and “tension_compress”), and one Color Attribute (”tension_map”) for your object. Do not rename or delete these groups.
The Vertex Groups can be used directly in Modifiers such as the Displace modifier to control either the stretching or the compression of the object.
The Color Attribute can be used in Shaders. Create a Color Attribute node and choose the “tension_map”. Plug that node into a Separate Color node.
With this setup, the Red channel allows you to affect areas of compression and the Green, areas of stretching.
The Tension map Settings are fairly intuitive. The best way to get a feel for them is to plug the Color Attribute (”tension_map”) directly into the color of the material, deform your object with an armature or a modifier such as Simple Deform, and then play with the settings.
Enable “Always Update” and switch your viewport to Material Preview to see the changes you make in the viewport.
If “Always Update” is disabled, the tension maps will only be calculated when the animation is playing. Since this addon can be computationally heavy, it’s a good idea to disable this setting once you’re happy with the remaining settings.
An interesting advanced tip: You can add “SKIPTENSION” to any modifier name which you want to be excluded from tension calculations. Find out more advanced tips and get answers to your questions in the Discussion linked below.
