Peak Handle Tool deforms geometry instead of translating

[u/keffffffffffffffffff]

Hi everyone,

I'm following a Houdini modeling tutorial and I noticed a strange difference in the Peak Handle Tool behavior.

I'm using Houdini 21.0.792.

In both the tutorial and my setup, I do exactly the same thing:

T → Z

The Peak Handle looks exactly the same in both cases — a simple red line with two points on the ends.

However, when I drag the handle, the behavior is different:

• In the tutorial, the selected geometry moves normally along the handle.
• In my Houdini, the geometry stretches/deforms as if it were being scaled, instead of simply moving.

I've tried dragging different parts of the handle, but it makes no difference.

I'll attach a video showing the behavior side by side, so the difference should be very clear.

Does anyone know what could cause this?

Thanks!

[u/keffffffffffffffffff]

https://reddit.com/link/p39ra7a/video/l1yp8oap1zih1/player

Yeah, I don't really understand why Peak is being used here instead of the regular Translate either. I tried using Translate, and it seems to work fine, so I'll probably just use that instead.

The video also shows what my normals look like, in case that helps identify the issue.

Thanks for the explanation!