Is it possible to omit a vertex group from conforming to a shape key?

Question

Is it possible to omit a vertex group from conforming to a shape key? I want to activate a shape key slider to change a mesh and have a selected vertex group stay in its basis position while the other verts around it conform to the shape key.

Answer 1

I would do the following to create the inverse of the vertex group I want to omit. First I select the Group to Omit:

then I invert the selection of vertices:

I create this new Group To Include to include the inverse select:

I created the Basis and "Key 1" Shape Key, and here I select all vertices and effectively rotate the whole object:

But if I assign to restrict the Key1 to the Group to Include vertices, I get the desired effect:

Note that if you change the vertices you want to omit, then you should also clear the Group to Include, and again workflow the invest set of vertices to that group again.

Blend file link.