Original subtitles

in this tutorial we will learn how to

bend objects like these in blender

you might already know that we can bend

an object by using a simple deform

modifier but if you are new to blender

you might find it little difficult at

times to control this modifier and the

bend angle may not work correctly

so we'll take some suitable examples and

discuss how to use this modifier to bend

any object

let us start with a blank new file

we'll flatten this cube and then we'll

enlarge it in the x dimension so that we

can bend it

so let us change the z scale factor to

0.1

and then we'll increase the x scale

factor

maybe we can change this to 6.

now one important step

we need to ensure that the object has

enough number of subdivisions along the

direction in which we want to bend it so

go to the modifiers tab and add a

subdivision surface modifier

switch over to the simple option

and then increase the levels maybe to

four

or we can go for five for a very smooth

bending

now let us minimize this modifier and

then add one simple deform modifier

switch over to the bend option before we

discuss about anything else let us first

focus on this field called origin you

can use this modifier even without an

origin but it always helps if you use an

origin object in order to control the

direction of the bend correctly it's

very useful and we can use any kind of

object as an origin

so we'll add one empty object because it

remains hidden in the render output and

we can use any type of empty let us go

for a sphere

it is very important that this empty

must have the same location as that of

our target object

for example let's say our target object

has changed its location it has got some

displacement like this

so we need to bring the empty as well to

the same location or to the origin of

the target object

this object has a location

transformation 303

so the empty must have the same location

transformation

we are done with the location of the

empty

we'll now bend this object so select the

object and go to the modifiers tab

in the simple deform modifier in the

origin field we have to select the empty

object

here this angle determines how much we

want to bend and this axis determines

the direction of the bending

but as you can see even if we change

this bending axis we do not really get

the correct bending style that we wanted

to create

that is when we need to rotate the empty

object to get the correct result

we need to manipulate these rotation

angles suitably for the empty let us

first change this x rotation field to 90

degrees

and we can see that the object is now

correctly bent in the direction that we

really wanted you can change this

rotation angle in the positive or in the

negative direction to create an upward

or a downward bending

so the obvious question that we can ask

is how to know which angle to be changed

for the empty

actually there is a complex relation

among this rotation the local axis of

the target object and this bending

direction that we want to achieve but

instead of trying to get into all those

complexities i think the fastest way is

to use a trial and error method with

these rotation angles you just need to

change any one of them to 90 so change

the first one and check if it yields the

desired result otherwise change this to

90 degrees or you can also change this

one of them will surely work

and for each of them you need to test

with each bending axis in the modifier

section for the target object

it might sound a little hacky but even

blender officially thinks that these are

not very intuitive so the trial and

error method is actually not that bad

and you may not need to change these

angles always many times it will work

correctly without any manipulation

so we have already seen that we can

change this angle field to change the

bend amount

and if we change the bend axis here we

can get another style of bending in a

different direction

like before we can change this bend

angle here as well to bend the object

either upward or downward like this

now we will look into the next thing so

expand this section called restrictions

we have two fields called limits which

you can use in order to restrict the

bend on any one side of the object

so if you increase this lower limit you

can see that the bend effect is limited

to this side and this side remains just

flat

and instead of that if you change this

higher limit the bending will be

restricted to the other end of the

target object

you can also keyframe these limits to

animate them over time

and if you want you can also use both of

them together to create a bend profile

like this

you can change the curvature of this

band by changing this angle

let us change this to perfect 180

and here let us use point three for the

lower limit and point seven for the

higher limit

as a result we'll get this u-shaped bend

for our object

let us take one more example

we'll bend this flute which is a

cylindrical object

you'll notice that this object is not

aligned to any particular axis it is in

an inclined position since it has got

these rotation values let's see how to

bend this object in this position

just like before we'll first add one

empty

we need to move this empty to the center

or the origin point of this object so

select this object then go to the object

menu and under snap select cursor to

selected

we'll get the 3d cursor moved to this

origin point

now select the empty object and from the

object menu under snap select selection

to cursor as a result the empty will be

now located at the same origin point as

that of our target object

then select this object

go to the modifiers tab and add one

simple deform modifier

switch over to the bend tab

in the origin field we'll select the

empty

although the flute is now somewhat bent

you can see that there are abnormal

distortions at these ends so this does

not really give us the correct result

even if you change the bend axis the

distortion is still present and moreover

the bending itself is also not perfect

we have already added enough

subdivisions so that is also not an

issue

the problem is this object has got some

rotation transformations like this and

we need to copy the same to the empty

we have already copied the locations

here from the target object now these

rotations should also be copied from

this object

so take a note of these values

and then we have to change these fields

instead of manual edit you can also add

a copy location and a copy rotation

constraint to the empty to automate this

step

now let us select the flute and in the

modifier section if we select the y-axis

we'll see that the bend is now perfect

without any distortions

you can change this bend angle as you

wish

the object is now perfectly bent

and no distortions at all

so this way you can bend any object even

if it has location or rotation changes

and in the restrictions you can use the

limit values in order to give it any

kind of shape like this

so this is what we finally get

that's all for today

i hope you now find it easy to control

the bending operation in a simple deform

modifier

please let us know if you like this

tutorial thanks for watching and don't

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