The Simple Deform modifier is really strange.  I'm not sure why Twist, Bend, and Stretch are all in the same modifier, but they are, so I'm trying to master this tool. I noticed that the Bend, for example, only works as expected if your object is laying on the X axis.

 I have a long, segmented cube (see attachment), which I wish to bend first, then twist (or vice-versa), but using two simple deform modifiers doesn't do what I want.  In this image, I have managed to bend the object 360 degrees on the X axis. But now I wanna apply a twist along the object, and the results are horrible.  It would be so much easier, it seems, if we could simply select an axis to do the deformations on. I don't understand why this isn't as "simple" as that.

If it's not clear what I'm trying to do here, have a look at Luxeon's recent 3dsmax tutorial. 

https://youtu.be/qVKS5r-xW74

As you can see there, the twist and bend modifiers can be stacked, and an axis can be specified for each.  I read the documentation for Blender, but I'm still confused.  It seems you need another object in the scene to use as a rotational axis?  I found some other tutorials about how to make a mobius strip in Blender, but why can't this all be done simply with the modifiers?  Seems odd how the simple deform works, unless I'm missing something.

A lot of Blender's functions seem to be dependent on the presence of "Empty's". Maybe this is one of them :)

Laurie

I hate to keep comparing Blender with the way things work in other apps, but when it comes to these modifiers, it seems to make so much more sense to have Twist and Bend as their own seperate modifiers, with the ability to define an axis for each.  As it is now, it seems Bend works as expected only along the X axis, unless you use another object or reference in the scene as a origin offset.  Then the Twist option has to be done another way, because stacking the Simple Deform modifier gives very unpredictable results.  Seriously, this modifier should be much more intuitive, because these are deformations which are considered very common.  I should be able to just add a Twist deformation, then a Bend, along whichever axis I want.  I don't get the complexity here.

I hope I'm missing something really "simple".

A lot of Blender's functions seem to be dependent on the presence of "Empty's". Maybe this is one of them :)

Laurie

Yeah, that's what I gather too.  Seems you need another object or empty in the scene to define the axis or origin of the deformation.  That's somewhat counterintuitive, when it should be quite simple to just include an "axis option" in the modifier itself, as most other software have, for this type of thing.  Wonder why it requires a null definition from the scene?  Definitely makes "simple" deformations a lot more complex.

Maxx, if I were to do that same tutorial in Blender, I wouldn't use the Simple Deform modifier to perform the twisting operation.  Instead, it's easier, and faster, to do it with proportional editing and the rotation tool.  For example; select the top edge loop on the object, enable proportional editing with linear falloff, rotate the edge loop 180 degrees along the X axis, and adjust the falloff size to the connected edges.  This should rotate the object exactly as the twist modifier in 3dsmax.  Then the bending can be performed with the Simple Deform / Bend, along the X axis, as you were doing.

Here's an example of using proportional editing technique to twist the cube, and then bend modifier, to create a mobius object.  I used "remove doubles" to weld the ends together.  I'll do a tutorial for this if you need it.  The only difference here is that you won't have the same procedural access to the twisting process, as you would in the 3dsmax modifier stack.  However, once you have your twist, you really don't need continued access to it, unless you decide you want to change the number of twists later on.

Alternatively, you will notice that the Twist option in the Simple Deform works along the Z axis by default.  So, knowing this, you can apply a 180 degree twist using the Simple Deform to the object first along the Z axis, then apply that modifier.  Once this is complete, you can rotate your object to lay along the X axis, then apply the Simple Deform modifier again, using the Bend option, and bend it 360 degrees along the X axis, and apply that modifier.  This will work to provide the same result, but does require several several additional steps.

Hello maxxxmodelz

I came across this sometime ago that might be helpful when using modifiers it gives a brief intro to each of the modifiers and how they are used it is a little dated but still holds true to all the modifiers perhaps it will give you more of a guide on how they work with in Blender http://www.blenderdiplom.com/en/tutorials/406-ressource-blender-modifiers-explained.html 

Hope it helps some 

Thanks Lobo - that's going to be really useful as I try and get my brain around Blender again after far too long! :)

Your Welcome FrankT we have many useful links and tips and tricks in our sticky threads at the top of the forums and don't hesitate to ask we have some really knowledgeable members who are always willing to help out

Well, the proportional editing is awesome!  I really like that feature.  I used it to create the twist in my object very easily.  But I'm still having FITS with the simple deform modifier.  I'm reading about it, watching tuts on it, and still it doesn't wanna behave for me.  Isn't there an easier way to bend something in Blender?  Something simple, like using proportional editing to twist it?

Yeah, If you have time, I'd like to see how you do this one in Blender, luxxeon.  This really should be very easy, but for some reason, I'm having issue after issue.  I really don't like that simple deform modifier at all.

I did a little tut on this Max hope it helps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8rdUu5vgNM

I did a little tut on this Max hope it helps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8rdUu5vgNM

Excellent tutorial, Cybermonk.  You beat me to it.  I'm uploading one now as well, which illustrates the entire process of creating the mobius shape, including the twist. Great work on illustrating how to easily use the bend deformer.  Well done.

Thanks Lux that means a lot coming from you. :)

Thanks Lux that means a lot coming from you. :)

I have a lot of respect for your knowledge of Blender.  I've seen many of your posts, both here and in the 3d modeling forum.  It's clear you have a very good understanding of the application's modeling tools. Here's my tutorial for this object, using Blender 2.73:

https://youtu.be/s6Jqb4dIV9g

I'm using the Pie Menu and Dynamic Spacebar addons, obviously.  I've got some customized hotkeys engaged, but everything else is standard Blender fare.  Hopefully it's easy to follow.  Let me know if anything is unclear, or in need of deeper explanation.  I kind of rushed through it.

Cybermonk, I've linked back to your tutorial in the comments of my tutorial. Hope that's ok with you.

https://youtu.be/s6Jqb4dIV9g

I feel your video goes into more detail about utilizing the bend deformation by itself, starting from the default object orientation, which is very useful information for those who aren't necessarily looking to achieve a mobius strip.

Great tutorial Lux. I liked the way you tuned the area of proportional editing after you made your twist. Lets you judge how much you need. Beats trying to guess ahead of time. The only thing you may have mentioned was t o bring your origin back to center object but that's minor. It could help the newbies though. you can shift+cntrl+alt+c to either bring geometry to origin or bring origin to geometry. Course I just you the dynamic space bar cause pushing all them buttons at once is like trying to do the Vulcan mind meld. It's under Transform menu. The transform and snap menus are a great way to center and line up objects... very handy.  :)

Yeah I was mostly trying to show how to use the empty with the simple deform. And it should work with the others besides bend.

Great stuff going on here lately.  Just sayin.  Thanks for showing how to use that empty, Cybermonk. And real smooth workflow, Luxxeon.  I keep forgetting about the proportional modelling stuff.

WOW!  That's awesome, guys.  Thank you both!  Big props for making videos!  That's way more than I could have asked for, and I really appreciate the efforts.  Cybermonk answered what would have been my very next question... how to bring the object and cursor back to the center of the grid.

The way I did it was to do Shift-C to bring cursor back to the middle of the grid, then in the Tools tab, I select the Set Origin rollout, and pick Origin to 3D cursor, then Geometry to origin.  I'll have to enable the dynamic spacebar addon like you guys have it.

Very cool!

I'm soaking up the info in this thread for sure.  I always just assumed the simple deform modifier was broken, and never used it.  I remember reading somewhere once that the simple deform was one of those modifiers that was created when Blender was first made, and that the way it works was never updated since then, and so the modifier itself was outdated and irrelevant now.  I can see from what's going on here that this was the wrong assumption!

Yup I've done it that way many times Max. If your object is already centered you can use the snap menu SELECT TO Cursor to move it also.

lol ctrl+alt+shift+c is about the only time I leggo me rat rofl, but once your used to it you wish every proggy had it

think the big problem (applies to particles and dupliverts too) the initial  orientation of the object affects the mods

ps do you all use pie menus ?????????  I'd get fat looking at that many pies rofl 

lol ctrl+alt+shift+c is about the only time I leggo me rat rofl, but once your used to it you wish every proggy had it

think the big problem (applies to particles and dupliverts too) the initial  orientation of the object affects the mods

ps do you all use pie menus ?????????  I'd get fat looking at that many pies rofl 

Oh definitely.  I started using the pie menu addon as soon as it became available in the stable release.  I love them, because they remind me heavily of the pie menus in Maya, which are super fast, and make workflow much easier.  3dsmax has what they call "quad menus".  These are actually the very first concept of pie menus ever used in a 3D application UI, but they are outdated now, and not nearly as efficient as the current pie menu system we have today.  Blender's version of pie menus could be improved upon too... it's not quite as intuitive as Maya's, and not as customizable to my knowledge, but they are awesome.  Much easier to get around in the software using pie menus than it is recalling potentially dozens of hotkeys just to switch modes.

 lol for some unknown reason most of blenders shortcuts have stuck ;-) mind you I'm glad they did

I turned on the pie thing and the spacebar addon only because luxxeon was using them in that bottlecap tutorial he made for me.  I think they're cool, and I was able to find some features because of them that I didn't know the hotkey for, and probably wouldn't have known existed.  So I use them now too.

I used to install every addon in the preferences.  But now I just use a few of them, because I think installing too many cause problems with the software.

you can turn on an addon just for one modelling session !! just open user preffs click the addons box (DONT SAVE SETTINGS) you have the addon there and then but its gone next time you start blender

time for a new sticky ?? fav addons lol