Original subtitles

In this tutorial, I'll show you how to

use the simple deform modifier and the

simple deform modifier is a really

useful 3D modeling tool. And if you'd

like to download the project files which

comes with all of these example models,

then I'll have a free download on my

Gumroad store and Patreon page. The link

to that is in the description. And if

you are downloading on Gumroad, you can

throw a few dollars into the price box

before purchasing if you'd like to send

me a little tip or you can just punch in

zero into the price box and download for

free. You can also join my Patreon page

to support the channel monthly and get

access to lots of Blender content. So if

you just select an object in Blender,

you can go over here to the modifier

properties, then you can click on add

modifier, and you can search for simple

and add the simple deform modifier. Now

the simple deform modifier has four main

settings. So there is this twist,

there's also an angle, there's also a

taper, and there's also a stretch. So

you can clearly see what the modifier

does by these examples here with these

monkey heads. So you can twist, bend,

taper, or stretch different objects. And

there's also a factor value on all of

these settings to make it more and less

strong. Now as well as these four

options, there's also three options here

for the X, Y, and Z axis. So for

example, on this twist here, I'm just

going to twist this monkey head, but you

can see there's the X axis which is the

red line back and forth. There is the Y

axis, the Y axis is this green line, and

then the Z axis which is up and down. So

you can clearly see I'm twisting the

monkey head on the X, the Y, or the Z

axis. So you can twist it to whichever

works best for your object. Now on

default, the objects bend from their

origin point. If I hit tab to go into

edit mode, I can move this over and you

can see as I'm moving it, you can see

now the object is continuing to bend at

a different position. And so in this

example, it's kind of rotating around

kind of like a screw. Now if you want to

see the topology with the modifier in

effect when you're in edit mode, you can

click on this little button here, the on

cage button, and so now you can actually

like select the vertices and move them

around and the modifier is going to

affect the vertices in edit mode. So you

can see if I move this away from the

origin, now you can see it's bending

from that origin point. So here's

another example with the bend type. So

if I go into edit mode and just kind of

move it over here, let's click on this

button to turn on on cage. You can see

as I move the mesh further and further

away from the origin point in edit mode,

it's kind of going to be a larger bend.

And then as I turn this up, you can see

it's going to bend around the origin

point cuz the origin point's right there

in the center. But if I bring it back,

it's going to be smaller. So the origin

point really has a lot to do with how

the object is going to look when it's

bent. Now another thing you should be

aware of is that you do need a good

amount of topology when you're deforming

an object. So for example, let's just

add this cube here and I'll go into edit

mode and scale the cube up. Now let's

click on add modifier and we're going to

add the simple deform modifier. And

let's have it set to twist and I want to

twist it on the Z axis so it goes around

in a circle. So I'm going to change this

to the Z axis. So now you can see I can

turn this angle up, but you can see it's

kind of breaking the object because the

object doesn't have very much topology.

Well if I hit tab to go to edit mode, I

can hit control R to add a loop cut and

then I can scroll my mouse so there's

lots of loop cuts. I'm just going to

continue to scroll my mouse and then I'm

going to left click and then right click

so the loops stays where they are. Well

now when I go back to object mode, you

can see here is the object now. The

object has lots of geometry. So if I

just show the modifier again, you can

see now it's twisting it but has lots

more geometry so it's much more even. It

all looks a lot more smooth. So I can

kind of continue to twist this and now

we have a really cool interesting shape.

So just keep that in mind if you're

twisting a low poly object, it might be

kind of deformed or stretched and it may

just not look that good. So you might

want to subdivide your object or give it

more geometry. So you might be wondering

how this modifier can be useful for

modeling different 3D things. So for

example, I could model something that's

kind of like a macaroni noodle shape. So

if I go to the add menu, let's go here

to mesh and I'm going to add a cylinder.

In edit mode, I'm going to scale the

cylinder up on the Z axis and then as I

talked about earlier, I want to make it

be high topology. So I'm going to hit

control R and I'm going to scroll my

mouse wheel and then left click and

right click so the loops stay where they

are. And then I go to face select and

I'll select the top face and the bottom

face and I'll hit X and delete the

faces. We'll go back to object mode.

Then I want to give it some thickness so

I can go here to the modifiers, click on

add modifier, and add like a solidify

modifier and I can drag the thickness

out so it has like some thickness. Then

I can use the object context menu and

shade it smooth and then I can also go

to the add menu and search for like a

subdivision surface modifier. And then

maybe in edit mode, I'll just scale it

up a bit. Well now what I can do after

both of these modifiers is I can click

on add modifier and I can add simple

deform and then I can scroll down here.

So you can see the simple deform is

after the solidify and subdivision. So

then I could like change the angle, but

this angle is wrong. So instead of

twisting it, we actually want to bend

it. So instead of the twist type, we're

going to click here to change it to the

bend type. And then I can change the

axis so I can choose the X, Y, or Z

axis. In this case, I don't want to use

the Z axis. I want to use either the X

or the Y. So I'll just go with Y. And

then I can just kind of angle this like

that. I could make it like halfway so

it's kind of like a C shape and just

kind of make kind of like a macaroni

noodle. You could also use this if you

were modeling parts for like a marble

run. If you want to create like a marble

run and have marbles that go through

this object, I do actually have a

tutorial on how to create a marble run.

So if you want to check out that video,

the link will be in the description. So

that's just one use case for this

modifier. Now you can also use it to

model a pipe. So if I just duplicate

this object, let's just drag this one

out of the way. I could make a pipe

where it's kind of straight, then it

bends, and then it's straight again.

Well how would I do that? Well if you

look right down here, there's actually

restrictions. So if I open this up,

there's going to be two restrictions.

There is the first one and then there is

the second one. So the first one here is

going to restrict it on this part right

here. So you can see if I restrict it,

if I drag this up here, you can see it's

kind of twisting around, but you can

just ignore that. Just look at the

actual curve here on the inside. So you

can see if I turn up this limit, now I

can see it's straight right here and

then it kind of curves over. Then I can

also turn down the bottom limit so I can

just turn this down like that and I can

kind of see we're getting this shape

here. So it's kind of straight, then it

curves, and then it's straight. So then

here on the angle, instead of making it

like -120,

I can just make it 90. So this way it's

only going to rotate by 90°. So now it

just kind of looks like a pipe joint and

I could also go into edit mode and scale

it up on the Z axis to make it longer.

So now we just have like a really small

pipe joint. I could also use this to

model a candy cane shape. So if I just

go to the add menu, add a cylinder, I'm

going to drag the cylinder over. I'll

hit tab to go to edit mode. I'll scale

the cylinder up on the Z axis and then

I'll hit control R and I'll scroll my

mouse wheel so there's lots of cuts so

it's very subdivided and left click and

right click. So I'll go back to object

mode and then I can just shade the

object smooth. So now I'm going to click

on add modifier. I'm going to add the

simple deform and again we want to

change it to bend. I'm going to bend it

on the Y axis. We'll just rotate this

around, but then we can restrict it. So

if we open up the restrictions, I can

just drag this down. Actually I want to

drag this up and drag the top one down

like that and kind of twist it around.

And I think I need to hit tab to go to

edit mode, select everything, and scale

everything up so it's a bit longer. And

now I can just kind of restrict it and I

just want to do the restriction on this

side. So let's just go like that and

then I can like change the angle and

curve it in and then I can just rotate

this back. And so there we go, we have a

simple candy cane. And I actually used

this method in my tutorial that I

created quite a few years ago on how to

model a candy cane. So if you want to

check out that video, the link is in the

description. Now what I can also do is

create like a cool twisted metal shape.

And I kind of showed this earlier, but I

can add a cube. Let's drag the cube

over. I'm going to go into edit mode and

scale it up on the Z axis. Then I'll hit

control R to add a loop cut and I'll

scroll out the mouse wheel, left click

and right click so it stays where it is.

So now I'm going to go to add modifier.

I'm going to add the simple deform and

for this example, we don't want to use

the bend type cuz that's going to rotate

the entire thing. We instead want to

twist it. So I'll change it to twist and

then we don't want the X and Y axis. We

want to twist it on the Z axis. So then

what I can do is just rotate this like

that. But then let's say that I want to

restrict it. Well I can just open up the

restrictions and I can just change the

restrictions and then maybe in edit

mode, I'll scale the whole thing up a

little bit. And then I can also use like

the shade auto smooth. And so now we

have a really cool kind of like twisted

metal. And one thing that I was thinking

this could be used for is for like like

a metal railing outside, like a fancy

metal railing. I also did this very

basic modeling for like some licorice

candy. And you can see if I use that

same method, we can kind of rotate those

edges kind of around to make it look

like a piece of licorice. Now there's

also two more options. There's the taper

and the stretch. And I don't find these

as useful for as many things, but they

may be useful. You may find them useful

sometimes. So for example, I could add a

cube. I'm going to go into edit mode, go

to the face select, and I'm just going

to like extrude this, scale it up, and

just kind of make like a basic shape.

I'm just kind of making a random shape,

something like that. So now let's click

on add modifier. We can add the simple

deform and let's change it to the taper.

So for the taper, it's going to make

like one side smaller and the other side

larger. So for this example, I think the

Z axis makes the most sense. So now I

can drag this factor and let's just flip

it. So in its very simplest form, if I

just have a subdivided cube here, you

can see if I turn the type to taper, I

can either have it taper in on the top

or I can flip it and have it taper in on

the bottom. And of course, you can have

it taper on the X, Y, and Z axis. Now

the last type is stretch. And so with

stretch, you can see it's going to kind

of squish it in just one area. And so

right now you can see it's squishing it

by the origin point. And then the rest

of it is getting stretched out. So it's

kind of squishing and stretching it. And

you can of course invert it by turning

the factor into the negative values. And

then just like the other objects, there

is the X, the Y, and the Z. But in this

case, it makes most sense to use the Z

axis cuz that's where I have the most

geometry. Now earlier, I was talking

about how the object's origin plays a

key role in how it's going to look. But

you can actually choose a different

object to be the center object. So for

example, I'm going to hit shift S and

move my mouse down to cursor to selected

and that way the 3D cursor is in the

very center there. Now if I go to the

add menu, I can go here to empty and I

can add a plane axis. And I'll just

scale the plane axis up a little bit so

I can see it. Now if I click back on the

object, you can see there is an origin

here and that's going to be on all of

these settings here. So the twist, bend,

taper, or stretch. So I can click on the

eye dropper and then I can just choose

the empty. So now where the empty is,

that's going to determine kind of where

the center is. So I can like move it

over here, move it over here, kind of

move it wherever I want. So the object

could be in a separate location than the

center point. So where this could be

useful is for example if I wanted to

create like a coil shape. So what I'm

going to do is go to the add menu. I'm

just going to add a cube and for this

cube here, I'm going to scale it down to

kind of squish it and then I'm going to

scale it way up on the Z axis. Then I'm

going to hit control R and I'll scroll

my mouse wheel way out like this so it

has a lots of geometry. So now what I

want to do is add the simple deform

modifier just like we've done before and

for this example, I'm going to leave it

set to twist and for the object here on

the origin, I'm going to click on the

eye dropper and I'm going to choose this

empty. So now I can kind of drag this

empty around and that's

the center. So what I'm going to do is

change the axis to the Z axis and now I

can kind of just drag this out here,

kind of drag this over. And then if I

select the object again, let's just turn

up the angle and we can make it kind of

twist around. And what I could actually

do is I could type in 360 here on the

angle so it rotates all the way around.

And then I can kind of bring this up and

down just like that. You can see it kind

of looks like a drill shape or a screw

kind of rotating around. So then what I

could do after I do that is I could

click and add modifier and I could

search for the array modifier and right

here on the array modifier, let's turn

the count up but I don't want it to be

arrayed in this direction on the X axis.

So I'm going to turn the offset to zero.

I instead want to array it on the Z axis

so I'll turn that to one. And now you

can see if I move this around, that's

going to change like the size of it so I

can move it kind of closer. And so now

it's like really small so it kind of

looks like a ribbon or kind of like a

coil. And I can make it really big or

really small depending on the location

of the empty. Another cool example that

I want to show you with this method is

that you can use it to bend text. So

I'll go to the add menu and I'm just

going to add some basic text here. Let's

add text. I'll zoom into the text. I'll

go into edit mode. I'll select

everything and I'm going to call this

rotate the text. Rotate the text. Then

just to make this look a bit more

interesting, if I go here to the object

data properties, let's just go down here

to geometry and I can turn up the

extrude and then what we can do is go to

the bevel and just turn up the depth a

little bit. So now I'll go to the add

menu and I'm going to go to empty and

just add the plane axis and move it

right here. And I'll hit seven on the

numpad to go to top view. So now we'll

select the text. We'll go to the

modifiers. We'll add modifier and we're

going to add the simple deform. So in

this example, I want to change it to

bend and so for this example, I want to

change it to the Z axis cuz the Z axis

is up like this. And then let's also

change the angle. So I'll just rotate

the angle. But then if I want it to

rotate around a specific area instead of

it rotating around the origin point, I

could click on the eye dropper and just

choose the empty. And now I can just

kind of move the empty like that, bring

it down. Maybe I'll select the text and

kind of scale it up a little bit on the

Y axis like that. And now we have some

cool rotating text. Now there's one more

cool example that I want to show you and

that is to model a DNA strand. So if I

go to the add menu, I can add a cube.

I'll go into edit mode. I'll scale the

cube up, scale the cube down, bring it

over, and maybe scale it up again on the

Z axis just like that. Then I'll hit

control R to add a loop cut and I'll

scroll my mouse wheel until there's lots

of loops there and left click and right

click. I can just go to the face select

and I'll just like select a few of these

faces. This is just some very quick

modeling. You could of course model a

more precise one and then I'll extrude

it into the center and let's just delete

those faces. Now what I want to do is

add a mirror modifier. So add mirror so

it mirrors it over to the other side.

I'll select everything and I'll bring it

in like that. And then what I can do is

turn on the clipping button and drag it

out so it merges with the mirror. And

then what I also want to do is select

the top face and the bottom face and

delete that, delete those faces cuz

we're going to be adding an array

modifier. And then let's click on add

modifier and I'm going to add the

subdivision surface modifier so it

smooths it out. I'll just turn the

levels to two and then I'll just shade

the object smooth. So right now it just

kind of looks like a kind of simple

ladder shape. But let's now click and

add modifier. I can add the simple

deform modifier and for this we want to

leave it at twist and then we want to

change the axis to the Z axis and then

we can rotate this around just like

that. And now it's starting to look like

kind of that like DNA strand in those

like, you know, medical visualization

videos or whatever where you can see

like the DNA strands. And then to make

it longer, I could click on add modifier

and I could add like an array modifier.

Let's scroll down here on the array and

I can array it on the Z axis by one and

then on the X offset, I'll turn that to

zero. Now you can see it's offset from

the array. So what we want to do is make

this 360 degrees so type in 360 so it's

rotating all the way around. And there

we go, we now have like a simple DNA

strand. So that's how you can use the

simple deform modifier. So it's a very

useful modeling tool to know. And if

you'd like to download the free project

files, you can get those on my Gumroad

store and Patreon page with the links in

the description and download this

example Blender file. And some more

tutorials that I can recommend is my

Blender quick tips playlist to learn

more tips in Blender. You can also check

out my modifiers for beginners tutorial

if you'd like to learn more about

Blender's different modifiers. And you

can also check out my 3D modeling for

beginners tutorial to learn more basic

fundamentals on 3D modeling. So I hope

you found this helpful and thank you for

watching.