Deforms any object, starting from a spine NURBS surface, according to a stretch NURBS surface.
This modeling tool is useful to force an object to be shaped like a reference NURBS surface. Similar to the Stretch modeling tool, it has surfaces as reference objects instead of curves.
How to use
1. Click the SurfDrape icon or choose the Tools > Transform > Deformation > SurfDrape command.
2. Pick the object to deform (it can be a surface, a curve or a polymesh).
3. Pick the spine surface. It must be a NURBS surface consisting of only one NURBS surface. If the object is made up of more than one surfaces only the first will be considered.
4. Pick the reference surface (stretch surface). It must be a NURBS surface object consisting of only one NURBS surface.
5. A stretched copy of the object is created. The original object is hidden but not deleted. In fact, you will find it in Hierarchy Browser hidden from both rendering and views.
In most cases, the spine surface should be a plane. The larger the plane in comparison with the stretch surface, the smaller the deformed object and vice-versa. This deformation is similar to a UV-mapping of a texture (the spine surface) on the stretch surface.
If the original surface has a ìnon-rectilinear shapeî, the spine surface should be non-planar so that the object to deform ìliesî on such surface. See picture below.
Options
Object
To
change the object to deform.
Views / Modeling Tool panel. Switch
the Replace check button on and pick another object in
the scene.
Spine Surface
To change the stretch surface.
Views / Modeling Tool panel. Switch the Replace check button on and pick another object in the scene.
Stretch Surface
To change the stretch surface.
Views / Modeling Tool panel. Switch the Replace check button on and pick another object in the scene.
Normal scaling factor
To change the ìthicknessî of the deformed object along the direction of the normal to the stretch surface.
Modeling Tool panel. Set the value either by moving the slider or by typing it in the data field and pressing Enter.
Options
To change the rotation angle of the object around the stretch curve.
Modeling Tool panel. Check the Hide source objects check box if you want to hide from view and from rendering the spine surface and the stretch surface. Check the Interactive Changes check box if you want that changes apply at every mouse move and not only when mouse button is released.
Note I: If the original object is a shell of stitched NURBS surface trimmed at boundaries, this deformation can introduce gaps. In this cases, to obtain the best result, is useful to transform the original object in a polymesh.
Note II: If the object ìcomes outî from the spine surface (see the '0' in the picture below), the deformed object will lie on a rectilinear extension of the stretch surface.