Conform Modifier

• Modify panel > Make a selection > Modifier List > Object-Space Modifiers > Conform
• Default menu: Make a selection > Modifiers menu > Parametric Deformers > Conform

The Conform modifier lets you move a spline or mesh onto the surface of one or more other meshes.

The Conform modifier performs actions parametrically, letting you change the relationship between the conform object and the target surface after the initial conform operation has been performed. This lets you manipulate the look and feel of your model without any explicit modeling, like bending or shaping. As a result, you save time because basic modeling steps, like roughing out geometry and performing manual refinements, are eliminated.

You can also animate your deformations created with the Conform modifier. For example, a conform object can be animated as it moves across a target surface.

Two projection methods, Volume and Shrink Wrap, control how the spline or mesh (the conform object) is moved onto the surface of the other mesh(es) (target object(s)):

• Volume: Tries to preserve the overall shape of the conform object after it's projected onto the target mesh.
  • Example: Attaching a flange to a pipe.

    The Volume method enables the base of the flange to conform to the pipe, without deforming the top portion of the flange.

• Shrink Wrap: Shrinks the entire conform surface around the target, like wrapping a piece of cellophane (the conform object) around another object (the target object). As a result, the volume of the conform object is not preserved. Between the two different methods, Shrink Wrap is the most commonly used.
  • Example: Attaching text to a target object, like a logo to the back of a car or a label on a bottle.

Rollouts

For more information about Conform modifier parameters, see Conform Modifier Rollout and Conform Modifier Advanced Rollout.

Procedures

The following workflow examples illustrate how to use the Conform modifier. They highlight the two projection methods and use parameters from different Conform modifier rollouts:

• Conform objects to a surface using the Conform modifier (Volume projection method)
• Create a handle with bands using the Conform modifier (Shrink Wrap projection method)
• Create a sphere traveling through a tube using the Conform modifier (Shrink Wrap projection method)

Notes

• The target object and conform object, whether spline or meshes, must contain enough vertices or faces to deform.
• Conform objects can be linked or attached to target objects using a surface constraint.