How To Use

Note

If you’re having any trouble, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Set up Objects

Once installed, for Flowify to work in Blender you will need to create the following objects arranged as above:

1. The Source Object that you wish to deform.

   Note

   The deformation will only be as good as an object’s mesh topology (Faces and Edges). You may need to add extra faces, edges or edge loops for the object to bend well.

2. A flat rectangular Source Grid to use as a reference for the Target Surface. This should be in a relative position to where you want the Source Object mapped to the Target Surface.

   Note

   

   Flowify understands a source grid to consist of 4 sided faces with 4 distinct corners and to be entirely flat. Its face direction (or Normals) should also match the Target Surface.

   The Source Grid can be a simple single-faced rectangle and does not need to have the same number of faces as the Target Surface.

3. An irregularly shaped Target Surface consisting of evenly spaced 4 sided faces with 4 distinct corners.

   Note

   

   The vertices of the grid must be evenly spaced for Flowify to work well. Blender’s built in Loop Tools add-on’s Space operation should help with this.

   The target surface should also consist of 4 sided faces with 4 distinct corners. Its face direction (or Normals) should also match the Source Grid.

   Warning

   If modifiers such as the Array or Solidify modifier have been added to the Target Surface, the add-on may not work properly. Try applying modifiers like the Array/Solidify modifier first. Subdivision Surface modifiers should work, and if you have any issues do contact us.

Step by Step

The Flowify workflow in Blender

The workflow is as follows:

1. In object mode, select the Source Object(s) and right-click in the viewport. Select ‘Flowify’ from the menu that appears.

   

   Note

   You can select multiple source objects at once.

2. By default, the viewport will change to face orientation mode so you can make sure the face directions (or Normals) of the Source Grid and Target Surface are pointing in the same way (ie the same blue colour).

   You can resolve these issues by selecting the faces in edit mode, pressing Alt-N for the Normals menu, and selecting the Flip command. If you need to make the normals more consistent and pointing outside, also try the ‘Recalculate Outside’ option in the same menu.

   

   Note

   

   Good and bad face orientations. Both matching sides of the source and the target surface objects should be blue for the add-on to work correctly. Red faces denote faces with their directions (or Normals) pointing in the opposite direction.

3. Hover the mouse over the Source Grid to detect a corner on the grid. When a corner is detected, a circle will appear on the corner. Click the left mouse button to select this corner and continue.

   

4. Hover the mouse over the Target Surface and click the matching corner. A line should appear between the Source Grid and the Target Surface, indicating how the mapping will be applied.

   

   Note

   It is important that the corner of the Source Grid is aligned to the same representative corner on the Target Surface to match the correct orientation.

5. The Source Object should be mapped onto the Target Surface in a new object called Source Object + Flowify. The Source Grid is subdivided into faces that you can use as a reference for the position of the Source Object on the Target Surface.

   In this object, there is a Flowify Modifier which has additional settings:

   

Note

Check out the Tips and Troubleshooting section and don’t hesitate to contact us if you are having issues.