Visual Reality: Tutorials: Hexagon

Using the Bend Tool

The Bend tool enables you to bend and curve a selected object. It's similar to the Bender tool, which allows you to click and drag to bend the object along the X, Y, and Z axes. However, with the Bend tool you can deform objects along much more complex shapes, since the bend path is defined by a separate line object. The target object will be bent along every twist and curve of that line, from a simple arc to a twisting helix or up and down like a roller coaster.

The key is to use enough facets to bend the object smoothly without overloading your model with more polygons than you need. You can use the tessellation and edge tools to create additional facets as needed, whether that's across the entire model or just in one specific section.

The steps below cover the basics of using the Bend tool. Be sure to complete the Bend tool exercise, also, which illustrates how different levels of tessellation affect how well the Bend tool works on an object.

1. In the Selection Mode palette, click the Select Object button .

2. Click the object that you want bend. The object is selected.

Note: For Hexagon to bend the object, it must have a sufficient number of facets; higher polygon objects will bend more smoothly than those with lower polygon counts. Objects with very few polygons, such as a simple cube, might not bend at all. If you don't get the results that you want, undo the Bend tool, tessellate the object to add more facets, and then apply Bend.

3. On the Utilities tab, click the Bend button .

4. Click the curve, or line object, to use as basis for bending the model. Hexagon bends the target object, and then closes the Bend tool.
   
   Note: The Bend tool is automatically applied and closed when you click the basis curve. No separate validation step is necessary.

Exercise: Bending a Cylinder with the Bend Tool

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