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>Blender Documentation Volume I - User Guide: Last modified April 29 2004 S68</TH
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>Special modelling techniques</TD
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CLASS="section"
><H1
CLASS="section"
><A
NAME="special_modelling_lattices"
></A
>Modelling with lattices</H1
><P
> A Lattice consists of a non-renderable three-dimensional grid of vertices.
Their main use is to give extra deformation to any child object
they might have. These child objects can be Meshes, Surfaces and
even Particles.
</P
><P
>Why would you use a Lattice to deform a mesh instead of
deforming the mesh itself in Edit Mode ?</P
><P
>There are a couple of reasons for that:</P
><P
></P
><OL
TYPE="1"
><LI
><P
>First of all: It's easier. Since your mesh could
have a zillion vertices, scaling, grabbing and moving them could
be a hard task. Instead, if you use a nice simple lattice your job
is simplified to move a couple of vertices.</P
></LI
><LI
><P
>It's nicer. The deformation you get looks a lot
better!</P
></LI
><LI
><P
>It's fast! You can put all or several of your
child objects in a hidden layer and deform them all at
once. </P
></LI
><LI
><P
>It's a good practice. A lattice can be used to get
different versions of a mesh with minimal extra work and
consumption of resources. This leads to an optimal scene design,
minimizing the amount of modelling job. A Lattice does not affect
the texture coordinates of a Mesh Surface. Subtle changes to mesh
objects are easily facilitated in this way, and do not change the
mesh itself.</P
></LI
></OL
><DIV
CLASS="section"
><H2
CLASS="section"
><A
NAME="AEN9596"
></A
>How does it work ?</H2
><P
> A Lattice always begins as a 2 x 2 x 2 grid of vertices (which
looks like a simple cube). You can scale it up and down in Object
Mode and change its resolution through the <TT
CLASS="literal"
>Lattice</TT
>
Panel in the Editing Context Buttons <TT
CLASS="literal"
>U,V,W</TT
>.</P
><P
>After this initial step you can deform the Lattice in
Edit Mode. If there is a Child Object, the deformation is continually
displayed and modified. Changing the <TT
CLASS="literal"
>U,V,W</TT
> values of a Lattice
returns it to a uniform starting position.</P
><P
>Now we are going to see a very simple case in which having a
lattice will simplify and speed up our modelling job.</P
><P
>I have modelled a very simple fork using a plane subdivided
couple of times. It looks really ugly but it's all I need. Of course
it is completely flat from a Side View. Wow, it is
<I
CLASS="emphasis"
>really</I
> ugly (<A
HREF="x9582.html#BSG.SPE.F.MAL.044"
>Figure 41</A
>). The
only important detail is that it has been subdivided enough to
ensure a nice deformation in the Lattice step. You cannot bend a two
vertices segment!</P
><DIV
CLASS="figure"
><A
NAME="BSG.SPE.F.MAL.044"
></A
><DIV
CLASS="mediaobject"
><P
><IMG
SRC="PartAT/special_modelling/gfx/uglyfork.png"></P
></DIV
><P
><B
>Figure 41. An ugly fork.</B
></P
></DIV
><P
>In Top View, now add a Lattice. Before changing its
resolution, scale it up so it completely envelopes the fork's width
(<A
HREF="x9582.html#BSG.SPE.F.MAL.045"
>Figure 42</A
>). This is
very important. Since I want to keep the lattice vertices count low
(it doesn't make sense it has the same number of vertices than the
mesh, right ?) I need to keep resolution low but still set the
lattice to convenient size.</P
><DIV
CLASS="figure"
><A
NAME="BSG.SPE.F.MAL.045"
></A
><DIV
CLASS="mediaobject"
><P
><IMG
SRC="PartAT/special_modelling/gfx/lattice2x2x2.png"></P
></DIV
><P
><B
>Figure 42. A 2x2x2 Lattice.</B
></P
></DIV
><P
>Adjust the Lattice resolution to complete the fork's length
(<A
HREF="x9582.html#BSG.SPE.F.MAL.046"
>Figure 43</A
>).</P
><DIV
CLASS="figure"
><A
NAME="BSG.SPE.F.MAL.046"
></A
><DIV
CLASS="mediaobject"
><P
><IMG
SRC="PartAT/special_modelling/gfx/lattice2x7x2.png"></P
></DIV
><P
><B
>Figure 43. Use a suitable resolution, but don't exaggerate.</B
></P
></DIV
><P
>Now, we are ready for the fun part. Parent the fork to the
lattice, by selecting the fork and the lattice and pressing
<B
CLASS="keycap"
>CTRL-P</B
>. Enter Edit Mode for the lattice and
start selecting and scaling vertices
(<A
HREF="x9582.html#BSG.SPE.F.MAL.047"
>Figure 44</A
>). You might want to scale in X
or Y axis separately to have more control over the lattice depth (to
avoid making the fork thicker or thinner).</P
><DIV
CLASS="figure"
><A
NAME="BSG.SPE.F.MAL.047"
></A
><DIV
CLASS="mediaobject"
><P
><IMG
SRC="PartAT/special_modelling/gfx/lattice-07.png"></P
></DIV
><P
><B
>Figure 44. Deforming the lattice is a pleasure!</B
></P
></DIV
><P
>Note that if you move the fork up ad down inside the lattice,
the deformation will apply in different parts of the mesh.</P
><P
>Once you're done in Front View, switch to Side View. Select
and move different vertices sections to give the fork the suitable
bends (<A
HREF="x9582.html#BSG.SPE.F.MAL.048"
>Figure 45</A
>).</P
><DIV
CLASS="figure"
><A
NAME="BSG.SPE.F.MAL.048"
></A
><DIV
CLASS="mediaobject"
><P
><IMG
SRC="PartAT/special_modelling/gfx/lattice-08.png"></P
></DIV
><P
><B
>Figure 45. Bending things.</B
></P
></DIV
><P
>You can get rid of the
lattice now if you're not adding any other child object. But before
doing it, you might want to keep your deformations! Just select
the fork and press <B
CLASS="keycap"
>CTRL-SHIFT-A</B
> and click on the
<TT
CLASS="literal"
>Apply Lattice Deform?</TT
> menu entry.</P
><DIV
CLASS="tip"
><P
></P
><TABLE
CLASS="tip"
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><TH
ALIGN="LEFT"
VALIGN="CENTER"
><B
>Mad vertices</B
></TH
></TR
><TR
><TD
> </TD
><TD
ALIGN="LEFT"
VALIGN="TOP"
><P
> On rare occasions, for fairly complex meshes, application of
<B
CLASS="keycap"
>CTRL-SHIFT-A</B
> will <I
CLASS="emphasis"
>look like</I
>
it have screwed your mesh completely. This is false. Just step in
and out of Edit Mode (<B
CLASS="keycap"
>TAB</B
>) and the mesh will be back nicely
deformed as you expected.
</P
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="figure"
><A
NAME="BSG.SPE.F.MAL.049"
></A
><DIV
CLASS="mediaobject"
><P
><IMG
SRC="PartAT/special_modelling/gfx/lattice-09.png"></P
></DIV
><P
><B
>Figure 46. A nice fork.</B
></P
></DIV
><P
>You can use a lattice to model an object following another
object's shape. For instance take a look at the following scene. I
have modelled a bottle, and now I would like to confine a character
inside it. He deserves it (<A
HREF="x9582.html#BSG.SPE.F.MAL.050"
>Figure 47</A
>).</P
><DIV
CLASS="figure"
><A
NAME="BSG.SPE.F.MAL.050"
></A
><DIV
CLASS="mediaobject"
><P
><IMG
SRC="PartAT/special_modelling/gfx/lattice-moncho-start.png"></P
></DIV
><P
><B
>Figure 47. Poor guy...</B
></P
></DIV
><P
>Add a lattice around the character. I didn't use a too
high resolution for the lattice. I scaled it in X and Y to fit the
lattice to the character (<A
HREF="x9582.html#BSG.SPE.F.MAL.051"
>Figure 48</A
>).</P
><DIV
CLASS="figure"
><A
NAME="BSG.SPE.F.MAL.051"
></A
><DIV
CLASS="mediaobject"
><P
><IMG
SRC="PartAT/special_modelling/gfx/lattice-moncho.png"></P
></DIV
><P
><B
>Figure 48. Bending things.</B
></P
></DIV
><P
>Parent the character to the lattice, and then scale the
lattice again to fit the dimensions of the bottle
(<A
HREF="x9582.html#BSG.SPE.F.MAL.052"
>Figure 49</A
>).</P
><DIV
CLASS="figure"
><A
NAME="BSG.SPE.F.MAL.052"
></A
><DIV
CLASS="mediaobject"
><P
><IMG
SRC="PartAT/special_modelling/gfx/moncho-05.png"></P
></DIV
><P
><B
>Figure 49. Scale the lattice to fit the bottle.</B
></P
></DIV
><P
>Now enter Edit Mode for the lattice. Press the
<TT
CLASS="literal"
>Outside</TT
>
button in the <TT
CLASS="literal"
>Lattice</TT
>Panel in the
Editing Context to switch off the inner vertices of the
lattice. We will switch them on later. Move and scale the vertices
in front and side views until the character perfectly fits the
bottle's shape (<A
HREF="x9582.html#BSG.SPE.F.MAL.053"
>Figure 50</A
>).</P
><DIV
CLASS="figure"
><A
NAME="BSG.SPE.F.MAL.053"
></A
><DIV
CLASS="mediaobject"
><P
><IMG
SRC="PartAT/special_modelling/gfx/moncho-editing.png"></P
></DIV
><P
><B
>Figure 50. Edit Lattice so that the poor guy is comfortable in his
bottle.</B
></P
></DIV
><P
>You can select the lattice and do the modelling in one 3D
window using Local View and see the results in another window using
Global View to make your modelling comfortable
(<A
HREF="x9582.html#BSG.SPE.F.MAL.054"
>Figure 51</A
>).</P
><DIV
CLASS="figure"
><A
NAME="BSG.SPE.F.MAL.054"
></A
><DIV
CLASS="mediaobject"
><P
><IMG
SRC="PartAT/special_modelling/gfx/moncho-deformado.png"></P
></DIV
><P
><B
>Figure 51. Claustrophobic ?.</B
></P
></DIV
><P
>Hadn't we used a lattice it would have taken a lot more of
vertex picking-and-moving work to deform the character
(<A
HREF="x9582.html#BSG.SPE.F.MAL.055"
>Figure 52</A
>).</P
><P
>Since lattices also supports RVK for vertex animation, quite
interesting effects can be achieved with this tool.</P
><DIV
CLASS="figure"
><A
NAME="BSG.SPE.F.MAL.055"
></A
><DIV
CLASS="mediaobject"
><P
><IMG
SRC="PartAT/special_modelling/gfx/moncho-render.png"></P
></DIV
><P
><B
>Figure 52. Final Render. Believe me, he deserved it !</B
></P
></DIV
><P
>Lattices can be used in many applications which require a
"liquid-like" deformation of a mesh. Think of a genie coming out of
his lamp, or a cartoon character with its eyes popping out
exaggeratedly. And have fun!</P
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