Blender's Lattice Modifier

I have recently been using the lattice tool more and more. It is excellent for gently deforming an object.

A lattice is a primitive type in Blender. To add a lattice, go to Add - Lattice. Note that the default size is a 1 m cube, so half the size of the default cube.

A lattice is a 3-dimensional array of points, and by default is just two in each direction. If you go to the properties pane, you will find it has its own tab, and you can vary the number of points in each dimension, from 1 upwards. In practice, there is not much point is more than five or so. Rather than x, y and z, it uses u, v and w, I guess because it can be rotated.

On its own a lattice is not much use. You need to combine it with an object. To do that, add a modifier to the object Deform - Lattice, and then link to the lattice. You also need the lattice to be is the same location as the object, and completely enclosing it,

So far the object will not be changed; select the lattice, and go into edit mode. Now move one of the vertices in the lattice, and the object will be deformed to match. That is, vertices in the object will be moved to track the vertex in the lattice, depending on how close they are.

This footbridge section gives a good example. I wanted a gentle curve, but could not get the Curve modify to work as the verticals need to stay vertical. So I put a lattice over it (or rather half of it, and then mirrored it). With the lattice in place, I then adjusted the vertices up-and-down to give the curve.


You can have it just affect a set of vertices in an object. For a sagging flat roof, I have it modify the top vertices, but not the bottom. Note that you need to give it enough vertices to work with. The lattice only needs a handful, but the object may need a lot to appear smooth (I have set it to show object with wireframe so you can see the effect).


This example is a seat on the forklift truck, and shows the two objects before and after the lattice modifier is used. It has to appear used, so sags in a more complex manner.




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