Deform Objects for Scientific Illustration

This tutorial is an extended one based on a previous 3D modeling using Blender. Here, the deformation of objects and make animation is introduced.

Rolling a Graphene Sheet into a Nanotube

Here an animation is made for rolling a graphene. The key points are summarized as follows:

  1. make a plane and add loop cuts
  2. use Tissue addon for the basic structure of graphene (rectangle)
  3. use array modifier if necessary
  4. use wireframe modifier
  5. add spiral curves (Add Mesh/Curve addon) for the path
  6. adjust spiral path if necessary and apply scale/rotation
  7. add curve modifier and use the spiral as reference
  8. add key frames of graphene sheet, *i.e.*, starting and ending frame
  9. adjust the materials/lighting
  10. render animation and save results

Here is a rendered animation of rolling a graphene sheet:

Illustration for Mechanical Deformation

Mechanical deformation is very common in scientific figures, especially in the field of mechanics of materials. Here the bending, twisting, and stretching of objects are demonstrated using the simple deform modifier in Blender with the help of an empty axis. Bended objects:

twist objects (180 and 360 degrees):

and stretch example (stretch 0.4):

Caveats

One has to assure to apply rotation of the object. Otherwise, the local axis won’t be the same as the world one, and would thus cause problems in the modifiers.

Deformation is operated on the vertices. Make sure enough subdivision is applied.

Handy Shortcuts

  • N: for the properties
  • z: for different view styles
  • move object (G) with Ctrl: snap object to grid
  • ctrl + P: link two objects (e.g., path and the object)
  • scale + z + 0: align mesh on a plane
  • shift + c: 3D cursor to the center

References

  1. CGFigure, YouTube.