How can I BEND a model

[Leo]

The thistle head is my design
The leaves are from a Design and Make thistle model
I want to bend the leaves along the main center vein in the leaf to be similar to the pendant below

[TReischl]

Leo, try the distort tool in the modeling tools tab

Edit (actually the transform section)

[ohiolyons]

Could fading be an option?

Not entirely certain the exact look you are going for, but what about put some other type of shape under each leaf to distort them?

[Leo]

I tried the DISTORT tool. Can't get what I want.

I didn't try FADE but that's not it either.

I think I will try to cut it into sections and rebake it, then do some sculpting on it.

[Leo]

The RED line is the main vein of the leaf.

I want to BEND the entire model so the whole leaf has the vein like the blue or black without distorting the leaf shape too much.

[Leo]

Well, that was easier than I thought it would be.

I cut the model into pieces
Repositioned
Baked
Sculpted

I am wondering if there was a better way?

[ohiolyons]

Instead of cutting, could you have just distorted each end separately?

You said the models were fro D&M, were they free with Aspire or did you buy them?

I’m think I’m going to try to the ends of a model to see if I can straighten it.

[Phil]

Have you tried creating a suitable underlying shape?

Phil

[ohiolyons]

Have you tried creating a suitable underlying shape?

Phil

many times on other projects when I was trying to add texture or movement to a flat shape.

In your case I must of misread your OP and didn't realize you wanted straighten the stem. So it probably wouldn't work on your project.

On my maybe you didn't have to cut it comment. I tested and you did have to cut it.
See photos, I tried to distort one end and it applied it to the entire model.

[Leo]

Yeah, Distort was about the first thing I tried.

I need to experiment with the different settings in distort.

I bought the model, just for the leaves

[ohiolyons]

Just tried distort with bounding box over a smaller portion of clipart and it forced the bounding box over the whole piece of clipart.

[Leo]

Oh yeah, I totally get that.

Even with the bounding box there is ample ability to change the model shape to some degree. The change I was trying to get was not within my ability. It was too much change I was looking for. That said, there is some intreguing abilities in that tool. I like it a lot.

[dealguy11]

If you add nodes to the bounding box it's possible to move them around to get something close to the shape you're looking for. If you make the lines into beziers it seems to come out smoother.

[ohiolyons]

I'm having trouble duplicating this.

How did you make a bounding box the wasn't a rectangle?

[dealguy11]

Click the object and then click on the "Distort Selected Objects" button. Make sure "Bounding Box" is chosen in the top section, and click on "Apply". In the "Edit Envelope" box at the bottom, there is an option to "Edit Envelope". Click on that option. Now the nodes are shown, and can be edited exactly like you were in node editing mode. You can drag them, change the line segments into arcs and beziers, add and delete nodes, etc.