Using the CURVE AND ARRAY Modifiers to Create Objects Along Paths in Blender!

In this video, learn how to use the curve and array modifiers in Blender to bend complex objects along paths!
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TIMESTAMPS
0:00 - Introduction
0:25 - Drawing a Curve/Path
1:27 - Using the array modifier to create copies of an object to fit a path
2:26 - Using a curve modifier to deform the object to a path
3:21 - Adjusting object rotations and scale
5:50 - Adjusting object offset along curve
7:22 - Using external assets to create chains, ropes, etc
10:49 - Blender Hook Modifier Tutorial

[@TheCGEssentials]

Hi everyone! Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below! :)

[@Nemopoly]

You actually don't answer shit in the comments, and just want people to subscribe to your patreon.

[@andrewdo5328]

i cant sitll do the curve

[@rohithqq]

Please do plant growing animation without geomentry nodes

[@dxv3d]

When I export the object, the object ends up like I didn't add any modifiers. What do I do? 🤔

[@hamdullahguclu9743]

I want a short object to move on the curve I drew. I will animate the object with the move tool. I will connect the curve to the joint, but when I change the direction of the joint, the object is deformed when I move the object.. How can I solve this problem?

[@ekimtiki]

Thank you. I've been trying to do tire treads that repeat along a circular curve and this tutorial helped alot! Cheers!

[@ralexnicholas]

OMG! This tutorial is fundamental to my understanding of curves! Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!

[@lostartifaxmaker]

Very useful as always, Justin. I was able to follow along in blender and it worked great for me. Thanks.

[@mikecarter8880]

Neat, the more I learn the more impressed I am at the software. Dabbled in 3D modeling going back to 3d Studio R3 for DOS. Never took learning it all serious and dabbled in different programs. Finally deciding to learn and loving it.

[@Jetizin]

Thank you so much, was totally stuck on a personal project this method will save me a ton of time.

[@JFAAntiques]

You can also manually modeling a second link in the chain by offsetting the rotation of the link in the array modifier.

[@Tertion]

by 90 deg I guess ?

[@socialofficial5247]

love your videos they are super helpful you explain things very well...thank you

[@clee7408]

Awesome! This seems like a neat tool combo, I’m wondering how it would work with a cylinder cross section to make a tunnel versus the more programmatic spline method. Thanks for the knowledge!

[@ronioclarenzo6137]

Another awesome tutorial, dude! Thanks a lot and keep up the good work!

[@jackkuehneman9300]

I dont understand how anyone can learn this without a tutorial they found on youtube. Thankyou sir

[@leelynch3614]

You always give the best explanations lol thank you!

[@adri.progression]

Wow! Thank you!

[@TopVR360Videos]

5:11 Thank you this helped me a lot👍👍

[@greatsol2444]

Great tutorial as always! Could you do a similar one, but for making tank/tractor treads? I seem to always have trouble getting them to stay aligned while they make their way around the curved path. Or is it the same (as what you just described)? It seems my problem is that I’ve made 2 different objects (1 for each tread, 1 for each link between). But if I do it the way you have here, won’t it deform the objects to make them fit the curve?

[@kieranproven4874]

This is so helpful. New subscriber.

[@lucianosq]

Saved my life today 😂 TY!!!! 👋👋👋👋👋👋

[@HaydanJinnette]

blender is so silly, but this genuinely helped me figure it out! thank. you.

[@SergioCosmai]

Great video as Always !! I have a question about another topic, Is It possibile to have an in-depth tutorial about fog in Blender ? I have problems when I have big scale environments. In general I have some problem to get what I need. Thanks you

[@ianmcglasham]

Nice video. Thanks.

[@TheCGEssentials]

Glad you liked it!

[@tcards4941]

May I ask about automatic mitre joins using the curve tool and array tool modifier for brick edging applications. I have seen it somewhere, but I can’t seem to be able to apply them correctly

[@differentuser123]

I'm trying to make a rollercoaster track using the array + curve modifiers, but there are parts of the track such as during flat sections where the rollercoaster loops have rotated the track in a way I don't like. How do I rotate just THAT part of the track? I've tried rotating one vertex of the curve but it doesn't fix it. Thanks!

[@aqu9487]

thank you

[@Turjak_art]

thank you very helpful

[@TheCGEssentials]

Glad it helped!

[@larrycung9131]

I'm trying to create a array that curves, but I want to prevent the object rotating as it curves. Is there a way to stop this?

[@proza1957]

Like all your tutorials just great. I do not understand why you insert a curve and delete then use the draw tool?

[@arjuna-5283]

hi, can you explain how to animate that rope with curve modifier and export it to fbx, please

[@KoIzumi24]

Hi. I'm trying to wrap a model I have to make it seem like it's made out of a pattern of knit thread. Can I use this techinque to make that work?

[@shyaengmoo]

Hello, thank you for the good lecture. I've tried it, and the Curve heart shape doesn't work at all, and it's still squishy. Why is that?

[@samuelflambard803]

Thank you for the tutorial ! I do not understand why everytime I use "fit curve" in the array modifier, only 2 repetitions spawn instead of the full length of the curve.

[@mariesielecki1685]

Two years after this tutorial, I will still comment for the sake of all that will come after us. It took me frickin chat gpt to figure it out. Scale the object that you want to multiply. It should appear more than twice!

[@adamszalai2673]

Hey there! Is there a way to create array+curve combination using a curve object with more then one curve loop? For example i have a cloth, and i have sewing edge loops. I want to use those edge loops to get the curve, but now i can create one curve object from multiple edge loops automatically. And if i "assign" a mesh object ot that multi loop curve object, the mesh object working only on one curve loop (don't how blender decides to choose one of the curve loops but it picks one and able the mesh object to work with only with that curve loop.

[@donfelicella3567]

After I apply the array and then apply the curve modifier it turns my mesh upside down under where it is not supposed to be.

[@SubhrajyotiAcharyyaDSB]

can this be used to curve a face along a chose curve path?

[@SaperOficial]

Hello, at minute 3:00 you move the object towards the curve, what command do you use? I have tried to move a plane that I want to adjust and I cannot, I thank you for your attention

[@damianthompson1591]

just cant get this to work, following exactly whats in the video but it just goes mental. The curve and object both have scale and rotations reset but still wont work.

[@qui-gonjinn2397]

Applying Rotation and Scale fixed my problem! It was only using about 10 percent of the curve. After I clicked apply it is now using the whole curve! Hope this helps s.o.

[@TheCGEssentials]

Awesome!

[@Emre-lg5wj]

You can rly do amazing things with this mod combinations. But keep in mind, the polycount will explode, lol.

[@santhoshsivan-xd6ki]

How can I loop it meaning how can I conect the chain start point and end point.

[@Hepworks]

Hi - thanks for this tutorial. I'm trying to make barb wire, and keep running into issues I think with the origins of my wire and barb elements...I suspect there's a concept I'm missing, like not applying rotation and scale, or not setting all of the origins to the same position (side question: can you copy the position data of one object to another?) --- ultimately I'd been hoping to parent the curve, barb and wire to an empty, and then animate the empty...but am also wondering if my parenting is messing things up.

[@Hepworks]

...part of what helped was setting the rotations of my wire to 0...

[@Hepworks]

...and with yet more fiddling, what your video I think helped reinforce, was how aligning the objects initially is so crucial

[@hamdullahguclu9743]

I want a short object to move on the curve I drew. I will animate the object with the move tool. I will connect the curve to the joint, but when I change the direction of the joint, the object is deformed when I move the object.. How can I solve this problem?

[@tomasyaconis7030]

great tutorial ma man! thanks!

[@TheCGEssentials]

Thanks for watching!

[@tartariansauce]

Hello there, Im trying to make a zippere using this tutorial but the "Fit Curve" option doesnt work to me like it works to you, it turns the cube in the same cube, like nothing happens at all. I even try to use the X Y Z factor options but the count of blocks its just around 3 or 4, its not the size the curve I'm doing that needs around 50 blocks for the zipper. I saw before other tutorials about zippers & they use kinda this method of yours but I dont get it, why isnt working to me at all, Im using Blender 3.0.0 HELP!

[@Eridani_II]

You most likely already fixed this, but for anyone with the same issue, the fix is usually just to apply all transformations.

[@TheZygoat771]

@@Eridani_II may the gods old and new bless u

[@J0kuc]

If I want to engrave a pattern in a curved object that I have modelled, how can I do this (without buying addons)? For example, I have an S-shaped model and I want the arrway to follow the curve on the surface of my model. I can't seem to use the curve modifier cause it's an object surface and not a curve, I don't know if there's a way to create a curve that follows the exact curve and surface of my object either, nor does the boolean modifier seem to work when I use an array as the target object.

[@teslaromans1023]

I know it’s a bit late but I recall seeing a tutorial that explained how to use paths in general, and in one example they made the path stick to any surface. But I don’t remember which tutorial that was

[@jonniebrasco68]

why does mine disappear ?

[@ivanb386]

I am so confused...every example you show, the object that's used for the array does NOT rotate 90 deg when the modifiers are set...every time I try it my object/array rotates and has to be fixed with the "mean tilt". How are you doing it????

[@krishnakarmakar5912]

first create a duplicate with shift D and then rotate 90 degree

[@grimeyjim3641]

Thanks

[@TheCGEssentials]

No problem!

[@KrissieFox]

I've tried multiple tutorials, I'm just trying to put a zipper on a vest, don't need it to be animated or anything. But every-time I tried to use this array and curve technique, the zipper array just ends up far away from the vest at a weird angle and never seems to even try to follow the curve I made. I've tried every deform axis, they just make it move to different weird locations I'm using Blender 3.4.1. If anyone has any suggestions as to what I might have overlooked, please share? Update: I did some more fiddling and it finally attached to the curve. I set it to the Z deform axis and realized it was in an upside reversed shape of the vest, so with some adjusting it finally took the right form.

[@TheCGEssentials]

Make sure you've applied rotation and scale to your object

[@J.l198]

it doesn't let me chose the curve object in the curve modifier, nothing appears help

[@ignacj]

How do you prevent instances from being deformed? If curve is anything but almost straight, the instances will deform as they follow the path. Thanks

[@alanclark1146]

did everything but apply rotation, then i did and jobs a good un...we are working thanks

[@peter486]

i dont get it you can do this with 3 clicks. 1 add array add curve what is this addon? i dont get it.

[@jwills8822]

GRRR, I can't get this to work simply trying to follow the basics steps, Blender 3.5.1. I just created a torus and a bezier curve (i had similar issue with hand drawn curve). I added the array mod and the curve mod on the torus and curve. The torus does run along the curve but it is deformed into a much larger ear shaped oval instead of retaining its original smaller round shape. I think there must be some key information missing, perhaps it needs one more setting in 3.5.1. Both objects have no rotation, no scale (scale is applied, but did not need to be)

[@zulesplkx478]

I have loved soft all my life but felt trapped and muted by the fact that I couldn't create my own. Over the last or so years I've tried

[@Ddifference]

There is no way my chain fits the curve, it never goes over the curve, only floats around

[@CorrosiveWeBecame]

Wont deform along path did everythuing you did not working

[@shuhaoshang]

Guys, if you use this curve, it's called rectangle. the object will not move always on the rectangle line, it either make the orbiting path bigger or smaller, very funny... so this method only work for curve path or circle things, shapes like square or triangle, it won't work, because it eventually is a curve, it has bezier handle, rectangle under curve objects are not real rectangles...

[@SwordToothTiger]

nice 1st part, this f@#$ shit, with addon, as usual.

[@tiagopesce]

now make it reaaaaal

[@trumpeldorf]

This does not work. Always some kind of ugly chaotic result, no matter what and how. The more I use Blender, the more I understand why it is free.

[@user-dy6sr2ym9p]

bro it does'nt work teeth are not moving along the curve at all .

[@SteveThinman]

It's a pita to place the object in the correct location. I never understood why there is no option in the curve modifier to just place the object on to the curve starting point. Instead, you have to try to find the position of the modified mesh to fit along the curve. Rubbish! Please don't misunderstand me, your video is great! It's just the way the curve modifier works is quite stupid...

[@TheCGEssentials]

Nope - fair comment. For just creating things along non-specific curves, the tool is great. Unfortunately when you try to be precise it's much more difficult to get the full result you're looking for. Precisely adding objects at the start of your curve can also be tricky, and I also don't like the way it handles sharp corners. Definitely a cool tool but I'd love to see it refined a bit

[@MrAkurvaeletbe]

extremely unprecise method... how about if i want to be absolutely sure all my objects in the array gets 0% deformation ?? just pulling it and aligning by hand is not good enough.

[@masoudmohammadi5359]

What's app gays 🤣🤣🤣🤣