> I don't know if what I say can be done, or if mentioning MAX is not good.
Hi JTB, it is fine to mention MAX, especially as a way to clarify a feature that you are asking for.
Unfortunately it is a lot more difficult to provide this type of modifier inside of MoI than it is in Max, due to the different types of geometry that are being used.
Max is oriented towards generating objects that are going to be rendered only, instead of manufactured. When it applies a twist or bend modifier, it creates a polygon mesh approximation of your object and then it is that mesh approximation that is twisted and bent. The end result twisted object is a polygon mesh instead of an accurate truly smooth object.
MoI is more focused on generating accurate NURBS geometry with its modeling tools, instead of generating polygon mesh geometry. But this focus makes some things like twist and bend a lot more difficult. To do this in MoI would involve generating an actual accurate twisted object instead of only a mesh approximation result. This is possible but it is pretty difficult to do, I don't think it will be available in MoI anytime soon. It is possible to do this in Rhino V4, so if you need to do this, you could look into getting Rhino V4 and bringing your MoI models into there for twisting or bending. Or just use Max for the twisting or bending if getting a polygon mesh result is ok for your purposes.
Meshes are just a lot easier to deform in this type of a way than a NURBS solid. For a mesh, you just move the points around and that deforms the mesh since the mesh goes directly through the points. For a NURBS surface, the control points of the NURBS surface are not just points on the actual surface geometry like a polygon mesh, they kind of float a little ways away from it. For simple transforms like move, scale, and rotate, it works to transform the control points of the NURBS surface to perform the transformation to the surface as well. But for other fancy things like bend and twist, this is not the case.
- Michael
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