Hi Rudy, please check out the attached file which has things ready to go now. I've modified your file in 2 particular ways - first I simplified the structure of your profile curve used to create the ring to make it be made of just one line across instead of 2 lines across, so now when generating the ring it is all one single surface there. And the other thing is I've added a plane underneath the pattern object so that you have a base surface to use for doing Flow.
Now in order to do the Flow, start out initially by selecting the object that you want to deform, so your screen should look like this - note _only_ the object to be deformed is selected, and not the base plane surface underneath it:
Now that you have the object you want to be modified selected, you can now run the Transform > Deform > Flow command. It will prompt you to select a base curve or surface. The base surface here is that plane object that is underneath your object. Note that the place you click on to select the plane is significant - you must click on a matching spot on the target surface and that will control how your pattern is placed.
You need to pick near one side of the surface and not quite in the exact corner but instead a little ways to one side of the corner, so for example here is a good spot to click on the base surface:
Clicking in that spot will anchor the shape to that particular side of that long edge. So now you want to click on one side of the long edge of the ring in order to match the directions up. The similar spot on the ring is most easily reached by looking from the bottom of it upwards, click in this spot right here:
Then the Flow will be calculated and your object will be deformed onto the ring:
You probably want to make the base plane to have a length of about the same size as the circumference of your ring circle to reduce stretching distortion.
It may also be easier in some aspects to do a "curve to curve" flow rather than a "surface to surface" flow. For a "curve to curve" flow you would have a line and a circle curve as the base and target object rather than surfaces.
But anyway if you want to use surface to surface flow the main problem you had previously was it looked like you were just completely missing the base plane that should be underneath the object giving it the sort of source reference frame. The way Flow works is it maps an object that is sitting on one base surface to have the same relation on a bendy target surface. So you need to have both a base plane as well as a target plane set up for it.
- Michael
