Using the Modify Panel

After adding objects to your scene from the Create panel, you move to the Modify panel to change an object’s original creation parameters and to apply modifiers. Modifiers are the basic tools for reshaping objects.

Note: You can float or dismiss the command panel using the Customize Display right-click menu. The default setting is to display the command panel docked at the right of your screen. If it is not displayed or you want to change its location and docking or floating status, right-click in a blank area on the tab panel, and choose from the shortcut menu.

To use the Modify panel:

Select an object in your scene.
Click the Modify tab to display the Modify panel.
The name of the object appears at the top of the Modify panel, and fields change to match this object.
A Parameters rollout is at the bottom of the panel. This is where you change creation parameters for an object. As you change them, the object updates in the viewport.

The Modify panel stays in view until you click another command panel tab. The panel updates to show the options and controls that are available for the currently selected object or modifier.

Applying Modifiers

With the Modify panel open for a selected object, do one of the following:

Choose a modifier from the Modifier List. This is a drop-down list at the top of the Modify panel.
Drag a modifier from the stack display to an object in a viewport.
Use SHIFT+drag from the stack display to move the modifier, removing it from the original object and applying it to the new one.
Use CTRL+drag from the stack display to copy the modifier, creating an instanced modifier applied to both the original object and the new one.
Choose a modifier from the Modifiers menu. Like the Modifier List, this menu is organized into sets.
Not all modifiers appear on the Modifiers menu.
Click the Configure Modifier Sets button (below the modifier stack display) and choose Show Buttons. A set of buttons with the names of modifiers appears between the modifier list and the stack display. Click Configure Modifier Sets again, choose the set of modifiers you want to use (for example, Free Form Deformations), and then click the button for the modifier you want to apply.
Click the modifier's button in the Modifiers tab panel.

The Parameters rollout now shows the settings for the modifier. As you change these settings, the object updates in the viewport.

Using Modifiers

Once you’ve applied modifiers to an object, you can use the Modifier Stack to find a particular modifier, change its parameters, edit its sequence in the modifier stack, copy its settings to another object, or delete it entirely.

See Modifier Types Defined for an overview of available modifiers, and see the documentation on specific modifiers for details and parameters. You can find a complete, alphabetical list of modifiers in List of Available Modifiers.

General Rules

You can generally do the following with the Modify panel:

Modify anything you can select. This includes any object or set of objects, or any part of an object down to the sub-object level. For example, you can use the Mesh Select modifier to select a single face, then apply a Taper modifier to it.
Apply an unlimited number of modifiers to an object or part of an object.
The order or sequence in which you make modifications is important. Each modification affects those that come after it. See Using the Modifier Stack.
Note: Some modifiers can be applied only to certain types of objects.

How Modifiers Differ from Transforms

Modifiers and transforms differ in how they affect an object and the order in which they are applied to an object.

Modifiers

Modifiers perform operations on the internal structure of an object in object space. For example, when you apply a modifier such as Twist to a mesh object, the position of each vertex of the object is changed in object space to produce the twist effect.

Modifiers operate at the sub-object level and are dependent on the internal structure of the object when the modifier is applied.

Modifiers have the following properties. They are:

Applied to all of an object, or part of an object (using sub-object selection).
Dependent on the order of application. Applying a Bend followed by a Twist produces a result different from applying a Twist followed by a Bend.
Displayed as individual entries in the modifier stack, where you can turn them on and off and apply them in a specific order.

Transforms

Transforms are the most basic of 3D manipulations. Unlike modifiers, transforms are independent of an object’s internal structure; they act in world space. An object can carry any number of modifiers, but only one set of transforms.

The local coordinate system of an object can be expressed as a matrix of values that specify the following information in world space:

Position of the object’s center in world space
Rotation of the object in world space
Scale of the object along its local axes

The matrix is called the transformation matrix and its information relates directly to the transforms Move, Rotate, and Scale. These transforms represent addition and multiplication of the values in the transformation matrix.

Transforms have the following properties. They are:

Applied to the entire object.
Stored as single values independent of the order of application. No matter how many times you transform an object, the results are stored as one set of values in the matrix.
Applied after all object-space modifiers have been evaluated, but before the world-space modifiers. See Using the Modifier Stack.

Most transforms produce equal displacement along one or more axes of an object, or part of an object. For Move, Rotate, and Uniform Scale transforms, the displacement is equal along all three axes. When you rotate a box, all sides remain parallel. In general, all vertices keep the same relative position to one another. The exceptions are Squash and Non-Uniform Scale, which displace axes by different amounts.

Tip: If you want to apply a transform to an object but want it to behave like a modifier, use the XForm modifier.