Bulge a particle Array

[FlipFriddle]

Bulge a particle Array

I'm working on a molecular model here and I have a group of several particle arrays of molecule models. I would like to use the Bulge modifier to pinch in the center of the group along one axis like I've shown in my mockup attachment. The only thing I've been able to accomplish with this is to reduce of the particle arrays to polygons using Tools > Particle > Particle -> Polygon, but this turns everything into a single mesh. I can distort it, but all of the materials associated with the separate objects disappears since they aren't separate any longer. Is this even something I can do in Cheetah? Thanks for any help. I've included my native file too.

 

[frank beckmann]

At a first quick look this won´t work as you can´t render nested particle systems. "Merging" objects will maintain material assignments BTW.
I´d try the polygon-array route though.

Cheers
Frank

 

[FlipFriddle]

Well, I can get it to do what I want if turn the particle arrays into polygons, but doing so eliminates all of the separate elements and their materials of course. I was able to merge all the various bits until it was just one object with a Particle Array modifier, but any further changes after that point deleted all of the material settings.

 

[frank beckmann]

I´m not sure you like the result anyway:
Or do you expect this kind of compression?

Cheers
Frank

 

[misoversaturated]

Turning the whole array into an object and applying distortion then will distort the molecules too.

Instead of a particle array you could use a particle mesh (made of guide arrays) and then distort the mesh which affects only the particle position but not their shape or color.

 

[Helmut]

* As says Miss OS:
* You can apply a modifier to the base mesh of a particle mesh.
* Depending on the kind of distortion required you then need to animate this modifier (twist / bend / taper / whatever).

 

[FlipFriddle]

Helmut, thanks for that example. The Mesh does what I want, but I think my model is too complicated to distort correctly. There's some weirdness in how the bars that connect the atoms (balls) have to contract in all axes that is giving me too much trouble. It's going to take me less time to render the distorted version (like Frank's example) and then redraw it in Illustrator using the distorted version as a guide. Thanks for the info though, as it helped me elsewhere.