Animate a plane that transforms to a mesh?

Question

How could I animate a plane that transforms to a sphere using Blender ? I know you can transform a cube to a sphere using shape keys, but is this possible for a plane ?

Answer 1

I just found out this technique from a tutorial that uses another software. But it applies on Blender:

1. create a plane and subdivise it so it has enough vertexes (eg. 10 times)
2. add an empty at the same place, and set the rotation to X:90°
3. add a SimpleDeform modifier on the plane
   1. Switch mode to Bend
   2. Set Axis, Origin to your empty
   3. Set Deform Angle to 360° so it becomes a tube
4. duplicate your empty and sets its rotation to X:90° / Z:90°
5. add a second SimpleDeform modifier on the plane
   1. Switch mode to Bend
   2. Set Axis, Origin to your second empty
   3. Set Deform Angle to 360° so it becomes a sphere !

Et voilà ! You can now animate both deform angle from the SimpleDeform Modifiers to animate it.