Trying to use Curve modifier to put a string of lights on a tree

Question

It's the staple of so many tutorials this time of year. I'm following some and mostly know what I'm doing. But mostly is the operative word.

I cannot, for the life of me, figure out the Curve modifier. Sometimes it works perfectly. Other times (like now) it is an irritating failure. I have tried everything to get my array-of-lights-on-a-cord to follow the spiral curve found in the tree. I don't know what I'm doing wrong and would love some pointers.

Source Blend File

Thanks.

Hi. Don't make your questions depend on downloading a file. Explain the issue you are encountering thoroughly, post some screenshots of your scene and settings. Questions are meant to be useful for future users, not just yourself — Duarte Farrajota Ramos, Dec 19 '20 at 20:14

moonboots · Answer 1 · 2020-12-19T20:30:49.373

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You need to:

Put your object's origin at the same position as the curve's origin: Select the curve, press ShiftS > Cursor to Selected, select the object, press ShiftS > Selection to Cursor.
Give it enough Count in the Array modifier (or choose Fit Curve and select the curve)
Choose the right Deform axis in the Curve modifier (here Z as it is the object local direction that is supposed to follow the curve)

edited Dec 19 '20 at 20:30

answered Dec 19 '20 at 18:22

moonboots

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Hello 'boots :). A little OT, but I just noticed you hit 50k, so congrats on that man :). – jachym michal Dec 19 '20 at 18:56
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oh yes wow, well I spend a lot of time here ;) – moonboots Dec 19 '20 at 19:00
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great pictures in your instagram by the way!! – moonboots Dec 19 '20 at 19:02
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Thanks, well I spend a lot of time there... :D – jachym michal Dec 19 '20 at 19:05
You are awesome, Moonboots! I often forget the little details which turn out to be So Huge when doing 3d anything. Thank you so much! – DocBadwrench Dec 19 '20 at 19:08
Follow-up: I thought I got it, but I cannot replicate this. The blend file is syncing so it can show you where I am. I have no idea how you have aligned those two; even when I match up the origins, I get a weird offset. – DocBadwrench Dec 19 '20 at 20:05
maybe share your file again – moonboots Dec 19 '20 at 20:10
It's the same link; just updated. – DocBadwrench Dec 19 '20 at 20:13
You need to have both the 2 origins at the same position, I'm going to edit my answer to go in details – moonboots Dec 19 '20 at 20:29
That's what I thought I did. Ugh. Thanks very much for your patience. Imma have a lie down. – DocBadwrench Dec 19 '20 at 22:09

Trying to use Curve modifier to put a string of lights on a tree

1 Answers1