Array mesh plane modifier with rotation

Question

I have been using the Array modifier on a plane with a playing card texture to make a deck of cards, with and Empty as the object offset so I can make a fan out of them. However, it isn't behaving like I expect. After I set the Empty as the offset, I have to Ctrl + A and hit Scale to fix the scale, but then I basically have four small decks that rotate when I only want the cards to rotate as one deck something like this:

[removed]

Any help would be much appreciated!

Answer 1

I'm not sure where your problem comes from but if you want to do that with the Array modifier, here is the way:

• Create your card, at the centre of the scene to make it simpler.
• In Edit mode shift the mesh from its origin (on the Y axis in my case).
• Back in Object mode, create an empty at the same point as the card origin.
• Give your card an Array modifier. Choose Object Offset with the empty as object. Choose the Count value you want.
• Rotate the empty on the Z axis. In my case, as I've chosen a count of 36, I have to rotate 10° so that it make a complete circle.
• As you don't want the cards to be on the same Z level, rise the empty a bit on the Z axis (use shift while you move to make it more precise).

Answer 2

This tutorial Shows you fast and simple

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9EN4SpwWqo&feature=youtu.be