I have been trying to curve this object. It is supposed to be a rubber keypad and I want to show that it's bendy. I have tried simple deform, surface deform and even cloth modifiers. No matter what I do, the bottom stays straight/flat and the top bows. I want the bottom to bow proportionally. I have merged and checked face orientations. Any ideas? I haven't found any other issues exactly like mine.
After modeling your keypad, add a simple mesh object that completely contains your rubber keypad object.
It can be a cube, scaled to ensure it is just slightly bigger to envelope the keypad mesh. Make sure you apply the scale after adjusting size, before proceeding.
Add a Subdivison Surface to your box mesh with a low value, like just 2 or 3 subdivisions.
In the Physics tab, add a Cloth physics type to your box. Turn on Pressure, and set a low value like 0.01 or 0.05. This will prevent the keypad from collapsing on itself. The actual absolute Pressure value may vary according to the actual size in Blender units you made your keypad.
Play your animation to see if the result is satisfactory.
On the rubber keypad mesh, add a Mesh Deform modifier, set it to the previously created Box object, and press the Bind button.
If you play the animation now the keypad should deform following the shape of the cloth box. Adjust the cloth parameters to your liking.
