How can I squash/deform a cube AND keep it positioned on the ground plane?

Question

My goal is to:

Flatten out a cube
Keep the cube's base on the same position of z-axis (i.e. flat on the ground plane)
Ideally, the volume of the cube should remain constant

Think of it like a block of clay slowly flowing out to the sides:

(High quality 2d sketch:)

enter image description here

So here is my scene: I have a "cube" (black object) and a lattice (orange object) that encapsulates the cube:

Then I:

The way the cube is deformed is perfect, EXCEPT the base of the cube does NOT stay on the ground plane -- it gets pushed down below it.

So, my question is: how can I deform the cube like this, yet keep the base on the ground plane?

stacker · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-23 21:17:28Z

5

You don't need a lattice you can achieve this by only using Shape Keys:

enter image description here

answered Apr 23, 2014 at 21:17

stacker

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$\begingroup$ Ah, so simple. Thank you very much. Looks like this should work nice. $\endgroup$
– Zimzalabim
Commented Apr 23, 2014 at 21:55
1

$\begingroup$ Though I'm still curious of how to limit the deformation using a lattice. $\endgroup$
– user1853
Commented Apr 23, 2014 at 22:03
1

$\begingroup$ @cegaton: Yes. I played around with object constraints for both cube and lattice with location, floor etc. but it kept going below ground when transforming. As I'm at starting stages I accepted this as answer (as it works fine for my current task). Though, if anyone know how (or if it is possible) by lattice that would be interesting as well. $\endgroup$
– Zimzalabim
Commented Apr 24, 2014 at 0:25

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