After adding objects to your scene from the Create panel, you often move to the Modify panel to change an object’s original creation parameters and to apply modifiers. Modifiers are the basic tools for reshaping and adjusting primitive geometry.
The Modify panel stays in view until you click another command panel tab. The panel updates to show the options and controls that are available for the currently selected object or modifier.
Once you’ve applied modifiers to an object, you can use the Modifier Stack to find a particular modifier, change its parameters, edit its sequence in the modifier stack, copy its settings to another object, or delete it entirely.
You can find alphabetical lists of modifiers in Object-Space Modifiers and World-Space Modifiers (WSMs).
You can generally do the following with the Modify panel:
The order or sequence in which you make modifications is important. Each modification affects those that come after it. See Using the Modifier Stack.
In addition to its own set of parameters, a modifier typically has one or more sub-object levels that you access through the modifier stack. The most common of these are a gizmo and a center.
Displays in viewports as a wireframe that initially surrounds the selected object. A gizmo acts like a mechanical apparatus that transfers its modification to the object it’s attached to. To alter the effect of the modifier on the object, you can move, scale, and rotate the gizmo as you would any object.
The center is the modifier's pivot point. You can move a modifier’s center, which alters the effect of the modifier on the object.
Parametric Deformations and Other Modifier Types
One set of object-space modifiers is known as parametric deformations (“Parametric Deformers” on the Modifiers menu). Twist and Bend are examples of parametric deformers, which alter the selection passed to them without explicitly depending on topology.
Many other types of modifiers, however, perform operations on the explicit topology of sub-object selections. The Edit modifiers and Select modifiers are examples. When a topology-dependent modifier is present on the stack, you can affect its results adversely if you visit previous stack operations and change the number or order of sub-objects (such as faces or vertices) in the selection. If you attempt this, a warning alerts you to the situation:
You can safely edit the stack beneath the topology-dependent modifier, as long as you do not add or remove sub-objects from the selection on which it operates.
The name of the selected object appears at the top of the Modify panel, and fields change to match this object.
The object’s creation parameters appear in rollouts on the Modify panel, below the modifier stack display. You can use these rollouts to change the creation parameters for an object. As you change them, the object updates in the viewports.
After you apply a modifier, it becomes active, and rollouts below the modifier stack display settings specific to the active modifier.
To apply a modifier to an object:
In many cases, several modifier names start with the same letter. You can go directly to a particular modifier if you type the first few letters (enough for a unique combination) in the desired modifier's name quickly. For example, say you want to assign the Mirror modifier to an object. Typing M goes to Mesh Select, which isn't anywhere near Mirror in the Modifier list, but typing MI goes directly to Mirror.
If the buttons are not visible but you want to use them, click (Configure Modifier Sets), below the modifier stack display, and choose Show Buttons. A set of buttons with the names of modifiers appears between the modifier list and the stack display. Click Configure Modifier Sets again, choose the set of modifiers you want to use (for example, Free-Form Deformations), and then click the button for the modifier you want to apply.
Rollouts are now displayed below the modifier stack display, showing settings for the modifier. As you change these settings, the object updates in viewports.
To drag a modifier to an object: