Makes it some difference at rendering time or another situation to have the modifiers applied???
the models are of course easier to handle
You apply modifiers for the effect that they generate on your mesh.
Of course, you could model a wavy plane, but why when you can simply apply a wave modifier to a plane and get the work done much quicker.
@Atom: I believe pablow wants to know about why you should press apply for the modifiers and not about why to use them. And in that regard with what rennurb3000 said: when you edit your mesh, pressing apply on the modifiers says you want that modifier to be finalised (like when assigning different materials to faces) you hit assign to make that material applied to the mesh. Hope that helps! and Happy Blending! and For U.S. Residents: Happy Turkey Day!
DJ_Boxer
Your style of workflow dictates how you use modifiers. For example, I defer applying a mirror modifier as long as possible and rarely apply the subsurf modifier. Some modifiers that are used for basic effects (like wave and simple deforms) and shaping (lattice) I apply as soon as I have the mesh modified to my liking.
There should be no run-time render cost if you keep the render stack intact.
What i mean is, if i don´t need to press the apply button to get the results of using the modifier and not pressing it does not have consequences at render time or in the work flow, i would prefer to never press that button so i can change the modifier settings anytime i want in the future, otherwise i m condemned to that settings; so, why would i press apply?
Leaving a modifier “unapplied” gives you a lot of flexibility while you’re working on a mesh. There are as many different reasons to apply a modifier as there are modifiers.
For example:
MIRROR MODIFIER: this continues to keep your mesh perfectly symmetrical while you work on it; change one side, the other side is automatically changed to match.
WHEN TO APPLY: If you need to break the symmetry of an organic model, or skin a mesh to an armature, you need to apply the mirror modifier. This creates the other half of your mesh, which didn’t really exist before.
CAST MODIFIER: This makes your mesh take on a primitive shape, like a sphere. If you want your mesh to always be perfectly spherical no matter what, keep the modifier in the stack.
WHEN TO APPLY: If you need to make part of your mesh spherical, but then want to edit it and make it less spherical, apply this modifier.
ARMATURE MODIFIER: Obviously, this skins a mesh to an armature and makes it poseable. In almost every case, you’ll never apply this modifier.
WHEN TO APPLY: Armatures do have limited use as a mesh editing tool. You can use an armature to create a pose for a still. If you want to edit the mesh in a posed position, it’s easier to do after you apply the modifier.
CURVE MODIFIER: As long as this remains in the stack, your mesh will adjust to match your curve object. You can continue to edit the overall curve, but if you want higher-resolution control, you need to edit the mesh directly.
SHRINKWRAP MODIFIER: Imagine making a character with baggy clothes, when the shrinkwrap modifier keeps the clothes stuck to your character’s skin! Apply the shrinkwrap modifier for more control over wrinkles, folds, and “sagginess.”
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Hey TheGryphonRider,so, it is the same to render with the modifiers applied or not??
your explanation was very helpuful
thanks to all of you guys
Even if rendering were not slower in ray tracing terms (still the same modified shape to render), the modifiers need to be recalculated each frame, which can add up to significant delays.
Certain modifiers need to be applied. For example, particle hair won’t render onto a mirror modifier and you’d only get one half growing hair. Weight painting is going to have a cleaner result on an applied mesh than a low resolution mesh and subsurf mod.
As it is easy to apply but apply is final, your workflow of not applying until you really have to is the way to go.
Generally speaking, modifiers are not computationally time-consuming. Therefore, if a modifier has a “fixed” effect upon the final shape or appearance of your model, it makes little practical difference whether you “apply” them or not.
The “apply” button causes the modifier to be applied once to the original object, such that the results of the modification become permanent. It is therefore most often used as a modeling-tool. Nevertheless, Blender gives you the option of when (and if…) to do this, and makes it relatively painless (in most cases) to defer doing so … perhaps indefinitely.
Thanks. Exactly what I needed to know about when and if to apply.
Additional question. I can’t seem to be able to use particle system (hair, particles rendered as spheres) properly without first applying modifiers. So am I doing something wrong?
My object has screw (a curve which is rotated 360 degress to form a shape), subdivision and boolean modifiers. Only by applying them all I actually get a proper particle rendition: I see particles spread evenly on the mesh surface.
Is applying mandatory to get particles work as expected?
(Blender 2.8 on Windows.)