1. “Flow Along Surface” is an excellent tool for placing objects onto a model’s surface. In this example, the side melee gems are positioned using this command. We will examine how the isocurve layout impacts the way objects are morphed onto a target surface.

2. At this stage, the shank, target surface, and base surface have been created. The target and base surfaces share matching UVN directions and were rebuilt with the same UV count and degree. “Flow Along Surface” was used to place the gems and prongs onto the side of the shank. At first glance, everything appears to be correct. However, closer inspection shows that the prongs are not properly aligned with the gems.

3. Turning off visibility for the gems and prongs, the issue becomes clear: the isocurves are angled on the surface. Because this shank was created using “Sweep 2,” the isocurves (red) are not perpendicular to the rails (pink). As a result, the prongs align along the same angle as these isocurves.

4. To correct this, we need to create the shank again but with a better isocurve layout. After deleting the shank, target surface, gems, and prongs, we are left with the original two rails and sweep shape.

5. We will use the “Sweep 2” dialog box option “Add Slash” to control how the surface is aligned between the two rails. A “Perpendicular” snap helps align the surface more evenly between the rails. As each slash is added, the isocurve layout updates to reflect the new alignment.

6. The isocurves now lie perpendicular to and between the rails, creating a more uniform surface layout that will give the best flow result.

7. Now a new target surface can be created, aligned in direction, and rebuilt to match the base surface, and the gems and prongs can be flowed again. This time, the prongs are properly aligned to the gems, a direct result of our efforts to correct the isocurve layout. The more care we put into our target surface, the better our objects will flow.