Quickly Deform Objects with the Fit Lattice Add-On
A demonstration of the Fit Lattice Blender add-on available at https://blendermarket.com/products/fi..., which allows you to quickly fit a lattice deformation cage around a mesh or set of meshes.
In the past I have found it time consuming to create a lattice, define it's size and subdivisions, make it the right size for the mesh (or meshes) I am deforming, and then add one or more Lattice modifiers to the original object(s) and assign the lattice object. This add-on does it in one click and has the option of presets.