How would you do uneven distribution of objects?

Question

I whish the Transform Each... tool had a feature allowing specified number of copies along with the Skew feature that is available in the Grid tool.
So far I've been doing this by using the Grid tool as a reference and manually arranging objects which is a big pain in the a**
Anyone knows a better way?
or another vector program, plug in, script, etc?
This is a piece of cake in most 3D programs which is a much more complex task for the 3D programmers and I can't believe that Illustrator still doesn't have such essential tool.

Answer 1

Emil,
Any brush approach wil lead to trouble in a case like this because they will either give you misalignment with the path or distortion.
A blend approach may do it.
In addition to what Steve just said (I had to leave while writing the following, and saw his new post #13):
Your grid approach (upper row) seems to lead to a strange decrease pattern (reduction in distance between pairs of vertical stroked paths),
The first decrease being 3.449 pt, the next three being 2.821, 2.823, and 2.822 (constant), then 3.507 and back to 2.822 again
The last five decreases being 0.314, 0.626, 0.631, 0.338, and 0.002.
Your blend approach (lower row) seems quite consistent with a decrease pattern (reduction in distance between (outer bounds of) pairs of squares) that has a constantly decreasing decrease (the change in the reduction to the next pair) of about 0.053 (with slight variations between 0.049 and 0.057, and leading to an intriguing end game where the reduction is actually increased.
The blend made by Steve seems to lead to an exponentially decreasing decrease (something like 1/1.1875, corresponding to an increasing increase from right to left by the factor 1.1875). I am afraid we should have to ask Teri what the exact relation between handle lengths and nature of decreasing decrease is; I believe it is somewhat complex with (at least) two different handle lengths.
As it appears, I believe your grid approach is less useful than it seems.
Depending on the desired nature of the decrease/increase (depending on which end you start with) you may do it in a few different ways, including the blends mentioned above.
If you wish to really control the decrease/increase, I am afraid you will have to use a more laborious blend approach, a bit similar to the one in this thread with a fake blend:
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/808345?tstart=30
Possible approach:
Using a blend to fill a full circle, be aware that you need to cut the circle where you wish the blend to start/stop, and that the first/last objects are on top of each other so you need one extra.
Preparing the contents of the fake blend:
If you want a specific exponentially decreasing/increasing decrease/increase, you may, using the Alt/Option+O+T+M shortcut (or something similar) to copy:
1) Create the basic object and the first copy, inserting the first distance;
2) For the next distance insert the percentage distance (110% for a 10% increasing increase, or similar) and copy the percentage distance;
3) For the following distances, until you have them all, insert the copied percentage distance instead of the current value (in this case you just get 110%);
If you want a specific constantly decreasing/increasing decrease/increase, you may, using the Alt/Option+O+T+M shortcut (or something similar) to copy:
1) Create the basic object and the first copy, inserting the first distance;
2)  For the next distance add/subtract the constant change of distance (+2pt for a 2pt  increasing increase, or similar) and copy the constant change of distance;
3) For the following distances, until you have them all, insert the constant change of distance after the current value (in this case you get the current value +2pt);
To create the fake blend, you may:
4) Object>Blend>Options set Spacing to Specified Steps with the value 1 and Orientation to Align to Path;
5) Select all objects and Object>Blend>Make, now you have surplus objects in between the desired objects, see 8).
To finish the work, you may:
6) Apply the blend to the (cut) circle;
7) Object>Blend>Expand;
8) Delete the surplus objects.
I hope this was not too easy (to understand).