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Blender Pro Tips
All the Most Important Blender Modeling Tools in One Place
By Arijan Belec
Copyright © 2023 Arijan Belec
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission
from the author.
To request permission, contact belec.arijan@gmail.com
Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................4
Introducing Blender for Beginners.............................................................................................5
Normals....................................................................................................................................21
3D Cursor.................................................................................................................................27
Modelling Tools.......................................................................................................................57
Modifiers................................................................................................................................107
Proportional Editing...............................................................................................................164
Selection Tools.......................................................................................................................169
Shading...................................................................................................................................187
Understanding Topology........................................................................................................196
LoopTools..............................................................................................................................240
Introduction
This eBook covers all the tools and techniques you will ever need in Blender. It will provide
you with everything you will ever need to create professional quality models, regardless of
whether they are purposed for video games, architectural visualization, animation,
photorealistic rendering, product design or any other field of 3D. By simply being aware of
the existence of enough tools and understanding topology, you will be able to create
anything.
We will cover many different tools, modifiers, functions, techniques and principles in
Blender, which will allow you to solve any problem by simply referring to this eBook. You
will also learn about topology, which will allow you to qualify for any high-level 3D
modeling environment.
Remember that this is only the first version of this eBook, and updates will be added in the
Future. The aim of this is to include as many Blender features as possible in a single
document.
All the information in this book is presented in a beginner-friendly manner, and there is an
introductory section for complete beginners included as well. Good luck.
Introducing Blender for Beginners
This section will introduce the most basic functions and interface controls in Blender for
complete beginners. This includes interface navigation, basic object movement, orientation in
the 3D workspace, key toolbars and similar features. First, let’s get an overview of the
Blender interface. If you are not a complete beginner, you are still recommended to scan
through this.
Understanding the Interface
By default, Blender is split into four windows: the 3D Viewport, the Timeline, the Outliner
and the Properties.
The 3D viewport is where we can see the scene and do our modeling. By default, we get a
cube, a light and a camera in the scene. At the bottom of the screen, the basic default controls
are listed: Left Mouse Button to select, Middle Mouse Button to rotate the view, Right Mouse
Button to open the Object menu.
Having the right mouse button as the selection key may be preferable. When the right mouse
button is set as the select button, the left mouse button automatically gets a new function,
which is to snap the 3D cursor. These were the default controls in older versions of Blender,
which is also why some users might prefer to return to these controls. This can be changed in
the Preferences window, which is accessed from the Edit menu in the top-left corner of the
screen.
To swap the functions of the left and right mouse buttons, switch Select with Mouse Button
to Right in the Keymap section of the preferences window.
Now, Clicking the Left Mouse Button will snap the 3D cursor, while clicking the right one
will select objects. We will learn more about the 3D cursor and various selection tools and
techniques later on. Next, let’s learn how to navigate the 3D workspace properly.
Navigating the 3D Viewport
By default, we view the Blender world or scene through the 3D Viewport, from the User
Perspective. This means that we are viewing the world or scene from a virtual window which
is locked onto the world center and spins around it.
To rotate the view, click and drag the Middle Mouse Button, or left-click and drag the
viewport navigation gizmo in the top-right corner of the 3D viewport.
Holding Shift while clicking and dragging the Middle Mouse Button pans the view, and shifts
the point around which the view will rotate. The view can also be panned by clicking and
dragging the hand icon on the right side of the 3D viewport.
You can enter Front View, Right View or Top View using Num1, Num3 and Num7
respectively. If your keyboard does not have a number pad, this can also be done by clicking
on one of the axes in the viewport navigation gizmo. Holding Ctrl while pressing Num1,
Num3 or Num7 will activate Back View, Left View or Bottom View.
Scrolling the Middle Mouse Button (MMB) will zoom in and zoom out by snapping the view
closer or further away from the point of focus with each step of the mouse wheel. Holding
Ctrl while clicking and dragging the MMB up or down will smoothly zoom in or zoom out.
Now that we can navigate in the 3D view, we can go over some of the basic controls for
manipulating object in the scene.
Transforming Objects
Transformations are actions that affect the three key attributes of every object in Blender:
location, rotation, and scale. These attributes are measured separately on the X, Y and Z axes,
and their values are displayed in real time in the Transform menu at the right side of the
screen, toggled with T.
We are going to learn about transformation using the default cube, but you can add more
shapes by pressing Shift + A and picking a shape from the Mesh section of the Add menu.
Various other things can be added from this menu, but now we will just use a simple mesh
like a cube.
Moving/Grabbing
When an object is selected with a right-click, such as the default cube, clicking and dragging
one of the arrows in the middle of the object will move the object along that axis. For
example, clicking and dragging the blue arrow allows us to move the cube up or down,
changing the objects Z-axis position. The position of the object can also be set by manually
typing in values in the transform menu.
The shortcut for moving objects is G. When the G key is pressed, the object can be moved
freely as it follows the mouse pointer.
After pressing G, the movement can be limited to a single axis. To do so, press either X, Y or
Z after G, and that will set the axis for the transformation. For more precise transformation,
we can set the exact distance of the movement by typing any number after initiating the
movement with G and setting the axis with X, Y or Z. For example, pressing G, then Z, then
1 will move the cube upwards by exactly 1 meter. Using negative numbers or decimals to set
the movement distance works as well.
It is also possible to move an object on two axes simultaneously, using Dual-Axis
Transformation, or Double-Axis Transformation. To do so, click and drag one of the
squares in the movement gizmo to move the object along that plane. Clicking and dragging
the blue square at the bottom allows you to freely move the object along the Y and X axis,
but not the Z axis.
To perform double-axis movement using a shortcut, press G to move (or grab), then press
Shift + Z to exclude the Z axis from the free movement. To exclude another axis instead of Z,
press either X or Y instead of Z while holding down Shift. Next, let’s discuss rotation.
Rotation
To rotate an object, select it and press R. This will allow you to freely rotate the object. Click
the Left Mouse Button to confirm the rotation. With this type of rotation, the object pivots
around an axis defined by a point placed exactly at the position of our view, and, by default,
the orange dot in the middle of the object known as the Origin Point. We will learn more
about the origin point later on.
An object can be rotated specifically around any of the 3 axes. To do so, press R to rotate and
X, Y or Z to rotate around that specific axis. You can also rotate by a specific number of
degrees. Simply type in a number after initiating the rotation with R and setting a rotation
axes, then press Enter to confirm the rotation.
Scaling
To scale an object freely, select it and press S.
Like all the other transformations, scaling can be limited to a specific axis.
Double axis scaling can be done by holding down Shift and pressing X, Y or Z to exclude an
axis. Additionally, any number can be used as a scaling factor, such as 0.5 to half the scale on
the chosen axis or axes.
These are the most 3D modelling functions in Blender. Next, we will learn about local axes
and how they can be used to increase the flexibility of the transformation functions.
Local and Global Axes
Rotating an object changes its Local Axes. The local axes are the axes that match the specific
rotation of the object’s rotation.
The local axes of an object are defined by the rotation of the object relative to the World
Axes or Global Axes. The global axes are the blue, red and green lines which are fixed to the
3D world and are the default axes of transformation which also define the location of any
object in the scene.
Local axes are important because an object can be transformed along or around them. For
example, to rotate around a local axes, press R to rotate, then double-press Z to rotate around
the local Z axis.
Movement and scaling can also be performed along the local axes by pressing either G or S to
move or scale, then double-pressing an axis key.
Dual-axis transformation also applies when using local axes. For example, to freely scale an
object on its local X and Y axes simultaneously, press S to scale, then double-press Shift + Z
to exclude the Z axis from the local scale-axis scale operation.
We can now leverage local axes to transform objects. Next, we will go over some key 3D
viewport navigation methods to give us more freedom in our workspace.
Editing Geometry
We will now learn about the different tools, techniques and methods of editing the Geometry
of an object. In 3D modelling, geometry refers to the vertices, edges and faces that make up
an object. For example, a cube has 6 faces, 8 vertices and 12 edges.
To edit the geometry (i.e. move, rotate, scale and create vertices, edges and faces), select an
object and press Tab to enter Edit Mode. This change can also be made in the top-left corner
of the 3D viewport, where other presets are available as well.
Edit mode, as opposed to Object Mode, is purposed towards editing the geometry of an
object, while object mode focuses on creating and manipulating objects in their entirety and
in terms of their fundamental properties such as transform or Modifiers, which we will learn
more about later on. Entering edit mode will reveal the object’s geometry, and new tools will
become available on the left side of the screen for editing the geometry. We will learn about
these tools throughout this eBook.
We can now edit the geometry of this cube. In edit mode (as well as in other areas of Blender
such as node editing or keyframe editing), the same basic movement, rotation and scaling
functions apply, along with their shortcuts: G to grab/move, R to rotate and S to scale. Thus,
you can select any single vertex or multiple vertices by holding Shift, and change their
position to deform the default cube.
By default, the edit mode workspace is set to Vertex Select Mode. This means that we can
select vertices, and if we want to select an edge or face, we must select the vertices which
create that edge or face. The select mode can also be changed to Edge or Face. To do so, use
the buttons at the top of the 3D viewport in edit mode, or use the default shortcuts 1, 2 and 3
to switch between vertex, edge and face select mode respectively.
By switching to face select mode, for instance, a face can be selected with a single click on
that face, instead of by selecting all the vertices that surround it. This is convenient for certain
functions.
Now that we covered the basics of Blender, let’s discuss some key mechanics that underpin
every tool and function in the program.
Normals
Normals are lines which define the direction of a face, edge, or vertex. One of the main
purposes of normals in Blender is to define which part of a mesh is the outside, and which
part is on the inside. This can be visualized easily with a simple sphere, which looks like a
solid object.
Although it looks like a solid object, it is actually hollow on the inside. This can be seen by
moving the 3D view inside this object to look at it from inside.
When we look at the inside of the sphere, we can see the same faces that we saw from the
outside, but we are now looking at their backside. The back side of a face is supposed to
never be visible because it indicates that this side of the mesh is the solid, inside part of the
shape. This is why normal are important, and they specify which side of the face is the
outside and which side is the inside.
The normals of a face can be checked in multiple ways. The first way is to open the Mesh
Edit Mode Overlays menu in the top-right corner of the screen and activate Display
Normals
This will draw lines on each face which indicate the direction that the face is facing. This is
the mathematical normal line.
The normal lines are not visible on the inside of the sphere, or the backsides of these faces.
Normals can also be checked in object mode by checking the Face Orientation box in the
Viewport Overlays menu. This will give the outside (or the up-side, front-side or right side)
of the face a bright blue color, while the inside (in-side, back-side or wrong side) of the faces
will be colored in bright red. This tool is used to easily detect if there are any incorrect
normals.
It will often happen that a mesh has some incorrect normal, which can cause problems with
shading, modifiers, and many other things. Here is an example of how bad shading can occur
as a result of bad normals, and how the subdivision surface modifier could misbehave under
the same circumstances.
In this case it is obvious that the normals are inverted on this part of the sphere, but
sometimes it isn’t, and this can give us problems later on. This is why it is important to check
the normals with the Face Orientation tool, which will make it very obvious when there are
bad normals by marking them red.
To fix this problem, select all the geometry in edit mode. Then open the Mesh menu and in
the Normals section, select Recalculate Outside. This will make Blender correct the
normals of the selected geometry so that they face outwards. The shortcut for this function is
Shift + N.
Now, all the normals are pointed outwards.
Vertices also have their own normals, which are calculated from the average of the faces
around the vertex. For example, the object below has two faces at a 90 degree angle. The
vertices at the edge are pointing outwards at 45 degrees because that is the average direction
of the two face normals.
This is one of the fundamental mechanics of 3D modelling and it has a tremendous impact on
our workflow and success. It is important to remember how normals work and how they can
be corrected.
3D Cursor
The 3D Cursor is one of the most important, powerful, and versatile modelling tools in
Blender. It is a special marker used to accurately mark a specific point in 3D space. It has
many purposes, such as accurately placing objects and geometry, or setting a custom pivot
point for transforms. This tool is greatly overlooked by the mainstream Blender community,
which is why it is one of the best ways to get ahead and gain an advantage with your
modelling skills. It is important to learn this at the beginning because we will use the 3D
cursor for many of the tools and techniques featured in this eBook.
By default, the 3D cursor is initially located at the world origin. This is the point where all
three of the axes meet, or simply the center of the world. One way to move it is to click
anywhere with the Left Mouse Button.
When a new object is added, it is placed at a location where the origin of the object is exactly
at the 3D cursor. For example, when we add a circle, the origin of the circle is exactly in its
middle, which is placed at the 3D cursor.
Let´s talk about the origin point while we´re on the topic, since it is another key feature that
must be understood when modelling in Blender.
The origin point of an object is what we use to define the position of that object. Typically, it
is located at the center of the object.
The coordinates of the origin can be found in the Transform section of the Item menu at the
right side of the screen. This toolbar can be toggled by pressing N in object mode.
This is also where the rotation and scale of an object are defined. This menu makes it easy to
set the location, rotation of an object accurately on each axis individually.
Understanding the origin point in the context of the 3D cursor is especially important because
we use the origin point to accurately place an object somewhere with the 3D cursor. In the
following example, we have an object and we want to place it exactly at the world origin.
First, we must snap the 3D cursor to the origin by pressing Shift + S to open the Snap menu,
and selecting Cursor to World Origin.
Now, the 3D cursor has been snapped to the world origin and we can move the object to the
3D cursor.
To snap the object to the 3D cursor, select the object in Object Mode and press Shift + S
again, and click Selection to Cursor. This will snap the selected object(s) to the 3D cursor so
that the origin is at the cursor.
If there are multiple objects selected and we snap use the Cursor to Selected snapping
function, the cursor will snap to the average location of all of the origins of the selected
objects, known as the Median Point.
However, if we snap multiple objects to the 3D cursor, they will all snap to the same place.
This is true unless we use the Selection to Cursor (Keep Offset) function.
If we keep the offset, the objects will maintain their relative position around the median point
when snapped, and the median point will be snapped to the 3D cursor.
We can also snap the 3D cursor to a specific edge, vertex, or face in Edit Mode.
This can be used to accurately place an object to a specific part of another mesh.
The origin point of an object can be placed anywhere, which is an important part of snapping
with the 3D cursor. As an example, let´s say we want to place this object on the side of the
cube so it looks like the arm is attached.
We can´t just place the 3D cursor on this part of the cube and snap the object to the 3D
cursor. This will not place the object correctly since the origin will be snapped to the cursor,
and the origin is located at the bottom of the object. The result will be something like this:
Instead, we must first place the origin in good place, so that when we snap the object to the
3D cursor, the correct part of the object will be aligned with the hole in the side of the cube.
To do this, first place the 3D cursor at the end of this arm, by selecting an edge loop and
snapping it to the selected geometry in Edit Mode.
Now, in Object Mode, open the Object menu in the top-right corner of the screen. In the Set
Origin section, select Origin to 3D Cursor.
The origin will now be placed at the 3D cursor, which we placed at the end of the arm.
Now, if we snap this object to the 3D cursor while the cursor is placed in the middle of the
hole, the object will be attached to the cube correctly.
If a mesh is moved in edit mode, the origin will stay in place. This can also be used to change
the position of the origin point.
Now that we understand how the origin works, let´s learn about pivot points
Pivot Points
A Pivot Point is the point from which transforms take place. For example, when an object is
rotated, it pivots around the pivot point, which is the origin point by default.
The same is true for scaling, as an object will scale up and away from the origin, or down and
towards it.
When multiple objects are selected, they will share a pivot point at the average location of all
the origins. This means that they will transform from or around a point roughly in the middle
of all selected objects.
In edit mode, the default pivot point is the Center of Mass. This is the average location of all
geometry, and if geometry is denser on one part of the mesh, that part of the mesh will pull
the center of mass. When we rotate this mesh in edit mode, it pivots around a point which is
close to the top of the object.
Now that we understand what a pivot point is, we can start using the 3D cursor as a more
flexible pivot point. Next, we will explore the various types of pivot points, including the 3D
cursor.
Pivot Point Types
The pivot point can be changed using the menu at the top of the 3D Viewport. By default, it
is set to Median point, which means that objects pivot around their origin, or the median of
multiple origins if multiple objects are selected.
There are multiple options when changing the pivot point. The 3D cursor is by far the most
important one, but we will quickly go over the others because they are important as well.
Bounding Box Center
When the bounding box center is set as a pivot point, single objects will still pivot around
their origin point, but when we select multiple objects, they will pivot around a point placed
in the middle of a box wrapped around all their origin points while remaining aligned with
the world axes. In this example, the monkeys have an invisible bounding box wrapped around
their origins, so they pivot around the exact middle of that box. In edit mode, geometry will
behave the same.
Individual Origins
Using Individual Origins makes each object transform from its own origin.
This allows us to transform every object separately regardless of the center of mass or median
point.
In edit mode, this allows us to not only transform geometry separately, but also to extrude
them individually.
Using individual origins allows us to transform multiple selected objects around their
individual local axes. These cylinders all have their own rotation properties and thus their
own local axes. By pressing S to scale and then double-pressing Z or any other axis, we can
scale each cylinder around its local Z axis.
Individual origins are especially useful when many objects or meshes need to be rescaled and
it would be tedious to scale them one-by-one. In this example, there are lots of bolts
connecting the pipes, and they can all easily be rescaled using individual origins.
The 3D cursor can be used as a pivot point. This is one of the most effective ways to use the
3D cursor because it gives you the freedom to make highly accurate changes to your models.
In my opinion, it is the single most important technique in Blender because of how versatile
and universally useful it is.
Active Element
Setting the pivot point to Active Element will make all selected objects or geometry pivot
around the last item that was selected.
When an object is selected, it gets an orange outline.
Selecting other objects by holding Shift and clicking on them will turn the outlines of the
previously selected objects red. These are called Selected Objects, Selected Elements or
simply Selected. Meanwhile, the last selected object will have an orange outline. The object
with the orange outline is called the Active Object or Active Element, or simply the Active.
When the pivot point is set to active element, all the selected objects, as well as the active
object, will pivot around the active object.
Next, we will proceed to the 3D cursor, which is the most important type of pivot point.
Pivoting with the 3D Cursor
We will now learn to use the 3D cursor as a pivot point. This is one of the most powerful
features of the 3D cursor and Blender modelling in general. This is because the 3D cursor can
easily, accurately and quickly be placed anywhere at any time, making it extremely
convenient for various modelling procedures.
Setting the pivot point to 3D Cursor makes all objects pivot around and scale from or towards
the 3D Cursor, which can be placed anywhere in the scene by either clicking or snapping
with Shift + S.
There are many tricks we can do with the 3D cursor as a pivot point, and we will now go over
them.
3D Cursor Alignment
One of the things this can be used for is alignment. In this example, we have 9 cylinders, each
of which has a different height.
Using the 3D cursor as a pivot point, we can easily change the height of every cylinder so
that they are all the same and aligned with a specific height. To do this, first snap the 3D
cursor on a selected face, edge, vertex, or surface to set the height with which we want to
align the cylinders.
Next, select all the faces which you want to bring to the same height as the 3D cursor. In this
example, this can be done quickly by selecting a face at the top of one cylinder, then selecting
by similar normals using Shift + G. This will instantly select all the top faces.
Once all the top faces are selected, press S to scale, then Z to scale only on the Z axis and 0 to
scale to zero. This will scale the Z-axis distance between all the selected faces and the 3D
cursor to zero, which will bring them all to the exact same height as the 3D cursor.
Instead of scaling to zero, you can also use any other integer or decimal as a factor for scale.
For example, if the 3D cursor is placed on the top face of the middle cylinder, scaling the
other faces by a factor of 2 on the y axis will move them all away from the 3D cursor,
increasing the height difference between the cylinders.
This scaling technique is used for precise alignment when modelling, but it can also be useful
in object mode. By default, when an object is scaled in object mode, its scale changes, which
deforms the object.
Since compressing the object like this is probably not in our interest, we can adjust the
behaviour of the scaling tool so that as we scale an object, it only changes its position but not
its scale.
This sounds contradictory because we are using the scale tool but not for scaling, rather for
relocation. The reason it makes sense is because only the distance between the origin of the
object and the 3D cursor will be scaled, not the object itself. To do this, open the Options
menu in the top-right corner of the 3D view port in object mode, and check Locations. This
will make any transformation tool (scaling, rotation or movement) affect only the location of
the object, and not its rotation or scale.
Now, when an object is scaled while the 3D cursor is the pivot point, it will move away from
or closer to the 3D cursor as we scale it up or down respectively.
This can be used for precisely aligning objects in object mode. Next, we will learn to use the
3D cursor for mirroring objects and geometry.
Mirroring with the 3D Cursor
The 3D cursor can be used as a tool for mirroring objects and geometry across a specific
point. To do this, the 3D cursor must be set as the pivot point and a selected object or mesh
must be scaled by a factor of -1 on any axis. This will reflect the position of each vertex to
the other side of the 3D cursor.
This also works well with dual-axis scaling, as we can reflect multiple meshes across the 3D
cursor without inverting their Z-axis position. To do this, select the geometry, press S to scale
and press Shift + Z to exclude the Z axis from the transformation. In this case, the bolts have
been duplicated with Shift + D before the scaling operation.
When you scale a mesh to -1 in edit mode, the normals of the mesh get inverted and must be
recalculated with Shift + N.
In object mode, this can be used to relocate an object by inverting its scale with the Affect
Locations Only option enabled.
This is one of the most powerful features in Blender and it is incredibly useful in various
situations because it allows us to precisely position geometry and objects.
3D Cursor Sliding
The 3D cursor can be used to slide geometry in a specific directions, on a specific plane, or
along a specific edge. For example, a vertex can be extruded and pushed further in the
direction of the edge which it is positioned on. To do this, snap the 3D cursor using Shift + S
to any point on the edge along which you want to extend a new vertex.
Then extrude the vertex with E and click the Right Mouse Button to place the newly extruded
vertex back to its original location. Then, with the 3D cursor used as a pivot point, scale the
vertex up to increase its distance from the 3D cursor, thus pushing it further in the direction
of the edge.
This can be used to manually and precisely construct new geometry by extending vertices in
odd directions and filling in edges with F.
When used like this, the 3D cursor allows us to precisely move geometry in directions which
are otherwise difficult to move in with conventional tools. Here is an example of a mesh
which has a surface with an odd angle.
We can place the 3D cursor anywhere on that surface to use it as a point towards or away
from which we will move geometry.
Select any vertex on this surface and duplicate it with Shift + D.
Now scale the vertex down and towards the 3D cursor to move it along the plane.
The 3D cursor can be relocated to any other place on this surface, which allows us to
precisely move the vertex in any direction without lifting it off the surface.
This type of movement can also be accomplished using the Snap tool at the top of the screen.
To do this, first activate the tool by clicking on the magnet icon, then open the menu and
switch to Face Project.
Now, we can freely move the vertex using G and it will always stick to the face underneath it.
You are encouraged to explore some of the other snapping methods.
Modelling Tools
We will now learn about the many modelling tools available ineEdit mode. The toolbar in
which these tools can be found on the left side of the screen and it is toggled with T.
Extrude
Extrusion is a fundamental modeling technique which is used to create new geometry by
extending selected faces, edges, or vertices. When a face is extruded, it gets extended in the
direction of its normal line (see chapter for normals), as shown in Figure.
When multiple faces are selected and extruded, they get extended in the average direction of
their normal lines. Figure (left) shows the individual normal lines of all the selected faces,
while Figure (right) shows the faces being extruded along their average normal direction.
Edges and vertices can be extruded freely in any direction.
When an extrusion is performed, a menu appears at the bottom-left corner of the screen. If
you open this menu, you will have access to some additional tools for tweaking this
extrusion.
For example, checking the Dissolve Orthogonal Edges box will remove the edge loop at the
original location of the face before the extrusion took place.
The extruded face can be shifted along the X, Y or Z axes with the sliders in the Extrude
Region and Move menu.
Inset
The inset tool shrinks selected faces, pushing them inward and away from the edges. New
faces and edges are created around the face, which connect it to the rest of the mesh. The
shortcut for this tool is I.
If two or more faces are selected for insetting, they will both be pushed inwards but they will
remain connected at the edge or edges which they share, as shown in Figure.
The Inset tool has lots of additional properties that can be controlled after the insetting
process is complete, i.e. after the action is confirmed by clicking the Left Mouse Button.
These properties and their controls appear in the Inset Faces menu after the insetting is
performed.
Additional properties for modeling tools can also be toggled before confirming the action, i.e.
before clicking the Left Mouse Button to apply the change. This can be done with shortcuts,
and such shortcuts can be found at the top or bottom of the screen while using the tool (i.e.
before confirming the action)
We will now go over all the relevant additional functions available for the Inset tool.
Boundary
The Boundary option toggles whether Open edges will be inset or not. Open edges are edges
which have a face on one side but not the other, such as the outer edges of a circle. In this
example, we are insetting some faces with toggled off. This option can be toggled by pressing
B while insetting.
Even Offset
Offset Even, when enabled, ensures that the width of the inset space will be equal
everywhere. It is enabled by default, but the following image shows what happens when it is
disabled. This function has no shortcut.
Relative Offset
If we enable Offset Relative, the inset edges will have the length of the outer edges multiplied
by the value set in the Thickness box. For example, if the border edges have a length of 1
meter, the edges connecting the border to the inset area will have a length of 0.5m, since the
thickness value is set to 0.5. If the border edges had a length of 2.4m, the connecting edges
would have a length of 1.2m
Edge Rail
The Edge Rail option ensures that inset edges will remain straight. In this example, we
disable Edge Rail (which is enabled by default) and the edge along which we are insetting the
selection becomes bent.
When Edge Rail is enabled, the edge remains perfectly straight, as shown below. This is used
to keep inset geometry cleaner and more even. This function does not have a default shortcut.
Depth
The Depth slider is used to push the inset area inwards or outwards. If the depth is set to a
positive value, the faces are pushed outwards, and if it is set to a negative value, they are
pushed inwards. This can also be controlled while insetting, before the menu appears, by
holding Ctrl and moving the cursor closer to or further away from the selected geometry.
Outset
If we inset a face and enable Outset, it is the same as insetting all the other faces except the
one we selected. The shortcut for toggling outset is O. Here is an example of what happens
when a single face is inset on a sphere:
To visualize this, select a single face and invert the selection with Ctrl + I. This will select all
the other faces except the one we selected. Then inset this face with the Outset option
disabled, and the result will be the same as insetting a single face with outset enabled.
Select Outer
Enabling Select Outer makes it so that when we inset a selected surface, the inset space will
become selected instead of the area on the inside which was originally selected. Here is an
example:
1. Select an area, or multiple separate areas on an object.
2. Inset the selected surfaces by pressing I.
By default, the inner area of the inset surface will be selected after insetting.
3. Check the Select Outer box.
This will select the inset space rather than the inner area.
You can now easily extrude this area to create a wall around the roof
Individual
Enabling Individual insetting will individually inset each selected face. The shortcut for this
is I.
This makes it easy to extrude spikes or holes all over a surface.
Adding a Subdivision Surface modifier to objects like this can create a cool style. This can be
done by pressing Ctrl + 2. We will learn more about Subdivision Surface later.
Bevel
The Bevel tool is used to create rounded edges. By default, the bevel tool turns each selected
edge into two edges which are pushed away from the selected edge and connected by a face.
The shortcut for this tool is Ctrl + B.
When we activate the bevel tool, the width of the bevel is determined by how far the mouse is
moved from the selected geometry.
After confirming the action, the Bevel menu appears. TheeBevel menu has lots of options,
making this tool highly customizable.
If we switch from Edges to Vertices, individual vertices will be beveled instead of edges.
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The Width Type menu is used to select the method of determining the bevel width. For
example, switching to Percent will make it so that the bevel width is a percentage of the
adjacent edges. The shortcut for switching the width type is M.
The Segments slider controls how many edges the bevel will consist of.
The Shape slider controls the shape of the bevel. The default value is 0.500, which makes the
bevel a perfect quarter of a circle. A shape value of 1.000 will give the bevel a right angle.
Reducing the shape value below 0.250 will make the bevel shape go inwards and setting it to
0.000 will give it an inwards right angle.
The Material Index is used to determine which material will be applied to the bevel. In the
Material Properties tab, we have multiple materials loaded to this object, but not all of them
are assigned to any faces. We can use the material index to choose which of the materials will
be assigned to the faces in the bevel.
This technique can be used to create high quality edge wear
Clamp Overlap
The Clamp Overlap tool limits the width of a bevel to the point where it meets another
bevel. When enabled, two bevels cannot intersect and cross through each other.
When clamp overlap is disabled, bevels can pass straight through each other and there is no
limit to their width.
This is useful because the clamping can sometimes happen too early, before there is any
overlap, making it impossible to create the kind of bevel you want.
Loop Slide
The Loop Slide function is used to control how the bevel expands. By default, when we
bevel an edge, the bevel will expand at an equal rate in every direction, which may cause the
surrounding edges to bend.
When loop slide is enabled, the bevel will expand along the surrounding edges. This will
ensure that those edges keep the same angle, they will just become shorter because they are
partially replaced by a bevel. This is essentially the same as the Edge Rail function in the
Inset tool, and it has no default shortcut.
Mark Seams
To explain the next function in the bevel tool, let’s imagine a scenario where we have two
edge loops cutting through each other. One loop consists of regular, default edges, while the
other one has marked Seams.
Seams are used for UV-unwrapping, when deciding which edges should be cut to correctly
unwrap the object for texturing.
If we bevel both of these edge loops simultaneously (by selecting them both and pressing
Ctrl + B), we turn each edge loop into two parallel edge loops.
As we bevel these edge loops, the two loops with seams are cut and there are no seams in the
segment separated by the other edge loop.
We can keep these seams marked by checking the Mark: Seams box in the bevel menu. The
shortcut for this function is U.
The Mark: Sharp box will do the same, but for sharps. Sharps are edges that keep sharp
shading when we apply smooth shading to an object. We will learn more about sharps later.
The shortcut for this function is K.
Miter
When we simultaneously bevel multiple edges that meet at an angle, a mitter will be formed.
The best way to visualize this is if we bevel all the geometry on an object and look at the
vertices.
There are two types of miters: inner and outer. Inner miters are formed on the inside of
angles, while outer miters are formed on the outside.
We can control the shape of inner and outer miters separately in the bevel menu. For
example, outer miters, by default, have a horrible effect on your topology. Topology is the
arrangement of edges and vertices on your mesh. We will dive deeper into topology later.
Below is an example of a default, bad miter.
Bad miters and bad topology can cause shading problems, twisting and more serious issues.
This is why understanding topology is important, and it will be a critical component of this
eBook.
Changing the miter type to Patch gives it a different shape, with better topology.
We can also set it to Arc, which will give it a different shape. The shortcut for controling the
outer miter is O.
The inner miter can also be controlled.
When we set the inner miter to Arc, a slider appears which can be used to control the spread
of the miter. The shortcut for this is I.
Intersection
The Intersection Type function changes how corners will be beveled. By default, it is set to
Grid Fill.
This can be changed to Cutoff, which will cut this section out of the mesh.
The final function in the Bevel menu is the Profile Type. Switching this from Superellipse
to Custom opens a new set of tools.
These tools can be used to create a custom shape for the bevel.
You can get creative with this function and create your own custom bevels. This is a
powerful tool.
Loop Cut
The Loop Cut tool is used to create a new edge loop around a mesh. An Edge Loop is a
continuous line of edges which is has its first and last edge connected, so that it can be
followed as an infinite loop. The shortcut for loop cutting is Ctrl + R.
After clicking once, we have the option to slide the loop along the edges to decide its location
before confirming it. The loop cut can be confirmed by clicking the Left Mouse Button.
In the Loop Cut and Slide menu, we can control the number of loop cuts that are created on
the cylinder. This can also be done by scrolling up and down before confirming the cut.
The Smoothness slider can be used to inflate the mesh with the loop cuts.
We can also change the shape of the inflation using the Falloff menu. For example, setting it
to sharp will make the side profile pointy rather than smooth.
The Factor value slides the loop cuts along the edges.
The Even function will make the newly added loop cut copy the shape of the edge loop next
to it.
When activated, the loop cut instantly snaps into the new shape.
Checking the Flipped box will make it copy the edge loop on the other side.
If we uncheck Clamp, there will be no limit for how far we can slide the next loop cut. This
means we can slide it beyond the next edge loop.
Knife
The Knife tool is used to freely create cuts across a mesh. The shortcut for this tool is K.
This tool can be used to on multiple points and create new edges between those points.
Confirming this tool with Enter will turn the marked lines into edges.
When we apply this tool, we do not get a menu in the lower-left corner of the screen, but
there are still other functions attached to this tool.
New Cut
We can make multiple cuts before confirming any of them. To do this, create a cut, then click
the Right Mouse Button and start a new cut.
Midpoint Snap
The Midpoint Snap function allows us to snap our cuts to the exact middle of the edges
through which we are cutting. To activate it, hold Shift while marking the second point of the
cut.
Ignore Snap
This function will allow us to bypass the default snapping that occurs when we place a cut
point. Normally, the cut point (green square) will snap to an edge near the knife cursor. In the
image below, you can see a small difference between the exact position of the knife tool, and
where Blender intends to place the cut. This can make it impossible to place cuts very close
to an edge.
If we hold down CTRL, there will be no snapping and we can place the cut anywhere.
Angle Constraint
The Angle Constraint function acts as a ruler which allows us to control the exact angle at
which we want to create our line. When we press A to activate it, a white line appears, and we
can slide our cuts only along that line.
By default, it snaps in increments of 30 degrees.
The current angle and increment angle can be seen at the bottom of the screen while using
this function.
The increment angle can be changed by just typing any number after pressing A.
If we press A twice, the angle constraint tool will be aligned to the angle of the edge instead
of the screen. This means that we can pivot the ruler in increments around an axis which is
perpendicular to the edge which we clicked on.
Cut Through
Activated with C, the Cut Through function is used to cut through an entire mesh by also
creating cuts on geometry which is hidden behind other geometry. By default, the knife tool
only creates a cut on the visible part of the mesh.
Enabling Cut Through will also create a cut on the other side of the cube. This is evident
from the appearance of a dimmer green square at the point where Blender intends to create an
additional vertex due to our usage of the Cut Through function.
The result is a cut around the entire cube, along the line which we marked with our knife tool.
Distance/Angle Measurement
The length and angle of a cut can be measured using the Distance/Angle Measurement
function. When S is pressed during a knife operation, two boxes appear. The first box appears
at the location of the last placed cutting point, and it measures the angle between the cut and
the edge which has a cut placed on it. The second box appears on the middle of the cut, and it
measures the length of the cut.
Pressing S again will disable angle measurement, leaving only the length measurement box.
Pressing S once again will remove the length measurement box and display only the angle
measurement box.
Orientation Lock
Orientation Lock allows us to lock the knife tool to the X, Y or Z axis. After starting a new
cut by clicking on an edge, we can press either X, Y or Z to limit the movement of our cursor
so that it can only move along a single axis.
If an object has been rotated and its local axes are no longer aligned with the global axes, the
orientation lock function can be used for locking the knife tool to the local axes.
To do this, start a new cut and double-press X, Y or Z to lock the cut to that axis.
Spin
The spin tool duplicates or extrudes a mesh and arranges the newly created elements in a
circle. It takes the selected geometry and spins it around the 3D cursor, with the view used as
a pivot point.
To activate the tool, select the geometry you want to spin, press Alt + E and click on Spin.
The selected geometry will be duplicated and arranged in a circle around the 3D cursor,
facing your view.
The Steps slider controls how many instances of the mesh there will be.
Use Duplicates
To understand how the Use Duplicates function works, we need to look at open meshes. An
open mesh is any mesh on which it is possible to see the backside of a face. This cube is an
open mesh, because one of its faces has been deleted, and we can see the backsides of other
faces on the cube. A plane is also an open mesh because it is just a single face, and the
backside of that face is visible from below.
When we spin an open mesh and disable Use Duplicates, the open mesh will be arranged in a
circle, but instead of just being duplicated and placed at a different location around the 3D
cursor, each instance of the mesh will remain connected. Currently this looks disastrous as
this is not a useful example, rather just a demonstration of how the function works.
The function becomes useful when we are trying to spin a cross section and turn it into a loop
or segment. Here is an example of a sideways cross section which will work well with the
spin tool.
When the spin tool is applied to this mesh with Use Duplicates disabled, it will turn into a full
loop.
If the spin tool is applied to the same mesh but with Use Duplicates enabled, the cross section
will be duplicated and arranged in a circle around the 3D cursor, but the instances will be
disconnected.
This can be useful for spinning meshes and surfaces which are meant to remain open, such as
this 2D face.
The Angle control allows us to limit the spin to a specific angle. For example, setting the
angle to 180° will arrange the mesh into a semi-circle.
This can be useful for making pipes, bars and similar objects which have bends in them.
When modeling pipes, the spin tool can be used for creating bolts at the joints.
We now learned about all the modeling tools that we will need, and we explored the various
functions of each relevant tool. Next, we will learn about modifiers and how we can use them
for advanced and more efficient workflows.
Modifiers
Modifiers are special operations which automatically change an object or its geometry in
ways which would take a long time to do manually. Modifiers are non-destructive, which
means that the changes they make on the object can easily be undone. Modifiers can be added
by selecting an object in Object Mode, opening the Modifier Properties tab and clicking on
the Add Modifier button.
In the Add Modifier menu, there are 5 categories of modifiers. The most important modifiers
that you need to know fall into the Deform or the Generate category.
Hovering the cursor over a category will expand the menu and show all the modifiers
available in that category. To add one, just click on it.
We will not cover all the 54 modifiers because that would be inefficient, instead we will
focus our time on the more important ones that you are likely to use. Let’s go over the most
important modifiers.
Subdivision Surface
The Subdivision Surface modifier is the most popular modifier, and it belongs to the
Generate category.
When a modifier is selected in the Add Modifier menu, it will be opened and added to the
Modifier Stack. The modifier stack is the list of added modifiers, where the order of each
modifier is relevant to the result that we see on the mesh. Here we can see the subdivision
surface modifier in the modifier stack.
This modifier subdivides meshes and makes them smooth. Subdivision is the splitting of
edges and faces into halves and quarters respectively. In other words, subdivision turns an
edge into two equal edges, and a face into four equal faces. Here is an example of a cube with
a Subdivision Surface modifier added to it. It has been subdivided and smoothened by the
modifier, which gives it a round shape.
The shortcut for this modifier is Ctrl + 1, or any number from 1 to 6. The number used in the
shortcut will determine the level of subdivision, which we will discuss shortly. This is a cube
with 2 subdivision levels.
Meshes can be subdivided without the subdivision surface modifier, in the Edge menu at the
top of the screen in edit mode.
While this will subdivide the mesh, it is destructive, which means it cannot be undone like a
modifier which can simply be disabled.
Using the subdivision surface modifier is advantageous because we can still model the simple
base mesh, but it will look much smoother and detailed without having any extra geometry.
In the Subdivision Surface modifier, we can change the algorithm between Catmull-Clark
and Simple. By default, the subdivision uses the Catmull–Clark algorithm, which arranges
the new geometry created by the subdivision in a way that makes the mesh smoother.
In simple mode, the shape of a mesh does not change, it only gets subdivided. This can be
useful when we need more geometry to work with, but we do not want to change the shape of
the mesh.
The Levels Viewport value controls how many times the mesh is be subdivided in the
viewport. Level one turns a face into four faces, and level two turns each of the four faces
into four more, creating sixteen faces from the original one. The maximum number of levels
is 6.
The Render value controls how many times the mesh is subdivided in the rendered image.
This is controlled separately because sometimes a different level of subdivision is used in the
scene and in the render. For example, we might apply one or two levels of subdivision in the
viewport to get a preview of what our mesh will look like with subdivision, but we need it to
look much smoother in the render. We will thus set the render value to 3 or 4. Using less
subdivision in the viewport will prevent lag and crashing, to make our workspace smoother
and faster. Next, we will learn about the Mirror modifier.
Mirror Modifier
The Mirror modifier is used to mirror a mesh across a specific point. It helps speed up the
modeling process by copying changes made on one side of the model to the other side of the
model in real time. If we want to add horns to the monkey, we do not need to model both.
Instead, we can model just one and it will be mirrored to the other side of the monkey by the
mirror modifier. First, create a monkey and delete one half of its geometry.
Add a Mirror modifier to this object from the Generate section of the Add Modifier menu.
By default, this will copy the geometry across the origin point on the X axis.
Naturally, moving the mesh away from the origin point will create a gap in the middle of the
mirrored object, as the origin point is the point of reflection and the gap is being mirrored as
well.
Any changes made to this mesh now will also get mirrored. If one horn is created, it will also
appear on the other side, which saves time because it does not have to be done twice.
The mirror axis can be changed, and multiple axes can be combined. To do this, toggle the
axes individually in the modifier.
Next, we will learn about the Boolean modifier.
Boolean Modifier
The Boolean modifier combines data from two objects to cut holes or merge multiple meshes
into one. It also belongs to the Generate category.
There are three main functions in the Boolean modifier: Intersect, Union and Difference. We
will go over the three functions one-by-on to learn how they work and what they do.
Intersect
The Intersect function removes everything outside of the space where the two meshes
overlap, leaving only the intersection space. To apply it, first create two objects which have
an overlapping space, such as this cube and cylinder.
Add the Boolean modifier to the cube and set the mode to Intersect.
In the Object menu, select the cylinder.
In case there are many objects with a similar name, and you are not sure which one to select,
you can rename the object in the top-right corner of the screen, where you will find a list of
all the objects in the scene. This window is called the Outliner.
To rename an object, simply double-click on that object in this list and type in a new name.
You can also rename an object with F2.
Another way to target an object in the Boolean modifier is to use the Eyedropper.
After activating the Eyedropper tool, click on the object which you want to target.
When we target the cylinder, most of the cube instantly disappears, except the part that was
inside the cylinder.
You can now reposition the cube to change the shape of the intersection.
Once you are happy with the shape of the intersection, apply the modifier. Modifiers can also
be applied by hovering your mouse over the modifier in the stack and pressing Ctrl + A.
This will confirm the changes made by the modifier and make them Destructive, which
means they can no longer easily be undone by just disabling the modifier.
Next, we will learn about the Union function.
Union
The Union function combines two meshes into one by connecting their geometry around the
space where they overlap and removes the overlapping space. It is used the same way as the
Intersect function, except the modifier must be switched to Union mode.
When this function is applied, the cube and the cylinder are combined into one mesh in the
same object. You will have to delete the cylinder object after applying this modifier, because
currently a cylinder exists in the same place as part of the cube object and as a separate object
which was used in the Boolean operation.
Finally, we will proceed to the Difference function.
Difference
The Difference function creates a hole in the main object from the intersecting space of the
main object and the target object.
Again, it works the same as the other two functions, except that a chunk is cut out of the cube
in the shape of the intersection.
Collection Operand Type
It is possible to use multiple objects simultaneously in a Boolean operation by creating a
Collection. A Collection is a simply a group of objects which can be used to easily control all
those objects simultaneously. For example, we can create a collection with 4 cylinders to cut
4 holes at once in this cube. To do this, first create 4 separate objects, all of which intersect
with the cube.
These 4 objects can be found in the Outliner. This is where we will use them to create a
collection.
To create a collection with these 4 cylinders, right-click below them in the Outliner and
create a New Collection.
We now created a new collection, to which we will add the cylinders.
To add the objects into the collection, select them all and dragging them into the collection.
You can rename collections by double-clicking on their name, the same as objects.
To use this collection in a Boolean operation, first set the Operand Type to Collection.
Then select the collection in the Collection box.
After applying the modifier, move or delete the cylinders to reveal the cut mesh.
This can also be done with the union function, but it fails to work properly with the
intersection function for me.
We now learned how to use the Boolean modifier and all its functions to combine multiple
objects. Next, we will learn about the Array modifier and its functions and applications.
Array Modifier
The Array Modifier copies an object multiple times and arranges the instances in a straight
line, and it can be added from the Generate section of the Add Modifier menu.
It is useful for creating rows of identical objects because it saves us time by duplicating the
object automatically and ensures consistency in the spacing between individual instances.
When we add an array modifier, we can control the position of a duplicated instance
relatively to the original object on all three axes separately.
By default, we control the distance between instances using Relative Offset. This means that
when determining the relative position of the instance, we use the dimensions of the objects
Bounding Box as a unit of measurement. A bounding box is simply a box which has its
dimensions defined by the distance between the extremities of the object on all axes. Here is
an example of a monkey and its bounding box.
If the Y factor is set to 1.500 in the array modifier, this means that the instance will be moved
in the positive direction on the Y axis by 1.5 times the Y-axis length of the monkeys
bounding box.
This system is used to independently control the relative position of the instance on each axis.
For example, we can also set the X factor to -0.500, which will shift the instance sideways.
If we increase the number of copies to three, the third copy will have the same relative
position to the second copy, as the second copy does to the original object.
With Constant Offset, the distance between instances is defined in meters, which are also
visible on the grid in the background. This method can provide more accuracy.
Finally, Object Offset will use the relative position of another object to determine the
relative position of the instances created by the Array modifier. For example, if we have a
cube in the scene, we can use that cube as a target object in the Object Offset menu, and the
array modifier will send instances in the direction of the cube, with the same space as the
distance between the original object and the cube.
Using a higher count will add more objects with the same offset as the cube.
Interestingly, the scale of the target object is also copied onto the instances created by the
array modifier. This means that if we scale the cube down by a factor of 0.5, every instance
will have 0.5 times the scale of the previous one, making them gradually smaller.
To prevent the reference object from getting in the way, it is better to use an Empty instead
of a solid object like a cube. Empties are objects which have only a frame and no volume,
which makes them invisible in renders. Because of this, the act as great placeholders for
situations like this. Empties can be added with Shift + A in object mode.
Curve Modifier
The Curve modifier is a deform modifier that makes a mesh follow and bend to the shape of a
Curve. A Curve is a special type of object which appears as only a line defined by multiple
points, and it can be used for many purposes such as defining the form of a shape or guiding
an object or mesh along a fixed path.
To correctly use the curve modifier, we need to understand how curves work, so let´s go over
the basics of curves in Blender.
Curves
We will now learn about the fundamentals of curves. Start by adding a cylinder and a Path
Curve. To add a path curve, press Shift + A in object mode and add a Path from the Curve
menu.
In object mode, the curve looks like just an edge, but switching to edit mode will reveal that
the path curve consists of what appear to be 5 vertices and 4 yellow edges.
These are not vertices but Control Points, which are points used to define the shape of the
curve. The curve itself is the smooth black line, and the control points and edges are just
empty geometry used to define the curve which bends to their shape.
The control points of a curve behave just like vertices, which means they can be moved and
extruded to create new shapes.
It is even possible to create a full loop with the path curve by selecting the first and last
control point and pressing F to fill, just like when modeling with geometry.
When we create a loop by filling the endpoints, there is usually a sharp turn at the point
where we joined them.
We can make this smooth by un-checking Endpoint in the Active Spline menu found in the
Curve Properties tab.
Now that we learned how curves work, let’s return to the curve modifier.
Using a Curve with a Curve Modifier
We will now use a curve with a curve modifier. You will need a mesh and a curve, so make
sure you have both in your scene. If you haven’t already, then add a path curve and move
some of its vertices to change its shape.
In edit mode, snap the 3D cursor to the first vertex on the curve with Shift + S.
Use the 3D cursor to place the origin point of the curve to this vertex.
Then, snap the object to the same location with Shift + S.
Add a curve modifier to the cube and use the eyedropper to target the curve in the scene.
Now, the cube follows and deforms to the shape of the curve. Moving the cube on the X axis
will cause it to move along the curve. This is because the Deform Axis is set to X by default.
This can be changed to any other axis, so that movement on that axis would cause the object
to move along the curve.
The curve modifier works best with longer objects that have more geometry. Try creating a
cylinder with several horizontal loop cuts around it, set the deform axis to Z and move the
cylinder up or down the Z axis.
This will make the cylinder conform to the shape of the curve, and it starts to look like a pipe.
If we make the cylinder longer and thinner, and we give it more loop cuts, it will behave like
a tube which we can easily control by modeling the curve in edit mode.
Now that we understand the basic functions of the curve modifier, we will learn to combine it
with the array modifier. This is one of the most popular uses of both the curve and array
modifiers.
Combining the Curve and Array Modifiers.
We will now learn to combine the curve and the array modifier. This will allow us to create
chains, tracks or any other shapes which consists of a connected repetitive pattern that
behaves like a chain or rope. To start, create a curve and a mesh of any shape. As an example,
let’s use a monkey.
Place the origin of the curve and the monkey at the beginning of the curve, as we did
previously. Then, add an array modifier to the monkey and increase the count to 5 or more.
Use the arrow in the top-left corner of the array modifier in the modifier stack to collapse its
menu, and add a curve modifier.
Set the deform axis to the X axis, or whichever axis you used in the array modifier.
After targeting the curve in the curve modifier, the row of monkeys will bend to the shape of
the curve.
Rescaling the mesh can make it smaller so that more instances can fit onto the curve, and
changing the relative offset in the array modifier can change the distance between individual
instances of the mesh.
Since the array modifier duplicates the mesh in the X direction, rotating the monkey around
the X axis will effectively rotate all the instances around their individual local X axes
simultaneously.
This can be used in many ways. For example, you can stack an object like a pillar with the
array modifier so that its instances connect seamlessly, and attach this shape to a curve to
create a custom pipe or tube.
It is even possible to combine two arrayed objects and use them to create a chain. To do this,
we must first model a single chain link. Here is a quick 4-step approach to how this can be
done:
1. Create a plane with more length than width.
2. Bevel its vertices with Ctrl + B and V.
3. Inset the face with I and delete the inner face.
4. Extrude the loop with E and bevel the edge loops with a 90-degree angle using Ctrl + B.
After creating the single link, add an array modifier to this object with a relative offset factor
of 1.200.
Use a curve modifier to bend this chain to the shape of a curve.
Duplicate this object in object mode with Shift + D, then click the Right Mouse Button to
snap the duplicated object back into its original place.
In edit mode, rotate the duplicated object’s mesh around the x axis by 90 degrees.
Finally, in object mode, move this object along the x axis until it looks like all the links are
perfectly connected.
You can now create chains in Blender by combining modifiers.
Shrinkwrap Modifier
The Shrinkwrap Modifier projects a mesh onto the surface of another object. This is useful in
making geometry fit perfectly onto the curved surfaces of other objects. To demonstrate how
this modifier works, we need a curved surface and a flat surface. First, add a level 5
subdivision surface modifier to a cube.
Apply the modifier to create a round mesh, which has a curved surface.
Next, add a plane and place it above the ball. The plane must be small, so that it’s edges and
corners would certainly fit inside of the sphere. Then, in edit mode, press W and subdivide
the plane at least 3 times. This will create more geometry on the plane, which will allow us to
bend it and project it onto the surface below.
Add a shrinkwrap modifier to the plane. It can be found in the Deform category of the Add
Modifier menu.
In the shrinkwrap modifier, set the Target to the ball that was created by subdividing a cube.
This will project the plane onto the ball and bend its shape to fit the curved surface.
By default, the Wrap Method is set to Nearest Surface Point. This means that every vertex
from the plane is placed onto the specific point on the surface of the ball which is closest to
that vertex, given the current location of the plane and the ball. Transforming either object
will change which point on the ball is nearest to each vertex.
The wrap method can be changed. Setting it to Project will place every vertex to the point
where the normal line of that vertex intersects with the surface of the ball. If the normal line
does not intersect with any part of the ball, the vertex will stay in its original place. Because
of this calculation method, the plane must be lowered into the sphere before any of its
geometry gets projected onto the ball. As the plane gets pulled down towards the ball, it starts
to bend to the shape of the ball gradually, like a falling blanket.
When it is pulled down far enough, the plane fully takes the shape of the surface that it
covers.
From top view, the plane still looks like a perfect square because the projection does not
change the shape of the object. Think of this as a shadow being cast onto another object.
The Target Normal Project wrap method also performs calculations based on normal lines.
It looks for the nearest point where the interpolated smooth normal is either facing toward or
away from the original vertex position.
The result will be something like the figure below.
Because of this calculation method, the closer the plane is to the surface, the larger it will be
when it wraps. If it is further away, it will become smaller because a smaller area has normal
lines which will intersect the plane.
This modifier allows you to project any shape onto a surface. Applying the modifier will
make it possible to extrude the wrapped surface and use it for modeling. Next, we will learn
about the lattice modifier, which can be combined with the shrinkwrap modifier to wrap not
only flat surfaces on other objects, but also thicker meshes.
Lattice
The Lattice Modifier deforms an object according to a Lattice object. A lattice object is a
simple 2D or 3D grid that is placed around or over an object like a cage or frame. The
vertices of the lattice, when moved, pull the nearby geometry of the mesh with it. To use it,
first create an object with some details, such as this box.
Then, with Shift + A, add a Lattice and place it around this object. Make sure that no part of
the mesh is sticking outside of the lattice frame.
The lattice can be subdivided by increasing the resolution in the Object Data Properties tab.
It is usually best to subdivide the lattice into cubes because that allows for the best control
when deforming. The values for each axis will determine the number of vertices on that side.
Next, add a Lattice Modifier to the mesh.
In the Lattice Modifier, target the lattice object which we just created.
Now, the vertices of the lattice can be edited in edit mode. When the vertices of the lattice are
moved, the mesh underneath it will be smoothly deformed.
The lattice can also be two-dimensional, which is ideal for bending or deforming thinner
surfaces with details.
To do this, just set the U axis resolution to 1.
This type of lattice can conveniently be coupled with a shinkwrap modifier because the lattice
is a flat surface, which is exactly the type of object which is typically used when shinkwrapping. Doing so will allow us to bend more complex surfaces onto other objects. To do
this, first parent the surface to the two-dimensional lattice by selecting the surface, then
selecting the lattice and pressing Ctrl + P and setting the parent to Object (Keep
Transform).
For the best result, make sure that the surface is sitting exactly on the lattice and there is no
space between them. The lattice will be placed on the target object, and if there is a gap
between the lattice and the surface, it will be visible in the result.
Then, add a Shrinkwrap modifier to the lattice and set the target to an object of your choice.
In this example, we are targeting a hemisphere below the lattice to demonstrate how the mesh
will bend.
Once the object is targeted, the lattice and the surface above it will bend according to the
hemisphere.
Activate the snapping tool, switch to Face Project and check Align Rotation to Target.
With this settings, we can freely move the lattice and its surface around the target object and
it will always perfectly project onto the surface below.
Next, we will learn about proportional editing.
Proportional Editing
Proportional Editing is a way of transforming objects and geometry by affecting nearby
elements. This is useful for organic workflows, or to create curved surfaces and geometry,
and it works in both object mode and edit mode. To visualize what proportional editing does
and how it works, add a Grid with Shift + A and set the number of subdivisions to at least 20.
Then, activate proportional editing by clicking on the Proportional Editing button at the top
of the screen, or press O.
Next, select a vertex in the middle of the grid and move it up. Because of proportional
editing, when we move this vertex up, the surrounding geometry moves up as well, creating a
smooth bump.
Proportional editing influences the geometry around the selected element(s), but only inside
the grey circle which is visible when we initiate a transformation such as movement. The
same transformation that we are making on the selected vertex applies to the surrounding
geometry as well, but the level of influence on the surrounding geometry is inversely
proportional to its distance from the middle of the circle.
Changing the Falloff type changes the calculation that Blender uses to determine how the
surrounding geometry is affected relatively to the selected geometry. For example, switching
it to sharp will make the nearby geometry heavily affected while the surrounding geometry is
barely affected at all. This creates a spike shape.
This is useful for bending surfaces and creating curved geometry. It might be necessary to
temporarily move some nearby geometry away to prevent it from being affected.
Proportional editing works well even when multiple separated elements are selected. Even
though only one circle is visible, each selection island has its own circle of influence. One
way to use this is to select random vertices on a subdivided mesh and scale them with
proportional editing. This will make the shape appear more messy and organic, which can be
useful for creating natural shapes like rocks and terrain or organic objects.
Next, we will go over the various selection methods available in Blender. This will give you
more control over your modelling procedures by allowing you to quickly and easily select
specific parts of a mesh automatically, rather than clicking on every element individually.
Selection Tools
There are many different tools and techniques for selecting objects and geometry in Blender.
They can all be used for different purposes, and they can significantly speed up our
workflows by automatically selecting items which would otherwise be tedious to select
manually.
Basic Selection
There are many ways to select things in Blender using just the mouse and some keyboard
shortcuts. The simplest way to select objects or geometry is to click on them, and the specific
mouse button that does this depends on your personalized settings. Holding down Shift when
selecting new items will retain the previously selected ones while adding new ones to the
selection pool.
This works the same when selecting objects in object mode and when selecting geometry in
edit mode.
Pressing A will select or deselect all the geometry in edit mode and all the objects in object
mode.
Box Select
The Box Select tool selects all items within a rectangular box. Press B to activate the tool,
then click and drag to draw a box over the items you wish to select.
Everything inside the drawn box will become selected once the mouse button is released.
The box select tool will only select visible items, and not the items hidden behind cover. In
this example, the geometry on the back side of the sphere was not selected.
To fix this, undo the selection and repeat it in wire frame view. Wireframe view can be
toggled by pressing Z, or by pressing the wireframe button in the top-right corner of the
screen.
This reveals hidden geometry, which can now be reached by the box select tool.
The box select tool can also be used to deselect. To do so, just hold Shift before releasing, and
everything in the selection zone will be deselected.
Circle Select
The circle select tool is activated with C, and it replaces the pointer with a circular brush.
After activating the tool, clicking and dragging will select everything in the path of the brush.
Scrolling the mouse wheel changes the size of the brush, while clicking and dragging the
Middle Mouse Button deselects selected items in the path of the brush.
Pick Shortest Path
When a vertex, edge or face is selected, selecting another one with Ctrl + Click will
automatically select a path that connects those two elements.
After selecting the shortest path, the Pick Shortest Path menu in the bottom-left corner of
the screen provides some more functions for this tool. Checking the Face Stepping option
selects only faces which connect diagonally, and do not share any edges. This creates a
different selection pattern.
Checking Fill Region selects a rectangular surface that uses the first and last selected
elements as diagonal corners.
This can also be done by selecting one face and then using Ctrl + Shift + Click to select
another face.
The Pick Shortest Path menu can be used to select checker patterns. To do so, use the
Selected, Deselected and Offset boxes. For example, setting deselected to 2 and selected to 1
will deselect two faces in between every one selected face.
Checker Deselect
The Checker Deselect tool works much like the pattern selection function in the Pick
Shortest Path tool, except it also works on surfaces instead of just one-dimensional selections.
To use it, select a surface or mesh and, in the Select menu, click on Checker Deselect.
It deselects elements from the selected geometry to create a checker pattern.
The controls in the Checker Deselect menu can be used to create patterns with the selection.
This is useful because you can now perform various modeling procedures on the selected
geometry to create unique shapes.
Loop Select
The Loop Select tool selects an entire edge, face or vertex loop. To select a loop, hover over
it and press Alt + Click.
To add more loops to the selection, use Shift + Alt + Click.
This works the same when selecting edge loops or face loops, just switch to a different
selection mode with 1, 2 or 3.
Select Similar
The Select Similar tool has a set of functions that can be used to automatically select all
geometry with similar properties in various attributes. When an object is selected in object
mode or when a vertex, face, or edge is selected in edit mode, pressing Shift + G will open
the Select Similar menu. Here, an attribute can be picked by which Blender will measure and
compare other items and select similar ones. For example, selecting similar length while an
edge is selected in edit mode will select all the edges which have a similar length to the
selected one.
After selecting similar edges, the attribute or type of selection can still be changed in the
Select Similar menu in the bottom-left corner on the screen.
Changing the Threshold value will change the tolerance level for differences. A higher
threshold value means that edges with a greater length difference from the selected edge will
still become selected. As a result, more edges will be selected.
When a face is selected, the Select Similar menu will offer completely different functions.
This is because faces are defined by different attributes than edges. For example, a face does
not have length, but it does have area. Thus, faces can be compared by their area and it is
possible to select all faces with a similar area.
Naturally, new attributes for similar selection are available for vertices in vertex select mode,
and for objects in object mode.
There are many more selection tools in the Select menu in the top-left corner of the screen.
The tools in this menu are different in object mode, edit mode and other workspaces.
Exploring them can help you sharpen your skills further.
Now that we learned all the most important modeling tools and features in Blender, we will
learn about shading, as it is a key component for understanding topology, which we will learn
about afterwards.
Shading
Here is an example of an object which has both curved surfaces and sharp edges. The dome
edges that connect the faces on the dome at the top of the cylinder are visible as a grid, and
this does not look good. That geometry, as well as the geometry on the sides of the cylinder,
must be smooth.
To make these surfaces appear smooth, select the object in object mode, and in the Object
menu, select Shade Auto Smooth.
This will make the round parts of the mesh appear smooth, while the sharp edges will still
look sharp.
The auto smooth function makes the sharp edges stay sharp while curved surfaces are
smooth by calculating the angles between faces. By default, any faces which have an angle of
30 degrees or less between their normals will be shaded smoothly. This can be controlled in
the Normals section of the Object Data Properties tab.
In some cases, there can be edges which connect faces with less than 30 degrees between
their normals, but we still need them to be sharp. For example, if we add some edge loops
around the cylinder and expand the bottom section, we get some edges that are shaded
smoothly but we want them to be sharp.
One way to fix this issue is to reduce the Auto Smooth Angle, so that these edges would not
be considered as smooth by Blender.
Sometimes, there is no auto auto smooth angle which can correctly shade every edge. Instead,
reducing the angle in an attempt to shade an edge as sharp might also take other edges into
account and make them sharp, even though they should not be sharp. Here is an example of
how some edges might become shaded as sharp because we reduced the auto-smooth angle
when trying to make another edge sharp.
To fix this, we can manually decide which edges should be sharp and which edges should be
smooth. To do this, first shade the mesh smoothly and set the auto smooth angle to the
maximum 180 degrees. This will make every edge smooth.
Next, in edit mode, select the edges or edge loops (with Alt + Click). Then press Ctrl + E and
select Mark Sharp.
Now, only the edges which are marked as sharp will have sharp shading.
While the Shade Auto Smooth function is good at controlling which edges should be smooth
and which ones should be sharp, it does not create a very realistic result. This is because in
real life, there are no completely sharp edges, and there is always a small bevel, which has a
considerable impact on how the light reflects from a mesh. In the following example, the left
object is shaded with auto smooth, and it does not look realistic, but rather like an object from
an old low-poly video game. The right object looks much more realistic, and all its edges are
shaded smooth.
The secret is in the geometry of the mesh. Every edge with a right angle on the right object
has a small bevel. This can easily be done by selecting one right-angle edge, and then
selecting all similar edges by face angles with Shift + G.
Add a small bevel to the selected edges with Ctrl + B. The bevel must have 2 segments and a
shape value of 1.000.
Next, select Shade Smooth in the Object menu.
This will greatly improve the shading of the object my creating small reflections on the sharp
edges, which makes them look much more realistic. The geometry from the bevel will also
act as supporting geometry if a subdivision surface modifier is used, which makes the
application of this kind of bevel even more useful.
Next, we will learn about how to leverage topology to improve the quality of our 3D models.
Understanding Topology
Topology is the arrangement and flow of Polygons on the surface of a mesh. Polygons are
shapes defined by Vertices, and the Edges which connect the vertices. The surface between
the edges and vertices is called the Face. In simple terms, polygons are just 2D shapes. Think
of a triangle, rectangle, pentagon, hexagon and so on. By practicing good topology, your
models will have a much higher overall quality. We are going to discuss what topology
means, why it is important and how we can get good at working with it.
In polygon-based 3D modelling (as opposed to CAD modelling), every object is made of a
combination of polygons. Ideally, we want all our polygons to be 4-sided to ensure the
highest quality. 4-sided polygons are known as Quads. Triangles are acceptable too, but we
will later learn why using only rectangles is preferable. 3-sided polygons, or triangles, are
known simply as Tris.
We can now conclude that one way of identifying good topology is the exclusive usage of
primarily quads and, if necessary, tris. We can also assume that, generally, inspecting the
topology of a 3D model is a good way to assess its quality, and we will now learn why.
Good and Bad Topology
Here are some problems that can come up because of bad topology. The image below shows
two cubes with circular holes in their top faces. The left object has bad topology, and the
right object has great topology. The left object has N-gons, which are polygons consisting of
n edges, n being any number greater than 4. The right object consists of only quads.
We understand now that the object on the left has bad topology, but let’s look at why this can
be a problem. The next image shows the same two objects with a subdivision surface
modifier. The object on the right looks exactly as we would want it to look when subdivided,
but the object on the left turns into a complete mess. This massive difference in the result is
caused by the object’s topology. However, if you do not intend to use a subdivision surface
modifier (or other modifiers which might cause the same problem), then this is not a concern.
Another example of what can go wrong because of bad topology is the tendency of Shading
Artifacts to appear when smooth shading is activated. Shading artifacts are visible
imperfections in the shading of an object, which clearly should not be there. This can still be
avoided using Auto Smooth Shading.
N-gons and bad topology also cause difficulties with modelling by disabling some tools from
working correctly. For example, the loop cut tool (activated with Ctrl + R) will not work as it
should because blender does not know how to apply the tool correctly. This is shown in the
example below, where the loop cut appears as only 2 points on an edge on the right object.
This can also happen when triangles are used instead of quads, which Is why it is generally
better to avoid them, though they are not as bad as n-gons.
We now learned about 3 different problems that can be caused by bad topology and why it is
important to use good topology. We have discussed why using a boolean modifier to cut
holes can be problematic. Next, we will discuss why maintaining consistent polygon density
is important for our workflow, and why polygon consistency is one of the most important
attributes when considering topology in 3D modeling.
Cutting Holes Correctly
We will now create a circular hole in a cube while maintaining good topology, to ensure good
shading, and a good mesh for further modeling. To process, we need to activate the
LoopTools add-on, which will give us some simple but powerful modeling tools. This addon is built into Blender, so it does not have to be bought or downloaded separately. To
activate it, go to the Add-ons section of the Preferences window (found in the Edit menu in
the top-left corner of the screen), and search LoopTools in the search box.
Then, activate the add-on.
Create a new cube and subdivide it in edit mode.
Set the number of cuts to at least 3. More cuts will give us a higher resolution, but 3 is
enough for this simple example.
Select the entire top surface of the cube by selecting a face in one corner, then selecting the
diagonally opposite face with Ctrl + Shift + Click.
Press I and move the mouse pointer towards the center of the surface to Inset the faces.
With the inset faces selected, press W. In the LoopTools menu, select Circle.
This will arrange the selected geometry into a circle. It might be useful to scale down the
middle faces to prevent the corner faces from being squeezed too much
Next, extrude the circular surface inwards and bevel the sharp edges to optimize their
shading.
Adding smooth shading to this object will make it perfect.
Next, we will learn how to model on curved surfaces while maintaining good topology.
Polygon Consistency
Polygon Consistency refers to the uniformity of face sizes and shapes on a mesh. For
example, in the image below, the mesh on the left has good polygon consistency because all
the faces and they are all approximately the same size and shape. The mesh on the right is
problematic because even though it is made of only quads, it has faces that are very long and
stretched out into odd shapes.
As a result, the two meshes will look very different when subdivided. The mesh with good
topology creates a good result, while the mesh with bad topology creates a bad result with
artifacts and ugly shading.
Because of this principle, adding new geometry only for the sake of creating one feature is
wrong. In the following example, we are creating a hole in a cube using the wrong workflow.
First we create two loop cuts, where the intersection marks the position of the hole. We then
bevel the loop cuts to turn them into more edges, so that we can use the grid created at the
loop cut intersection and turn it into a circle with loop tools.
Doing this results in polygonal inconsistency. The mesh consists of faces with dramatically
different shapes and area. Even though the mesh consists of only quads, the topology will
likely lead to problems, as we have learned previously.
The correct way to add a feature to a mesh is to first subdivide the mesh to a degree which
gives us enough geometry to create the feature anywhere, then take a small surface from the
mesh and turn that into the feature.
This will create lots of new faces, but they will all have a consistent size and shape. You can
think of this as increasing the resolution of an image so that fine details can exist.
It is important to understand that creating good topology using a quad-only workflow while
maintaining polygonal consistency is very demanding for the computer because it drastically
increases the polygon count. This modeling style is known as the SubD workflow, and it is
typically only demanded in the highest production quality settings such as film and animation
studios. For game assets, topology is not important, as long as the final result looks good.
Next, we will learn to model on curved surfaces
Modeling on Curved Surfaces
We will now learn how to attach shapes to or cut holes in curved surfaces while maintaining
good topology. In this exercise, we will create a circular hole in a sphere. First, create a cube
with and apply a subdivision surface modifier with 3 levels of subdivision.
We must turn this subdivided cube into a perfect sphere. To do this, add a Cast modifier.
In the cast modifier, set the shape to Sphere and the factor to 1.00, and apply the modifier.
This will turn the ball into a perfect sphere.
Select a face at which you want to create create the hole. After selecting the face, press Shift
+ NUM7 to align the view with the selected face.
Snap the 3D cursor to the selected face with Shift + S.
In object mode, add a new 12-vertex circle and align the circle with your view.
Rotate the circle by 45 degrees. This will make it align with the geometry of the
sphere better.
In edit mode, fill the circle by selecting all its vertices and pressing F. Then, scale the circle
down so it is smaller than the 9-face surface underneath it.
Add a shrinkwrap modifier to the circle. Set the wrap method to Project and target the sphere
bellow it.
Move the circle down on its local Z axis, until it is completely glued to the surface of the
sphere.
Apply the shrinkwrap modifier.
Select the circle, then select the sphere, and press Ctrl + J to join them into the same object.
Select the four vertices that create the face in the middle of the circle, and delete them by
pressing X or Delete.
The gap around the circle is made up of exactly 12 vertices, just like the circle. This means
that we can connect these two edge loop perfectly using 12 quads.
To do this, select the two edge loops with Alt + Click, then press W and select Bridge Edge
Loops.
This will connect the edge loops and fill the gap while maintaining clean topology.
Extrude the face inwards to create a hole.
Creating a circle on the other side of the sphere using the same method allows us to cut a hole
through the entire object.
We can now add a subdivision surface modifier to this mesh and it will be perfectly smooth.
When this shape is extruded in either direction and subdivided, there will be visible issues
caused by the subdivision surface modifier on the n-gon. To fix this, there are a few things
that must be changed.
One way to fix this is to add a small bevel and the top and bottom edge loops. The bevel must
have 2 segments and a shape value of 1.000.
Another way is to set the Mean Crease value of those edge loops to 1.00. This can be done
in the Transform menu available on the right side of the screen in edit mode, which is
toggled with T.
The mean crease value determines how sharp an edge will be when subdivided by a
subdivision surface modifier. When the mean crease is set to 1.00, the selected edge or edges
become completely sharp.
The edge can also be made only slightly sharper, by setting the mean crease value to
something like 0.50.
When creases are marked on edges, they become perfectly sharp, and smooth shading no
longer works well by default. We must either mark sharps or use auto smooth shading.
We now have a cylinder perfectly welded to the surface of the sphere.
This technique works well for fixing shapes onto a surface Destructively, i.e. permanently
and in such a way that it cannot be undone without a considerable amount of work. In other
words, we cannot move this shape to another part of the sphere.
In the next section, we are going to learn how to attach shapes to objects in a more flexible,
Non-Destructive way. This will allow us to add high levels of details to our models.
Attaching Objects to Surfaces
We will now learn a way to glue an object to a surface below it seamlessly without
permanently changing the shape of either the object or the surface. Doing this will allow us
freely move the object along the surface, but the object will still look smoothly attached as if
it is part of the same mesh as the surface below it. There must be no visible edge between the
hatch and the curved surface below it. Yet, this object can easily be moved around the surface
and placed anywhere while staying connected.
A tank turret is a good example of when it can be useful to attach objects to curved surfaces
while still retaining the possibility of moving the object around to adjust their position.
First, create a sphere by subdividing a cube to at least 4 levels, and applying a cast modifier
to it.
Place a thin cylinder just above the surface of the sphere. Adding details will make the result
better, but this is just a simple demonstration so it isn’t necessary.
Select the face at the bottom of the shape and delete it by pressing X.
Place the origin of this object to the middle of the lowest circle.
In the constraints tab, add a Shrinkwrap constraint. Constraints are functions used to
control an objects basic properties, like location, rotation and scale. They are different from
modifiers because modifiers control the mesh, not the object.
In the shrinkwrap constraint, target the surface below.
When the shrinkwrap constraint is active, we can freely move this object around but it will
always stick to the surface so that the origin point is exactly on the surface. The object will
still maintain its rotation, so it will look odd if placed on the side of the surface.
To fix this, activate Align to Normal and set the axis to Z. This will make the
object face the direction of the normal of the face below it.
In edit mode, extrude the edges at the base of the object and scale them up.
Select the inner edge loop at the base and bevel it with Ctrl + B. Leave some space between
the lower edge of the bevel and the outer edge loop.
In the Bevel menu at the bottom-left, set the number of segments to 3.
The base of the object is now rounded, but there is still a visible gap between the object and
the surface below it.
We will close this gap by making the geometry on this part of the mesh stick to the surface
below. To do this, first select all the edge loops in the bevel, as shown below.
Find the Object Data Properties tab on the right side of the screen and add a new vertex
group using the plus button. Creating a vertex group allows us to apply certain functions, like
some modifiers, to only the vertices which belong to that group. In other words, we can make
it so that only the vertices in the vertex group are affected by the modifier.
Assign the new vertex group to the selection using the Assign button.
Next, add a shrinkwrap modifier to the object and target the surface below it.
In the shrinkwrap modifier, set the Vertex Group to the group which we created previously.
This will cause the shrinkwrap to only affect the vertices to which we assigned the vertex
group, while the other vertices in the object remain unaffected by the modifier. As a result,
the targeted vertex group gets fully projected onto the surface below.
We are now going to control the degree to which the shrinkwrap modifier affects each vertex
in the group. We will do this because we don’t want the shrinkwrap modifier to pull all the
vertices from the group all the way onto the surface of the object below, but we want to
gradually reduce the level of influence that the modifier has on the geometry to create a
smooth transition between the object and the surface. To do this, first select the two
outermost vertex loops, then set the Weight value to 1.000 in the object properties tab, and
click Assign.
The next vertex loop must have a lower weight value because we do not want it to stick to the
surface, we just want it to be brought closer. In this case, it should have a weight value of
0.750.
To continue the weight regression in a constant manner, the next edge loop must have a
weight of 0.500, and the final one will have a weight of 0.250.
Doing this will create a smooth transition, but there will still be shading artifacts visible
where the object meets the surface.
To fix this, first add a Data Transfer modifier to the object.
Set the Source to the object below and the Vertex Group to the vertex group used in the
shrinkwrap modifier.
Then, check Face Corner Data and enable Custom Normals.
The Mapping must be set to Nearest Face Interpolated.
To fully remove the shading artifacts, disable Outline in the Viewport Shading menu in the
top-right corner of the screen.
Now, the object will have a perfectly smooth connection to the surface below it and it can
still move freely along the entire surface.
LoopTools
The LoopTools add-on is, as we have touched upon previously, a built-in modeling add-on
that provides a set of useful modeling tools. It can be activated in Blender’s Preferences
menu. We will now go over all the loop tools individually to learn how they work and how
they can be used.
Bridge
The Bridge tool creates a connection between two separate selected edges or edge loops. To
use it, first select two sets of edges, such as the outer edges on these two surfaces. Then press
W, and in the LoopTools menu, select Bridge. This will fill the two sets of edges with faces,
and the faces will not be twisted if the two edge selections are identical.
The bridge tool will also work on face selections. When two surfaces are selected, they will
be connected and deleted. This can be used to make connections between separate meshes.
Again, it works best if there is an equal number of faces/edges selected on both sides. The
Segments slider will control how many segments the bridge consists of.
The Strength determines how inflated or deflated the bridge appears. Reducing the strength
makes the bridge look more inflated.
The bridge can also be twisted.
With Subdivision Surface, this can create some intriguing results.
We now covered the most important functions of the bridge tool and how it can be used on a
model. Next, let’s discuss the Circle tool.
Circle
The Circle tool turns selected geometry into a perfect circle. The result circle we have the
same number of edges as the outline of the selected area.
It is not necessary to select faces, as edge loops can also be turned into a circle.
The Radius and Angle of the circle can be controlled to change the size and rotation of the
resulting circle.
The influence slider controls the degree to which the function affects the geometry. If the
slider is set to half, the geometry will not fully transform into the shape we defined.
Curve
The Curve tool turns all the geometry between the selected control vertices into a smooth
curve. When it is applied, all the geometry between the selected vertices gets arranged into a
curve which passes through all the control points. This is useful for precisely creating curves
which must pass through exact points.
The curve tool can also use edge loops as control points, as well as curves which were created
from edge loops as shown above. This is especially useful for curving entire surfaces.
This can be used for creating complex surfaces from several edge loops.
Flatten
The Flatten function makes a curved or bumpy surface flat by aligning all the normals of the
selected faces with their mean normal line.
There are multiple ways to align the flattened surface. For example, aligning it will twist it
until it is facing our view.
Gstretch
The Gstretch function turns an edge loop into a perfectly straight line. By default, it also
makes all the edges equally long, which can distort the surrounding geometry.
Switching the Method to Project will slide the vertices of the selected edge loop until they
form a perfectly straight line, but the distance between them will not be equalized. The
purpose of this method is to prevent the surrounding geometry from being affected. This is
useful for cleaning topology and organizing geometry on meshes.
Loft
The Loft tool is similar to the bridge tool because it connects edge loops. The difference is
that the loft tool can use multiple segments to create a bridge, while the bridge can only use
two. This allows us to manually construct the shape of the bridge by arranging edge loops
and connecting them all instantly.
The loft tool sometimes creates twisted segments when we need everything to be straight.
To fix this, delete the twisted segment and create it gain by bridging or lofting the two edge
loops that create that segment. That way you can adjust the twist for that segment
individually.
Relax
Relaxing an edge loop reduces the sharpness of the angles between its edges. For example,
relaxing the outer edges of a subdivided plane makes the corners round.
By default, the relax tool uses a Cubic calculation method, which makes the rounded corners
extend outwards slightly. This can be changed by switching the Interpolation to Linear in the
Relax menu.
Here is another example what the relax tool can be useful for. On a subdivided edge loop
with sharp points, the points become rounded and smoother, as if we applied a subdivision
surface modifier.
Increasing the number of Iterations will automatically repeat the procedure multiple times.
This can make the edge loops much smoother or rounder than just 1 iteration.
When relaxing an edge loop, we have the choice of relaxing just the selected
edge loop or all the edge loops parallel to the selected one, including the
selected one. For example, we can simultaneously relax all the vertical edge
loops on a cylinder by changing the Input to Parallel (all).
Space
The space tool makes the length of all edges in the selected edge loops equal. This can be
useful for cleaning up topology by evenly distributing the geometry of a mesh to make them
more organized and consistent.
The space tool can also simultaneously equalize the edge lengths of all edge loops parallel to
the selected one, using the Input switch. This can instantly clean up the topology on an entire
mesh
By remembering what all the individual LoopTools functions do, you gain the ability to
easily create organic meshes and shapes which would other be tedious or impossible to do
manually. LoopTools are especially useful in modeling cars and car interiors because they
allow you to make surfaces very clean and organized, as is required for such models.
Closing Remarks
You now learned all the most important modeling tools that exist in Blender. This is all you
will need to create any 3D model you can imagine. The many remaining tools, techniques
and functions will be included in further updates to this eBook. Suggestions for topics to be
included in future versions can be sent directly via any of the platforms below.
If you found this eBook helpful, please consider leaving a positive comment or review about
it on one of my YouTube videos or on the Discord server.
Connect with me on other platforms:
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