10 Hard surface tricks for Blender 

Thank you. :)

Oh great tips! Thanks I didn't know about those commands.

Thank you so much for saying so! That's always my goal and you're not the first to say so which makes me know I'm doing the right thing. Keep blending! Check out my other hard surface videos on here, loads of gems.

Thank you for those kind words! That's my goal.

Thank you so much for saying so! I appreciate the encouragement and glad to hear that you are enjoying my content!

So happy to hear that! Work your way through my blender playlist and youll be on a great start

You're welcome how did you find it and what else would you like to see me cover?

You are very welcome

That awesome to hear! Welcome to the free side :D check out my other videos they'll give you a good foundation for more advanced things later.

Thanks for watching! Be sure to check out part 2! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-057ZhNuNF7c.html

Thank you so much! Be sure to check out part 2 of Hard Surface Modeling Tricks. And thanks I love making it, it's a nerds dream come true!

Thank you! That's my goal. More to come soon!

Oh I love that trick but at the time of this recording I thought I had to press enter before moving between commands which killed the usefulness of shift R. But I learned otherwise and am happy someone pointed that out!

Thanks! That trick comes in handy a lot for all kinds of cylindrical shapes like hydraulics, lightsabers, pipes, and it works for other shapes too! Ridges can add a good level of fine detail when used in the right place. Don't forget to add a small amount of bevel though so that the edges are not impossibly sharp.

Glad to hear it thanks for writing!

Great to hear thank you!

Thanks and glad to hear that. Any suggestions for future videos?

Thank you so much! More on the way be sure to subscribe!

Thanks! I will do more videos on this topic maybe a detailed panel / greeble one.

Thank you so much! I'd have to agree lol nah there are some geniuses out there that blow my mind every week! I'm just zeroing in on the few things I'm good at and have gotten some great feedback!

That plus a rotated empty can make the circular array, you're right. I think I'll do a modifiers video sometime soon.

@@DanielGrovePhoto for added bonus, use a driver to link the array count in the modifier to the rotation of the empty.

Just what i was gonna say my man XD

An array would work, but I think the linked duplicate (instance) is more efficient on memory and performance. Also once you create and rotate the first instance (alt-d rz-60) you can quickly create more instances by using shift-r to repeat the last task. much faster.

You could as well use Shift+R to repeat the duplication+rotation (:

Thanks so much I try to appeal to both sides! Any suggestions for future videos?

@@DanielGrovePhoto Well, I have a suggestion, if you've got a way to do it. I am currently working on a sci-fi ship, but am having a hard time making the hull look detailed. I feel like I could do better if I knew how to make my own hull textures, and apply them with UV wrapping, etc. However, most of the ways I'm seeing are either too complicated, or don't actually explain the full process.

Not sure if it will help but check out my recent video where I talk about hull and texturing. I didn't go super deep in to detail in that one (maybe a future video) but maybe it will help. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-GqBUxHXGT00.html

Glad to hear the video helped! Check out the others on hard surface and hallway modeling they have some cool tricks in them too.

If you want more organic pipes or tubes you can just use curves and use a thickness

@@Thatsmahnut agree and that also works for the pipes he shows. And indeed it is much quicker, more flexible when it comes to the shape of the pipes (make them longer, add corners etc) and of course the profile. Not only can you use the curve geometry options but also other curves as profile, which you can change very easily. Pipes, ceiling molding, beams or picture frames, all made very easy and quick with curves.

Thanks! Any suggestions for future videos?

@@DanielGrovePhoto I'm the same guy from fb. Sadly no....

Yeah that one is great for me since I don't do organic stuff and hate bones! Thanks for watching and don't miss part 2! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-057ZhNuNF7c.html

Thanks!

Thank you! This is one of my most popular videos. I have a part 2 and 3 as I love hard surface modeling. Find them in my Blender playlist and subscribe for future video!

@@DanielGrovePhoto Absolutely! Cheers.

Yes thank you for that tip! I hadn't tried those two commands as one without enter in the middle. And I use a trackpad / stylus so no scroll wheel for me!

Thank you!!

Thanks for watching! Be sure to check out part 2! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-057ZhNuNF7c.html

Thanks! What would you like to see more of on my channel?

Thanks for watching! Be sure to check out part 2! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-057ZhNuNF7c.html

Thanks!

That is my goal for my whole channel! Thanks for watching and be sure to check out parts 2 and 3 of this as well as my other Blender videos.

Oh thank you! I appreciate details like that and didn't know.

Thanks for watching and enjoying it.

Thank you so much!!! Check out the part 2 where I built a whole hall way and the top 10 hard surface modeling tricks too. Great stuff.

@@DanielGrovePhoto sure i will check that out too

Thank you! Check out part 2 and 3 too!

Thanks for watching! Be sure to check out part 2! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-057ZhNuNF7c.html

You're welcome! What kind of videos would you like to see in the future?

Thanks! Check out part 2 and my other blender videos. Lots of gems there and some free downloads. I have some awesome and cheap kitbashes and materials as well if you google Daniel Grove Designs I'm on gumroad and blendermarket.

Thank you!! Check out part 3 it's got some gems in it too and a compositing trick that can do wonders to renders.

I just press it a second time as my finger was already there for the first press but ya those work too!

Thank you! Part 2 is in the works!

Haha yep.

Thanks!

Agreed! Haha who needs the donut tutorial anymore!?

I think about that too))

also you don't have to press Enter after Alt+D - you can press R+the desired degree and then Enter

Yes thanks! Learn something new every day/video.

I did this by just using the array modifier and using the "offset object" option to make it use an empty object at the 3D cursor as the central point

@@r6scrubs126 yeah was thinking the same, it's just easier to use an empty

Thanks so much! Yeah the parenting thing happened out of necessity.. or laziness once I started trying to learn rigging and bones. I found they are more geared to organic models and it didn't make sense why a multi piece hard surface model like a robot should be joined as one mesh! I like having control over objects and not joining them. So I found parenting a good easy route for animating robotic type stuff. be sure to put the pivot or origin points where the joint is AND lock / limit rotations for the object so it will only move the way you want.

@@DanielGrovePhoto Best things develope out of laziness :D But i totally agree, I am also more interested in mechanical stuff, like mechas and such, but rigging seemed always kind of overwhelming. So your tipp will be massively usefull!

Thanks for watching! Be sure to check out part 2! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-057ZhNuNF7c.html

Thanks! How did you find it?

Thanks! What would you like to see me cover next?

@@DanielGrovePhoto Booleans would be a good one I think...

@@snoke_iv5419 thanks!

Thanks for watching! Be sure to check out part 2! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-057ZhNuNF7c.html

Thanks for watching!

Thanks! More on the way. How did you find me?

Oops! Just eye candy but I did use all of these techniques on those models.

Thanks for watching! Be sure to check out part 2! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-057ZhNuNF7c.html

Glad it helped!

I did not know that thanks! I had always wondered if there was such a command. Thanks.

Great to hear! That's exciting. Check out my other videos like intro to Blender 2.8 and how to make a lightsaber. Great for beginners. Any questions just ask.

@@DanielGrovePhoto will do ty

Thanks! How did you find my channel?

Thank you very much! How did you find me and what would you like to see more of?

@@DanielGrovePhoto I am a photographer, musician, 3d modeler (all for hobbies not work) and searched for 'blender photography hard surface' and your thumbnail stood out so I watched, I was a technology teacher myself until redundancy came along and found your production and teaching style top notch, you can certainly go far on this here platform I think. I would like to see more hard surface stuff if possible and also Animation if you are into that side of things. By the way an absolutely amazing new plugin I found yesterday is the 'Cad style precision movement' ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-vhm_b-YVdK4.html - precision snapping at last, It has changed my whole creation method, its a free or donation plug in at the moment, thanks again pal ... cheers

That's me! I've made props, backgrounds, ships, and vfx using Blender to use in my photographs and it's so much fun! Sometimes clients present a concept to me and I have to go find out a way to make it happen. Check out my creative work at Danielgrovephoto.com/category/creative

Thank you so much and thanks for the suggestion I tried to get it some time back but couldn't find it as an add on! I need to look again.

Glad to hear that it helped that's what I love to hear. Any suggestions for future topics?

Thank you! How did you find my video?

You are welcome! Many more to come.

Any suggestions for future topics?

You saved me some typing

@@rollon1181 also : the array modifier can be helpful when you have 180 bolts instead of 6

Try disabling clamp overlap in modifier settings (though it may cause artifacts) and be sure to apply scale in object mode

Right!? It's a real power saver depending on how close you are to object you can get away with a lot of lower poly shapes.

That is a good way to make that shape! I'd prefer though to make a cylinder with maybe 64-120 vertices, select all the outward facing faces, do an individual inset on all faces at once, and then extrude inward and bevel those new edges. May need a top and bottom cap shape to complete it.

Haha that's about the extent of my French.

Ya I use to think I had to do enter after shift D and so that rendered shift R useless. But I was wrong! Thanks for this tip though it's great.

Thanks! Yea that's a great trick for abstract stuff and fun animations. I'll make a modifier video soon and be sure to include that.

Thanks for watching! Be sure to check out part 2! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-057ZhNuNF7c.html

Awesome trick thank you! I've often thought "why do I have to do these steps myself over and over? I wish there were an addon!"

Well they don't have to be 90° and moving the 3d cursor farther away will make the bend radius larger.

You could also use curves to create pipes.

@@ZEDCorbett True you can and they are handy but there are some downsides to it. 1. If you use curves in 2D mode all pipes must be on the same plane such as X and Y, no Z for example. 2. If you use curves in 3D mode there is an odd pinching effect near the bends if in vector joint mode for harsh angles like 45 and 90 degree turns. I have not yet found how to avoid this pinching. I hope someone has and can help me! 3. If you use either mode you can't add rings, width changes etc. to add character and style to the pipes. There is a way to use another curve to change the thickness of the main curve but it's a hastle. But with some cleverness use curves mixed with mesh objects for joints and other style pieces for a good outcome.

@@DanielGrovePhoto You can use the Add Pipes addon - ships with Blender, just select it in Preferences

I'm not familiar with those programs so I guess I'd have to ask what is your end goal? What are you trying to achieve and what features make those programs so good? But Blender is definitely a versatile modeling program.

I don't have any experience with unity sorry. But maybe the object data could still be used. And yes it will export as separate meshes unless you join them.

@@DanielGrovePhoto Oh ok. Thanks for answering my question :)

Now there's a number of free geometry node pipe makers that make the process even better! You can also use bezier curves too.

@@DanielGrovePhoto I see. I havent jumped on geo nodes yet, just starting to understand the basics of shaders. Ill look into it, thanks.

@@thomandy I don't plan on actually learning geonodes. They are very complex and a whole new language. I've finally wrapped my head around texture nodes and starting to get vector/math nodes. I just don't have the time to invest in geonodes unfortunately with all that I do professionally. But thankfully many generous creators have made setups that are easy to use and play with. I suggest looking on github for the free ones.

@@DanielGrovePhoto Ah, nice, Ill look into it. Yeah, blender for sure has a huge and generous community!:)

haha. SPACE MOTHS!

You're welcome! How did you find my channel and what would you like to see more of?

Thanks for watching! Be sure to check out part 2! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-057ZhNuNF7c.html