3D Models That Will END Your Career

[@MelvilleG]

Hardcore, bruteforce modelling - exactly how I like it. No addon crap - just pure geometry and perfect edgeflow. It is hard to explain to a normal human how satisfying this watching of perfect topology can be. Thank you

[@Chocofur]

I agree, it really is oddly satisfying thing, I need to make a video on 3d modeling a fork / spoon / knife with the nice, well planned edgeflows

[@bobimarker1]

Its seems like you never worked on big projects

[@m42ur]

@@bobimarker1 What is the difference with big projects?

[@bobimarker1]

@@m42ur is that you won't have time to manually create the perfect topology for each mesh.

[@j_shelby_damnwird]

"to a normal human" lol 😅👍

[@seriousnorbo3838]

Pixar: Alright, the next movie will be about a character living in sewer pipes. 3D Modelers: **nervous sweating**

[@youji8516]

But Pixar uses Maya right? These are pretty easy to model in maya

[@jaydenjackson3193]

@@youji8516 Pixar mostly uses their in-house software.

[@chaotickreg7024]

The rendering probably would be super easy in a confined space.

[@JunkieVirus]

they use Maya, and there pixar renderer @@jaydenjackson3193

[@4536647674]

Their "in-house" software are just an extended/customized/optimized mainstream software like....maya@@jaydenjackson3193

[@robster7787]

On engineering CAD software, this is insanely easy to make. However, what separates Blender from the rest is that it must be made completely by using only surface modeling, which even in CAD is annoying to do properly.

[@ozzman1997]

The general pipeline between 3D CAD and surface/poly modeling could use a lot more attention. Both geometry types are fundamentally the same at render time, and topology generating algorithms for 3D CAD programs are so advanced now that they can efficiently produce a mesh at various levels of resolution based on parametric data (at least for certain geometry types, like what is shown here.) It would be awesome if the big software companies started including parametric modeling tools in their animation programs, but of course that wouldn't be in their interests from a sales point of view.

[@eddwarriior]

CAD uses NURBS contrary to standard 3d modelling softwares aimed toward cgi

[@samwilde8311]

​@@ozzman1997 iirc blender is working on it. It's slow obviously cuz it's blender, but they're working on it

[@jakedespppp]

@@samwilde8311 blender is quality over quantity but always behind because they don't focus on quantity

[@bramweinreder2346]

I've worked on Revit content for Wavin and Geberit. Proper elbows and T-joints were pretty hard to do, especially if you have elbows with an eccentric pivot or a pivot outside of the geometry (which turns it into a bend). Of course, in Revit you have to sacrifice some precision in the geometry in favour of model performance, as long as quantities and pipe segment lengths are spot on. But I have been known to be a stickler for precision, and I wish Revit had modelling tools like Inventor or Blender without sacrificing parametricity. I loved modelling pipe geometry. But I'm also very happy to work for a residential developer again since that's where my heart truly lies.

[@nigellill3222]

Great tutorial, love your channel. This is one of those rare times in 3d modelling where perception of "real world" & "3d world" collide & the graphic artist gets it wrong ! I'm an engineer & the fact is a 3 way metal pipe like this would never be so perfect in the joins. Essentially the individual pieces are cut & then TIG or MIG welded together leaving a noticeable ridge in the junction. If the pipe were plastic it will probably have a "spur" & injection marks over the surface & in the junction from the molding process & quite possibly a molding mark around the outside. The intro model is more realistic than the polished end result which, unless you're going for a polished, honed immaculate finish is not "real world"

[@Chocofur]

honestly, comments like yours are one of the main reasons I want to do videos. the amount of cool knowledge like you’ve shared I’ve accumulated over the years is immeasurable. thank you!

[@nigellill3222]

@@Chocofur Thanks, appreciate it. A really good friend said to me " realism is when you go to Mcdonald's, you take your burger out of the packaging & it looks nothing like the picture on the menu board". There's no loop cuts tightening the edge of the bun in realism. Enjoy your weekend 😀🦘 🐨

[@OrbitalCookie]

It's easier to add imperfections and real world details like rust, bumps, etc. to the surface that is initially smooth. The imperfections from bad topology are not realism, they are artifacts you have no control over, unless you fix your model. Then you can subdivide, sculpt the bumps properly, bake them into normal map and make the model actually realistic.

[@nigellill3222]

@@OrbitalCookie "pinching" from bad topology or subdividing around a metal pipe especially where a pipe is joined is very realistic under certain circumstances. It takes a good graphic artist to tell the difference between what is real & what people expect to see.

[@psykology9299]

Yea im an ACP for mechanical CAD work and i was gon a comment basically the same thing 😂 you'd see seams like that in 3D printing but we dont use 3D printing for stuff like this yet so youre gonna have seams or injection marks

[@lastbaiken1177]

I love good topology and your humor is 10/10. Thank you for the video!

[@Chocofur]

Thanks man, really glad to hear you've enjoyed the humor! Including it makes the whole video making process so much sweeter.

[@smolchungus5647]

you can't just say "10/10"

[@Fxnarji]

for the last one, i found it easier to use a Quadsphere instead of a UV sphere. This is made easier by one of the pre-shipped addons, but you can also create a quadsphere from scratch in default Blender. Take a Cube, add subD modifier, add cast modifier, change it to sphere and set the value to 1. Advantage of the Quadsphere is that you have the exact corner topology you need and no need for all that merging of vertecies :)

[@Chocofur]

that method is almost perfect, like 97.5% pure. but you have a vertex exactly at the center of the corner, which causes a small shading bump (check it with different matcaps). I also tried it as the to go option... and it opened a rabbit hole that resulted in this video lol.

[@RdClZn]

@@Chocofur When I saw the problem, I was thinking "oh yeah, of course, you want that ⅛ of sphere with a constant number of segments per edge, and a quad on each vertice", but couldn't think of a way to do it, I think that's what separates the novices from the veterans :) FWIW, someone mentioned elsewhere using bevel before casting to sphere, using the n of segs of 1/4 of the cylinder and max bevel size. I can't check because my PC has been dead, but that _may_ leave the center of the corner with a tri, instead of a vertex.

[@lomborg4876]

@@Chocofur I'm pretty sure I fixed it. Uploaded a video on my channel (My only video), where I show how I construct it and how I presumably fixed it.

[@bernardodecarvalho42]

​@@lomborg4876 I think it worked for me too, are you real?

[@lomborg4876]

@@bernardodecarvalho42 I am. You’re welcome☺️

[@els3SiDfunK]

Instead of using a UV Sphere use a Cube with subdivision surface modifier applied. Then use Mesh > Transform > To Sphere to make it truly spherical. Scale it to fill the gap and cut it. Then just join and merge the vertices by distance. You will need to recalculate the normals but it will result in clean topology.

[@Chocofur]

that method is almost perfect, like 97.5% pure. but you have a vertex exactly at the center of the corner, which causes a small shading bump (check it with different matcaps). I also tried it as the to go option... and it opened a rabbit hole that resulted in this video lol.

[@sidsector98]

@@Chocofur using Smooth Vertices on that one vertex seems to fix that issue for me

[@2bit8bytes]

@@Chocofur lomborg4876 on fxnarji8302's thread showed a manual way to do it. (vs sidesector's Smooth Vertices)

[@AnarGusto]

I'm surprised that you didn't use Chamfers, not even once. Using chamfers is a very useful and handy way to quickly add edge loops from a selection, and it also has the benefit to provide EVENLY SPACED control edge, which would be nearly impossible by hand.

[@Semibytes]

Chamfers and edge loops really saved my time

[@eddwarriior]

If you're going to optimization, the Chamfer modifier isn't a good idea because it can create extra unnecessary polygons and edgeloops, inserting loops manually is still the best option. The real unspoken lifesaver is the Weighted Normal modifier

[@oculometric]

@@eddwarriior true but it's easier to chamfer/bevel then dissolve or merge unnecessary geometry, and you have more control over precise curvature

[@reculate3332]

What are chamfers?

[@TheMightyHams]

@@reculate3332 Essentially turns a sharp corner into two slightly less sharp corners. If you google it then you'll see illustrated examples that explain it much better, but it's essentially just filing a corner into a slope.

[@Rurumeto]

I know nothing about 3D modeling but this sure looks like a thing.

[@fiveoneecho]

CTRL + B to bevel is a really useful keybind for this workflow. You can both multiply edges on flat surfaces and sharpen corners very uniformly. It's called "bevel" but the operator actually just splits edges into multiple loops that are evenly spaced, so you can imagine all the things you can do with that...

[@_Caose]

I love the bevel tool. I think it kind of works like a "local subdivision surface".

[@amrishpatel3501]

I'm currently using that for my light saber model, while following along with the Intro to Blender 2.8 course from Flipped Normals using the latest version of Blender lol :P

[@jakestarr4718]

i'm a loopcut fan, nice and clean, just move it where i want it

[@jakestarr4718]

@patel3501 oh 2.8 to 4.0, that's like the grocery store moving item displays around on you LOL. Just have to get used to finding where things are and even then some features might be removed and that's a whole different kind of learning curve. Its like using unreal engine 4 tutorials in unreal 5.3... You have to be insane to attempt it MWHAHAHAHAA. Workflows change, gotta be careful of adding edges with the right click between vert, it will join the vert and not affect the face. I had artifacts in my mesh all over from that, make loopcut and the knife very close friends is my advice lol Another thing you can do is click the vert you want other vert aligned too and if you look by the colored x,y,z in the top right, there is a tiny

[@pixeldods]

fun fact, if you don't want the extra edges on the model for the subdivision bevels, you can just use shift+e while subdividing

[@sylorgy]

Maybe a nice advice for you: after pressing GG, press E(and then F), so you won’t have to slide verts in and they will be aligned as needed. And for the 4th method you can use shear tool end extrude, after that you cab add loops near the corner and use percentage bevel so the inner part bevel will be smaller than an outer

[@Chocofur]

thanks man

[@RdClZn]

How to I favorite this lmao I need to make an advanced cheat sheet for this stuff

[@gabe2252]

Clean topology is so beautiful. Thanks for sharing!

[@Chocofur]

things that only 3d artists say

[@StepanKoppel]

Press Y to isolate unwanted geometry, then delete. There is L key to split , but Y do it better for complex geometry, so you don't have to clean loose vertex

[@sIavoo]

You can actually press E while creating loops to make them even and F to flip them. I would also start with subd cube, apply the modifier and then extrude the rest of the model to make the corner perfect.

[@sudd3660]

for the first model example, if you use the built in bool tool addon you select all the 3 tubes it will union them perfectly and remove the inside. and then use the bevel addon to create the loop cuts with the shape set to 1. i know this is pushing the limits of doing it all yourself but in case someone should have use for it.

[@Chocofur]

Great tip, thank you!

[@TheDartFrog]

I never expected to have SO MUCH FUN modelling an L shape pipe!! watched the tutorial first, slept on it a few nights, then tried doing it myself (with some minor checks from the vid for specific spots) and I feel like I've actually learnt a lot! amazing vid :D

[@perkele1989]

For the first one; use the solidify modifier in the stack below subdivision instead. Also extra edge loops can often be worked around by using edge crease

[@PixXx31]

I noticed that the three way method only works when the cylinder has 24 or less faces. I worked with 32 "sided" cylinders and it made the merging of the three spere-parts very different because there was more overlap and it created shading bumps. More than the method with the sub-d-cube.

[@paulyeomans1065]

Possibly because 3 is a factor of 24 but not 32? What happens if you use 36 segments?

[@elliejohnson2786]

I hate the clickbait but these are some incredibly good topology tutorials. I've seen the first method and used it myself, but never done the other two.

[@dvz911]

Amazing tutorial, thanks! For method 2 i sometimes use a cylinder and a "Spin" tool for a top face, with 90 degree angle. Manipulating the gizmo location can get you a good (more smooth on the sharpest edge tho) effect too. :)

[@theAverageN01]

Didn't know I needed this but thank you! Your pacing and clear narration of what you're doing as you do it is what helped me to decide to use your channel to learn Blender modeling. I can't wait to see what you have for beginners to intermediate users.

[@sounddrone8]

I felt like I was modeling in a weird way, but seeing you do what I do, but in a faster more optimized way, makes me very happy!

[@viconichol]

The tube Level 2 can be made from a Torus. Set Major and Minor radiuses almost equal, delete 3/4 of the circle and leave only 1/4 of it - you'll get a perfect angle. Then extrude edges from the angle towards two directions - you'll get tubes. Another way. Create a Plane - apply Bevel to the one of the vertices (this will be a bend of your tube) - remove the opposite vertex - you'll get two edges with the rounded corner - convert it to the Curve (this will be an axis of your tube) - apply Depth to the curve (this will be a diameter of the tube) - convert it to the Mesh - add Subdivision Surface

[@Chocofur]

not sure about the plane solution, but the Torus one is actually the best anyone suggested yet! but I think people would shred me into pieces if I've shown it as THE ONE way to do it. really appreciate your comment!

[@maltede8855]

for Step 05 you could easily use blenders buildtin "Spin" tool (located in the toolbar in edit mode), that way you dont have to do the bridge loops part.

[@Chocofur]

your career just ended lol

[@Grand_Works]

That will create a curved inside angle, not a 90 degree, and will create a ton of additional geometry from the spin.

[@qcortex07]

10:26 It doesn't have to be symmetrical to be a natural-looking curve. The edges where the cylinders meet form a kind of bloated triangle with 90 degree angles. With each step towards the center of the elbow, they're rotating just a little bit, forming a pattern that kind of reminds me of the way that sunflower seeds are arranged, or the aperture slides on a camera. You might not see it, but the point is, it doesn't matter that the pattern isn't symmetrical; it's still a consistent pattern, and its regularity is enough to produce a rounded elbow. It's honestly a really elegant solution that I never would have thought of (it might frustrate any one trying to modify it though).

[@sandnerdaniel]

You are showing great tricks in the video. Must see for Blender beginners (and even for advanced)!

[@Chocofur]

thank you my man

[@Mr.N0B0DY.3D]

For the L pipe. It's easy if you take a cylinder, select the face at any end of it add 45 degrees shear. Then extrude perpendicular to the orientation of the cylinder

[@lejnarluke]

you dont have to manually click on multiple edges in a row you just click on first, ctrl click on last and blender automatically select the "shortest" path But great video btw, I'm done doing some basement scene modeling with joined arches and this vid would have saved me a ton of time if I discovered it a week earlier :D

[@WwZa7]

A tip for non-pipe looking elements: Overlap two straight objects that you want to make a curve of with big margin, at an angle that you want, that would also be nicely visible from top/side/front orthographic view, join them together, use knife tool and slice through the same edges that overlap with cut-through on, merge by distance, delete the margin verticles, either bevel or subdivision, you're done. Not often you have time to make perfect shapes, but this will make shapes good enough for any custom shape.

[@VasylNovorok]

If this models can end career, i'll have bad news.

[@gottagowork]

If I don't need to impress anyone and only need the result in Blender, I model the pipes by extruding a single vert, bevel the bends with two segments and a sharp corner (no bevel geometry node yet). At this point, for non-destructiveness, I would separate out the parts into what will become different pipe dimensions looking up what are normal pipe dimensions (and I just go with the nominal sizes for simplicity say 4" or 100mm). Create another single vert, add geometry nodes and drag the pipe segment objects into it, convert them into curves, fillet the curves (bend radius is usually a function of pipe diameter) poly mode and 4, then CurveToMesh using a circular curve. Add a subdiv modifier and a material using a material bevel node. Now I can edit my pipes while the project is maturing. If I do need to impress anyone (haven't happened yet, not what I do) I'd dive into piping standards and see what components are available (say bends, tees, angled tees, different sizes coming together, concentric and eccentric reducers and why they would be oriented a certain way, flanges and pipe spools, modelling pipe supports that show logic functions for the application (guide, hold-down, anchor, rest, etc), show welded attachments (say a reinforcement saddle), fitting connection types (press, screwed, welded), and do a proper modeling on the welds themselves. For shading, I would also look into pipe production methods and how they would affect shading; i.e. for "polished" pipes (say pipes and tubing for food and medical applications) often indicates anisotropic component; if you need only a stretched satin look, then all you need is to export the tangents, but if you also need visible brushed markings, you also need a properly spaced UV (follow active quads) and make the brush markings seamless (there exists tutorials for this). Adding complex valves, instruments, safety equipment, and partially insulated/capsuled portions would also add to the rating. As would showing pipes in context, say an AC unit, a pump, or a pressure vessel. Unless for obvious cases like a roof water drain system that doesn't add any complex components, I wouldn't bother with slopes. Of course that's the piping engineer in me speaking (long time ago now), and a simple fixed sized bend wouldn't really impress me at all, no matter how "clean" it was. If I worked in animation, then you'd have to show the model was ready for animation as well by allowing it to be flexible, ready for shattering and so on.

[@srez5664]

I would love to see more tutorials like this from you on this kind of tricky models on pure classic quad-only blender.

[@Chocofur]

thanks, will try to make more of these in the future!

[@alskarwow5247]

Personnal story : I’m an architecture student who struggled really too much on rhino while trying to fkcg make solid and 3d print the model in the thumbnail and seeing the title killed me bruh, this shit ended up with fkcd up parts and the needs to dremels them half of the night .. a nightmare 🤣😭

[@Gokulbalram]

Hey guys, I may or may not found a method for the third one, but it still involves a little refinement, but I'd say the end result is a little lower in terms of accuracy: 1. Create a cube, subdivide it by the number of segments on the cylinder divided by 4 minus 1 (so say if 24 segments, you divide that by 4, and then subtract 1, so 5 to result in 6 faces per row) 2. Use Cube to Sphere (Mesh > Transform), and resize the cube to the dimensions of the cylinders 3. Similar to what @chocofur did, remove the unwanted faces 4. Further delete the faces in a similar way to he did such that you have a third of the faces you had. 5. Now you will notice that the leftover geometry does not exactly align with the cylinder, this is where it gets messy, if anybody has a better way to do this, please feel free 6. You will now have to select a line, invert the selection, hide the other vertices 7. Now with the line you have left, and the cursor brought to the object origin (assuming the object origin of the original shape hasn't moved), select the vertex that is closest to the cylinder 8. Set pivot point to 3D Cursor, Snapping to vertex, and have it affect rotate (while "include non-edited" is select) 9. Start rotating the vertex along the corresponding axis (relative to the cylinder you are trying to align it to), and snap it to the closest vertex (of the cylinder) 10. Now that the vertex is snapped, adjust the range of the proportional editing such that it doesn't affect the furthest vertex, and the resulting line results in a smooth line I don't think I have done a good job of explaining this at all, but I will try to upload a video showcasing the process, for the meantime, here is an image of the result: imgur.com/a/1kZeg3R

[@Gokulbalram]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/nIKQqn6IgNFsbNk Here it is, it's a very quick walkthough of what I did to get to the end result

[@AukeBevela]

Yup you got it mate. That seems perfect!

[@Gokulbalram]

@@AukeBevela there's actually a much simpler method, it just involves taking a cube, beveling it to the max with segments set to (no of cylinder segments/4), and then just turning it into a sphere. This will result in the cleanest geometry in the easiest manner

[@GrayholeP]

after step 2, just delete half of the sphere, extrude some pipe from the open edge and apply 2 Mirrors from 2 45deg rotated Empties. that's it. geometrically perfect.

[@vadiks20032]

as a person who doesn't do 3d modelling, this looks irritatingly difficult to just make a simple pipe. but watching somebody else do it looks satisfying

[@vadiks20032]

how do you 3d model makers even learn new programs? its like there is 1000 tools and 1000 hotkeys and you just know them

[@gblargg]

Never done 3D modeling. Wow, it's far, far more involved than I could have imagined.

[@mrxcs]

It's like a puzzle

[@arresha_ar]

Thank you for this tutorial. chocofur is one my favorite youtube channels.

[@vldnsp1606]

A thing to add, if you are watching with the idea of working in the gaming industry, cylinders need to have number of separations that can be divided by 4. Reason for that is if you need to optimize it later you can cut every other edge and stay with a perfect circle.

[@rajendrameena150]

Actually you can add solidify modifier and play with crease values of inner and outer rim inside solidify. Then you can add subdivision surface modifier

[@Chocofur]

honestly, I was never able to get the same result this way and it was always way slowe, maybe I was doing it wrong

[@theAristocrap]

I am not even into 3d modelling, yet your presentation style is both very clear and concise and it also cracks me up a lot ;)

[@johnelliottart]

Not sure if Blender has this feature but in Maya I use the bevel tool to achieve all of that. It lets me softly curve my pipes and corners and also can be used to preserve hard corners after subdivision by placing symmetrical edge loops on both sides of a selected edge loop. Saves a ton of steps and also gives me a handy slider to fine tune how soft or hard I want my corners. It’s built in so no plugins.

[@blenderstuffs]

In the first step I guess you should have used closed cylinders instead of hollow once, then you could have deleted the end faces. That way you don't have to delete the mesh inside.

[@Chocofur]

true! tbh the first mesh was the last I was preparing for the video and I just did it from the circles (which are better for example 2 and 3 I think).

[@CertifiedDoc]

2:50 You can use Bevel Edges to do this a bit faster, and with consistent width. - Select the loops you want to sharpen, - Crtl + E to bring up the edge menu - B to bevel edges - Set segments to 2 to preserve the original edge - Set Shape to 1.0 to preserve the original position Alternatively, add a Bevel modifier to the stack above the Subdivision modifier. If you don't have any weird geometry or really tiny faces, this offers a lot more control over the shape and is much faster than adding edge loops by hand.

[@jonathansgarden9128]

This is the best way. Always go back to the basics and improve those. Great video!

[@Chocofur]

thank you

[@manpreetbhattee9732]

In the first technique If you add a cylinder instead of circle then you don't need to clean/delete the vertices from inside. Later just delete the caps of the cylinder.

[@Chocofur]

show_me_morpheus.gif

[@davidgunis6798]

For pipes, i usually use curves. Doesn't work 100% in every scenario but its good enough

[@JackLe1127]

For the first one, if you cap off your cylinders, a union won’t leave any internal geometry

[@fl260]

This actually allowed me to complete the first tutorial. For some reason, when I was "Union-ing" them, I would lose all the inside geometry, making it impossible for me to continue. Now with your trick, it allowed me not only to eventually save time, but for it to work altogether. Many thanks!

[@Real_MisterSir]

This is an awesome way of modelling -right until the projects you work on have 100s of objects like this. Sure you could go for perfect topology on everything, but in the end most of it will never be used for anything other than backfil detailing and not act as the center focus. For isolated work and small scale models this is great. For large scale projects, just not worth the time. I've been working a lot on optimizing my techniques with blends of subdiv and hard surface modelling to get the best blend of efficiency and quality where it matters. Either way, learning the basics of how to brute force good topology and lineflow is definitely something I recommend everyone to practice into their foundational skillset.

[@Chocofur]

also, once you learn how to do it, you will almost always do it (if you have time). ofc you don't have to properly 3d loop guide every single model you create - but if there's one thing I've learned as a 3d artist, it's that at some point, sooner or later, I will always re-use the better looking / nicer asset I've created. and there's just nothing more infuriating when these assets have to be subdivided and they just don't work as they should (but it's probably just me lol).

[@comet.x]

wow, this is a really complicated way to subdivide a cube, mark the corners as edge, and then extrude!

[@Chocofur]

🐔 LEVEL 3: the quadsphere (cube with subdivision modifier) won't be the better solution as it will have a vertex in the centre of the corner! If you subdivide that model it will have a small, anoying shading bump. Try it and check it with different matcaps (I did). EDIT: same with the beveled cube...

[@MustafaBerkeGureltol]

Apply polish on it to make it a perfect sphere. A catmull-clark-subdivided cube ≠ perfect sphere. Thus, it has a bit of pinching on the poles. The pinching that's causing the shading issue goes aways once you polish it.

[@kickaireightptilde4825]

A quadsphere made by subd&cast on a cube, useful as it can be, isn't a topologically perfect sphere. This can be shown with a circle (same # of edges as the sphere's equator), a close up on the quadsphere in edit mode will show the equator verts aren't quite in the same places as the circle's verts. So when Merge by Distance is used between the pipe verts and the quadsphere cap verts it causes distortion. I've tried this with an 3axis-fixed quadsphere, it worked with no distortion.

[@upstreamruben8011]

True, a cube with subdivision modifier won't create a perfect sphere, in my opinion the better option would be to add a cube with a bevel modifier, put the amount up all the way till it makes a sphere, and add segments equal to the amount you need. Bevel modifier is also more flexible with the amount of vertices you need to join the meshes together. TLDR: Cube with bevel modifier, amount all the way up, Segments as much as you need, apply modifier, merge by distance, cut away until you're left with just the corner, merge with the pipes, done.

[@MustafaBerkeGureltol]

@@upstreamruben8011 that would also work perfectly

[@Chocofur]

@@upstreamruben8011 tbh I've tried cube with different bevel settings - you either get a vertex at the center of the corner or a small triangle, both resulting in small shading bumps (checked with different matcaps). it actually blows my mind because what you guys suggest should actually work. not sure if it's the way Blender does subdiv or something else. I just can't die in peace knowing that what I've shown in the video is the only way to do it with no shading bugs (it just doesn't make sense).

[@bartoszdujka1872]

For second method I've used boolean for two cylinders, deleted "corner" faces, and exactly at the center of corner vertices, moved pivot. At pivot I made rounded cube with 8 arcs to match 32 verts of each cylinder, deleted 3/4 of rounded cube faces leaving only corner filling. Now you only need to conncect at last vertices from rounded cube to corresponding vertices of cylinders to mantain edge flow and make support loops at 90d inner side of the curve. Subd twice and you're done. Final shading is perfect as on the video, but with less manual work :)

[@St0RM33]

10 mins CAD work..10 days Blender work lol

[@voidley8668]

A nice easy way to do the last one is to make your three cylinders and then one UV sphere, then select one of the cylinders facing along the X or Y axis (for whatever reason, it does not work with the "vertical" one) and do NOT select the sphere. Then, in the modifiers tab, add three union boolean modifiers. The first two should be for the other cylinders set to "exact" and the third one should select the sphere with "fast" enabled. Now apply all the modifiers from first to last, then go into edit mode and hit m>By Distance to merge overlapping vertices and it creates a mesh with perfect topology. From there you can add a solidify modifier and a bevel modifier, add edge loops like he did in the video, or do whatever else. Hope this can help someone!

[@Lights0ne]

9:16 It has symmetry, but not as normally 2D (left-right), but rotational 3D (or top-right, top-left, bottom). You have 3 identical parts, all rotated by 120° when looking at the corner. That is achieved by your 2 90°rotations in different dimensions. The center of the Y in the middle is the Rotation- or Mirror-Point

[@peteriliev]

I've been a 3D modeler for 10-15 years and whenever I've made intersecting pipes, tree branches, tunnels and other similar cylindrical complex shapes, I've used exactly this type of subdivision techniques. This has always been an additional, often unnecessary perfectionism that has even slowed down the workflow :) However, if you are going to lose your job because of this, you should work on some project for oil or gas transmission design technical installations with CAD software.

[@Connorses]

If you make a mesh that is the path of your pipe, you can bevel edges, then convert the mesh to a curve. Go to the Geometry settings of the curve, set the bevel object to be your circle, and you can get really clean corners on your pipe. It gets harder when you need an intersection, but not impossible. The intersection has to be made of separate sections of curves, and you'll have to clean up geometry by hand similar to this video... But it's such a nice way to do pipes!!

[@egors8730]

I’m not a professional in blender but you could just use bevel modifier before subdivision instead of adding unnecessary loop cuts. Also you could use solidify modifier instead of solidify faces tool. Then you couldn’t need to add those extra loop cuts on the ends. If you need a bit of rounding on it add one more bevel modifier and in shade auto smooth. I always try to avoid these support loops. Please tell me if I’m wrong

[@Chocofur]

you would loose your 3D job a couple of times foe this post lol

[@Chareidos]

A top notch tutorial to the point. At 10:06 would have been interesting to see the smooth shader with the mesh that you already had at 8:34 for comparison to illustrate your statement that your chosen way gives better results.

[@shydevil]

if you make videos like blender guru then please keep doing so. your videos seem very chill and its very calming to follow them along. really cool

[@Valeriesta]

Might be a bit late, but instead of doing the topology manually when corner patching you can instead subdivide a cube until it matches the corner (if all has same scaling). It also yields more symmetrical results plus its faster, took me a while to figure it out lol

[@WhiteDragon103]

For the cases where you have a rounded bend (the part that resembles part of a sphere), I'd create a cube with the same number of subdivisions as the cylinder, then spherize it (make all the vertices a certain distance from a point), then connect to the cylinder.

[@rbettsx]

For number 3, you could borrow a patch from a bevelled cube. You'll find you can enter all the dimensions numerically for complete accuracy. Even though the polygonal approximation to perfectly curved geometry is as good as it can be, depending on your resolution, there may be very slightly anomalous interpolation of normals. .. slightly affecting shading, so you can borrow the normals from the bevelled cube, as well, with Data Transfer. :)

[@Czarpos]

The 3rd level - corner pipe, can be done way quicker and way less messy. Try this: You can start off with a cube, then subdivide it (level 2 is enough), apply that modifier and bring that new meshe to sphere (Shift+Alt+S, set to 1). Then you can duplicate that sphere 3 times (once for each branching pipe) and on each of those models for each axis, extrude half the sphere into a cyllinder. Boolean union those 3 models into one mesh and remove doubles, then just add supporting edge loops for the intersection. Minimal manual cleanup for the great effect and you even got ball caps on each pipe end as a bonus, hope it helps!

[@MaxAnnihilation]

Bro, this works. Thank you!!

[@StoryboardSquad]

I tried your cube/spherized method on all 3 models. I had to dissolve a few verts here and there in wireframe mode but they all worked and all look perfect.

[@ShadowSora643]

A trick I like to use when using blender to fix shading by adding extra geometry is using 'i' to inset the faces. Or just marking as sharp.

[@3runjosh]

mate! I love your eye for detail and your cleverness to achieve it.

[@송민우-g1q]

well, for the second one, I just make two pipes do not overlap at first. i make one(or two, depending on direction) vertices from each pipe close to each other near the inner angle, and make edge loop between the two end loops. then I add edge loops on each side and adjust some vertices around the inner corner. It always worked for me :)

[@grud8495]

Blender also comes with built in pre-made pipe joints objects like these you can add to your scene. It saves you most of the work, you will only have to add the edge loops for your sub division. You may need to enable the extra objects addon first. then under add -> mesh -> pipe joints.

[@Chocofur]

I think except the first example, the 2 and 3 are not included

[@castform57]

If I want to keep some sharp edges with subdivision surface, I just select edges, select sharp edges, adjust the angle if necessary, shift+E, fling mouse, see if the subdivision works.

[@maxdefire]

Noone using fillets on tubes. It increases costs and tubes supposed to be cheap. Maybe chamfers for a premium tubes on outer edges. And hell no chance it would be machined nicely inside.

[@r1yuj1n]

Dunno if someone already told you but when you add an edge loop, you can just press E and then toggle which side you want it to conform to by pressing F. I'm also a huge fan of perfect geometry, gotta love these shapes !

[@level10gnollwarlock]

i dind't even know you can hide parts of the mesh in edit mode. you learn something new every day

[@trilliongold]

That holding edges are considered a "forgotten technique" makes me sad. These are quite literally the basics every modeler should learn.. Also that last technique was actually pretty ingenious. I legitimately laughed as soon as you placed that sphere and adjusted it segments cause I could see exactly where you were going with it. I would have done a bit of tweaking to even up those center faces, but still, what a great idea.

[@jmhpt]

It's also interesting to see now for someone who got into 3D modeling here and there and during school, but never got past the "slightly advanced novice level" that loopcutting was one of the first things to learn and, despite not having done any modeling in years, is still one of the things that's in my (novice) mind when thinking of working with Blender.

[@Architector_4]

Wouldn't it be better to set the crease value for the edges instead of adding additional edge loops? That achieves the same effect, sharpening the edges with a higher crease value, without having to create extra geometry just to manage it. You can access it by selecting a few edges of a model, press N for the side panel on the right in 3D viewport, go to Item tab (the first one), and in the Transform panel look at the last option, "Crease" (or for multiple edges, "Mean Crease").

[@Architector_4]

Also, instead of adding edge loops to make the smooth shading not be so smooth, consider enabling Auto Smooth at 180 degrees (so it doesn't autoflat things) and then marking edges as sharp instead (CTRL+E -> Mark Sharp); this can be really handy, as the result is that a face can be smooth with adjacent ones and yet sharp on the edges marked as sharp, and it doesn't depend on any additional unneeded geometry lol ...Though in that particular case the edge crease value can already get you there i guess lmao

[@LeoMastroTV]

For the edge loops on the backside you can just select the two vertices and press J to connect them.

[@lucaspham5238]

Thank you so much for the video, for the "Corner Patching" I separate all the face of the sphere at once, delete original sphere, calculate normal, join the patch and circle together then merge. Not sure if my approach have any flaw.

[@SquackSpencer]

07:53 - If you know the way.... please warn ugandan Knuckles.

[@dstmnaki]

when deleting the overlapping meshes, instead of hiding the rest of the model you can select the inside area, split it and delete, that will leave you with the model in tact but the inside will be gone, different method but same outcome, also much faster

[@weasel.3683]

I would do it using a bevel. Just start with cubes in the desired configuration and bevel (completely to the clamped size) with the right number of segments. Done. Works for most cases. Boolean covers the rest.

[@TheTalkingCatNL]

This combined with the keys you're pressing would actually be even very helpful to beginners who've got the feeling how this all works but haven't gained all the knowledge and experience inside the software itself yet. What you're saying all makes sense and these models especially make it easy to intuitively follow along. However, for me, without knowing the keys used to go about it, the value it adds isn't maximized yet. Now, of course that's on me since I haven't got that level of experience yet. But having a tool or plugin running alongside that shows which keys you're pressing (I know they're out there, seen them used in other tutorials, I think it's even part of blender itself) would make these types of videos just that bit more easy to learn from. Anyway, excellent stuff. Subbed.

[@thepeanut2409]

you can use j instead of using the knife tool. just select the two vertices you want to add an edge to and it will do so.

[@basachichan6549]

Add cube - make sphere by dividing 2 times - add 3 cylinders - boolean - weld

[@ArtOfTyTy]

For the final one, I subdivided a cube to make the sphere instead as then that gave a quad at each point where the pipes join. Then I deleted one ring of faces around the edge and bridged the loops to the "corner" of the sphere.

[@HaikuTutorials]

People like you are the reason why I'm using Blender. Thank you so much!

[@davidsirmons]

In 3ds max, apply the symmetry modifier, go to sub object, rotate until correct, collapse, repeat until you have X number of connections. Perfection. Takes all of about 1 minute.

[@Dragonshadowbob]

I have no idea how to 3d model and I barely understand much of anything about what you're saying. However, I'm glad the algorithm recommended you to me. Can't say I understand, but I still definitely enjoyed the video!

[@fl260]

So what version of Blender are you using while making that tutorial? Cause I'm following the steps 1 for 1 and it doesn't work for me when I get to the "Boolean" part. I "Union" them, but I lose all the inside geometry instantly. Re-did the firsts steps like 7 times, assuming I must have missed a detail, but no, the steps are indeed very simple, I'm missing none, but it simply does not work for me. Quite frustrating, I must admit!

[@andrewg3196]

I already knew how to do this stuff but I watched anyway because I was in awe at how good of an instructor you are. You're good at this man.

[@johnaquino7619]

So the puzzlement regarding steps 6 and 7 : I suspect that part of why it works is because the spacing and angle of the vertices still follow the "rules" of 3D geometry enough to produce that smooth result (even though the wireframe looks a little untidy ) In a similar vein, when the geometry on my model looks clean, but there's a pinch, I often find that this is due to those same "rules" not being fully satisfied. (and not because of some glitch in the program) A tweak here and an adjustment there and then eventually the rules get satisfied, resulting in a smooth render. Same for tri's, ngons and quads.

[@olivetree9920]

I used to have my students make pipes and a few other difficult objects like these starting from a single vertex as an unofficial final exam component. It was really just a fun way to show them how much they had learned after a few months, but it was still a great exercise

[@fckngienaz4548]

at the last one you could use ''subdivided cube'' sphere, it has better topology and makes the model pretty much easiest

[@davidoli]

I guess you could select those non symetrical vertices on the third example and use loop tools to turn them into a circle with the flattening option turned off? Idk if it would cause shading errors though

[@this_is_pi]

great video, but i´d recommend using "mean crease" instead of edge loops at 2:34; didn´t know it for a long time and changed my modelling

[@Hehe_Boiiiii]

For some reason when I try to add edge loops it doesn't cover a full around circle there are some irregularities even though I have followed the exact same process shown in the tutorial

[@NobleUnclean]

For the final example connection, I start with a sphere. Then I spawn circles for the pipes, but its rare for me to use the boolean tool in Blender for any reason. And the more complex a scene is the more likely it is for the boolean modifier to act crazy weird. Sometimes I can't even get the boolean modifier to work with spawn primitives, for whatever freaking reason. I would love to use it.

[@JesslengtonRune]

I used a Quad Sphere instead of a uv sphere and got better results. loved the video btw!

[@chobatsu]

when you add an edgeloop you can press P so the loop matches the shape of one of the end profiles without having you move it to the end and move it back

[@CliffRoche]

I am CAD person using Blender, so it is hard for me to eye ball everything. On the first item used the bevel tool on the common line between the pipes and the ends. To clean up object after apply the Subdivision Surface Modifier. I used 3 segment and the distance of 0.01 for the Bevel tool.

[@MonsterJuiced]

One thing to bare in mind, and especially with your unsymmetrical tri-joint pipe, is that the normal direction is a huge factor in shading and what you did was copy/paste a chunk of sphere that has perfect normal direction for shading and the vertices between your un-summetrical polygons are also aligned smoothly along with the rest of the spherical surface. You can manipulate manually how the normals face to improve shading artifacts if it's impossible for your polyflow to meet expectations which in some cases it might be due to (extremely tight) polygon budgets.

[@Barsoom_Erian]

Hi, in the first one the cleanup process of the inside faces can be avoided if you cape the holes of the pipes before the Boolean process :)

[@chrishall2122]

beautiful!! Way over my proficiency, however one of the best instructional vids I've ever seen, this is master class well delivered