COMPLETE non-destructive workflow in Blender tutorial

This video will introduce non-destructive modeling techniques in vanilla Blender using a basic object, and will help you understand modifier and boolean management.
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[@Mongg]

Hey, that was me that linked that tutorial! This is so awesome! Thanks a TON!

[@JoshGambrell]

Ah thanks man! I spent like 20 mins searching for your comment but I could not find it anywhere lol, I'll pin your comment at least! Thanks for this resource.

[@Mongg]

@@JoshGambrell No problem! Thanks again for the great content!

[@Web3DArtist]

I find it so satisfying when you have a detailed mesh and you tab into edit mode and it's still just a cube.

[@allen-simpson]

By contrast, I think it's hilarious that these non-destructive tutorials are always trying to preserve some primitive mesh. I do realize the benefits, it's just funny.

[@boomslangvenom_3209]

I kept seeing this recommended and never got around to checking it out, but now that I have I’m super thankful. This made me understand beveling, and stacking modifier so much more

[@seanrty4372]

Dude, this is amazing. Cant believe the utility of modifiers. And working non destructively is a super interesting concept im excited to explore

[@jackd8933]

Incredibly professional, very well done. I preach the power of the non-destructive workflow and believe it to be essential for any modeller. I hope many more can learn it through your videos, just as I have.

[@JoshGambrell]

Thanks Jack! Non-destructive is the way to go when you can!

[@naveenthikshana4223]

Josh thank you for the explanation for non-distructive modeling. Great video. also thank you for Noah

[@hopefulkoala01435]

This is an incredibly helpful and useful video, Josh. Nice work!

[@23lkjdfjsdlfj]

I'm learning Blender and this was fantastically helpful. I was blocked hard with the fact that Blender won't let you access geometry created by non-applied modifiers. Your technique of duplicate + switch to a local context to 'steal' the geometry I needed is a game changer for me.

[@danielmakalski7277]

Keep up the good work. I think this is the best modeling tutorial I have ever seen

[@JoshGambrell]

Thanks a bunch Daniel! Glad to help.

[@blenderbreath7119]

This guys is a 3D Blender life saver, explains what you need to understand the behaviour of the software. Non stop spreading knowledge to the community! Rock on!

[@JoshGambrell]

Ah thanks man! That’s what it’s all about, spreading information!

[@This-Is-The-End]

Awesome video! Thanks.

Awesome tutorial! Thanks!

[@AnatolySmolyansky]

good stuff. thank you Josh.

[@onjofilms]

At 5:20 you can get rid of that issue by moving the mirror modifier to the bottom of the modifier stack.

[@fiskooriginal]

thanks worked perfectly!

[@bouz49]

Nice work as always ! Thank you !

[@portfolio8734]

Thanks for your free tutorials

[@aurotirannos]

A fantastic tutorial! Thank you!!!

[@wirrexx]

FrankPolygon and myself(wirrexx) we’re both on polygons how the f to model .. forums to try to break down and help people with shapes that are hard to comprehend! So this was nice to see! ❤️

[@watchandproduce]

These kind of simple breakdowns really help a hard surface newbie. The BlenderBros paid tutorials are great but short lessons like these are both great for practice and conceptual understanding.

[@TripleDGaming01]

great video bro thanks for the tip

[@Evg_sull]

Hi! Tanks for your tutorial!

[@funnyanimalworld7579]

awesome video, did help me

[@tope.sosanya]

Thank you! This is very helpful!

[@stefandjukic2755]

Omg stealing geometry trick for boolean sample is super useful, thanks!

[@JoshGambrell]

It’s a neat trick!

[@baptm727]

Such a good channel, thank you

[@dtizet6275]

Amazing!

[@Chrisdgallego]

Nice Josh. As always.

[@JoshGambrell]

Thank ya Christian!

[@enensis]

Thanks mate. Learnt alot

[@anonymouse527]

Great tutorial. Subscribed.

[@JoshGambrell]

Thanks!

[@Chronomatrix]

Very informative, thank you.

[@ilmanti]

Take a drink every time Josh says "non-destructively" if you wanna die.

[@bcfillms]

So beautiful!

[@count23all]

@15:45 you should state that the Arc Miter Outer mode is basically the Blender equivalent of 3DS Max/Maya's "Quad Chamfer" operation. that'll help a lot of folks transitioning to this software. Also for the non-d cutter earlier, applying that 2nd bevel with a vertex group on the outer edge would have demonstrated more control of the cutter too.

[@rsoulinternet]

Tip: the bevel modifier can be applied to a vertex group so you don't need to use a boolean cut to chop off a corner. Custom bevel profiles now exist (I think from v2.9). I think the only limitation is that the start and end points still form a 45 degree line.

[@evankirsh]

Also, you could use a bevel modifier and change the limit method to weight and change the bevel weight of one edge from 0 to 1. Again, we're limited to a 45-degree angle but it does add the option to add segments and round out the bevel if desired.

[@FesNaqvi]

Between the patreon, the recon unit and this tutorial, blowing minds, Josh. My workflow for hard surface modeling has improved drastically, thanks to the content you and Ryu have been putting out.

[@JoshGambrell]

Well we're super glad to help you in the learning process, Fes, and thanks so much for the support, means a lot!

[@DiegoSilva-zm3ke]

Thank you.

[@JoostArchives]

Thanks!

[@alvarocafe]

Very nice

[@jordanwright853]

Hey Josh, excellent tutorial; the amount of effort you make to ensure everything is clearly described doesn't go unnoticed. I'm currently considering purchasing the boxcutter bundle and I'm wondering what the time savings would be doing this with those addons would be. Thanks!

[@JoshGambrell]

Thanks Jordan! Well time savings will be extreme, I’ve saved thousands of hours using them, no joke. And for a $37 that is a steal, you can make that money back quick using the tools and grab some freelance work. Anyways, as I always say, learn vanilla workflow first, and once you feel comfortable enough with that, then buy the addons.

[@tallyman138]

Thanks a lot! You totally enlighten my understanding of hard surface modeling. By the way: At the end of your tutorial Blender didn't find your HDRI. This seems to be a bug that wasn't fixed since the release of 2.80. I have a HDRI setup in my startup file and have to reload it every time I start Blender. No matter whether or not the image has a fake user...

[@vizionthing]

If the cutters all parented to the cube you can move the model around, this is handy for more complex scenes.

[@toonsuijs4243]

The issue with the model not being closed at 5:39/17:59, can be fixed by moving down the Mirror modifier as last in the modifier stack of the original first cube.

[@toonsuijs4243]

Tip: at 11:25/17:59 - one single 'Edges' bevel of the cutting piece gives an even bevel of all edges and does the trick in one go if that is what you aim for.

[@stuartcoyle1626]

Thanks for this lesson. I've played with Blender on and off for a long time now and usually end up with an uncontrollable soup of vertices. It's good to see a workflow that helps avoid those issues.

[@teddywaweru2270]

Figured out the issue with the cylinder that was creating a 'cavity'. You could instead union the 45deg rectangle to the cylinder. So that the original cube mesh 'sees' it as a single object

[@cgwF7A]

Excellent tutorial. Short and on point. Thanks again... and keep up the great work!

[@abrahamwondafrash7549]

nondestructivism is cool!

[@imothy]

This is great, you have reiterated a bunch of annoyances that i've come across through trial and error. The one thing that still stumps me in blender is when adding a boolean like the one you're working with around 5:00. I constantly work with things I need to be in a precise place, and yes I can move things slightly to get rid of the glitch, but then my model may be slightly off. Are there any other troubleshooting tips I could try when I have a boolean that just doesn't cut through correctly? I already understand having normals facing the right direction and making sure there isn't any duplicate geometry around the edges of the object, but there are times when i feel I have a perfect object intersecting another perfect object and it just doesn't hollow out, or the first object disappears. Thanks!

[@gaelschlupp9963]

Thank you :)

[@bleve97]

Thank you, Josh, your stuff is excellent, and this is one of your best! Your contribution to open source 3D is priceless.

[@badabimbadabum4010]

thank you

[@DavenH]

I learned a lot. Very cool -- you seem to have a few shortcuts for booleans that aren't standard, unless I missed them.

[@JoshGambrell]

Probably since I have Hard Ops enabled (although I wasn't using it in this tutorial, the settings are there).

[@ivanrusev1660]

magnificent

[@Omkar3324]

lovely

[@alejandrodelgado74]

First of all... SUPER TUTORIAL!! Thank you! now question... If I want to make it precise using mm or inches or real measurements.. sort of like what you do in a cad software... how do you do that?

[@Elminarion]

Love your work Josh! Thanks for this awesome explanation! :)

[@erik....]

Very nice, but I think the horisontal holes should have been through, and the same pockets on the other side. That's a cast V-block used when machining in for example a milling machine.

[@adibahmed10]

That is very impressive work. I'm gonna watch more of your videos, this could really help me out in my 3D Modeling course in college.

[@JoshGambrell]

Good luck, practice makes perfect.

[@steffenmutter]

Whoha! Really cool.

[@bsko3D]

I'm pretty new to 3D modelling, and after many technique tutorials, I can't stop thinking about non-destructive workflow. Even for a newbie, I admire the possibility to adjust everything... I guess I'll stick with it. Thank you for the tutorial.

[@JoshGambrell]

Thanks Bohdan! Non-destructive is the way to go!

[@CBSuper]

This video was everything I was looking for. Thanks Josh!

[@chrisclay9704]

how do you get a cube mesh to curve around?

[@flukve3574]

When you click tab you get the pie menu for choosing vertex edge face, i do not get that, is that an addon? Thanks!

[@hot_dammn9025]

Great work Josh. You explain things so well. I appreciate understanding how it all works. My modelling has improved from your channel. Keep up the good work. Thank you!

[@JoshGambrell]

Glad to help man, and thanks

[@channelname8623]

8:12 you ran a difference modifier but the effect was a difference modifier and a new mirror modifier. howd that occur? my existing mirror modifier didnt update automatically. once I cut the side window out with stolen geometry solidified, i still only had one window cut out... nvm i found the fix, i had to select my window cutout, and apply a mirror modifier after the solidify modifier. Its not intuitive because youd assume you need to apply the modifier to the cube, not the cutout.

[@bens3062]

Hi Josh, @5:14 I found that in the 1st Mirror setting, if I set Axis Bisect Flip to X the third boolean worked. Why is that? Cheers

[@prefixn5677]

Can someone explain to me what happened at 7:27? how do you use the boxcutter?

[@albarnie1168]

when you steal the geometry, it makes it not entirely non-destructive. that said, sometimes you need a bit of destructive stuff! While I appreciate the thought experiment i think in any real scenario this about of non-destructiveness would just clutter up your hierarchy and make it ironically more difficult to make changes in some situations. Great video!

[@JoshGambrell]

I generally work semi-destructively since it is easiest. However, understanding of non-destructive techniques are essential to achieve that workflow, so always nice to learn :)

[@iamumn]

So after that process, do you have to apply all the mod for an export, or do you have to retopo it for film or game ready assets?

[@NathanBrownisawesome]

You'd apply all and then check the topo afterwards

[@jeremiaharmstrong5899]

What is the importance of non-destructive workflow? Not being flip at all. I am new to this. I have heard the term used. It always feels like they are talking primarily to me. I enjoy fiddling with blender better than anything. I can't see it ever getting old. I do want to understand the etiquette of using free open resources. There is a lot I don't know. Thank you so much .

[@HimanRex]

Very good tutorial it has taught me a lot! You were very quick and straight to the point

[@SakugaAsu]

I used to make Megaman models but I gave up on it. I've been thinking about getting back into it. Would you know how to help?

[@pody8205]

You in webcam so small, can you move the cam more closer to you? Or

[@DiThi]

5:30 aren't those problems all fixed with the new booleans in 2.91? 6:50 wouldn't it be better if instead of applying the modifiers you used a displacement modifier to scale it?

[@buraqgames5415]

Lovely

[@SakugaAsu]

So this tutorial is pretty much just using booleans and bevels to be non destructive? How can I implement this into my own work?

[@toadintheh0le]

Would love to see how to unwrap this

[@mibrahim4245]

Genius as always Josh

[@AlphaKilo09]

Thanks a lot man and for all other content in your channel. I just couldn't thank enough.

[@JoshGambrell]

My pleasure Abhishek

[@phantomapprentice6749]

The idea of non-destructive workflow is mainly in design , if you look at the works of designers like Lars Sowig they make a lot of use of F360 non-destructive techniques to quickly iterate on the design, I need to be able to accomplish the same feats in Blender ( Since I don't care to pay an autodesk sub). I mean look you play it safe by taking some other dude's design , but lets say you had to come up with a design, that's where the real power of non-destructive workflow comes in.

[@tcurdt]

This is great but - for these kind of objects: Is this really a realistic alternative to parametric modeling in something like e.g. in fusion360?

[@MetalGearMk3]

Great video! quick and to the point! I've been doing destructive modeling for so long its hard to change my workflow.

[@JoshGambrell]

Non-destructive is a game changer for sure!

[@NiculaeAntonio]

Amazing dude!!! You are my fav blender modeler now!

[@JoshGambrell]

Ah thanks Antonio!

[@NITHISHKUMAR-jt9lw]

there is a addon called sorcar, can you make some videos from that ?

[@abelgeorge4953]

Waiting for the day when a beautifully modelled car becomes a cube in edit mode

[@yukiw7888]

This video helps me so much, thanks

[@paco3447]

The upcoming 2.91 version will have a new Boolean for coplanar faces that will solve the slight move/scale trick, with an optional checkbutton.

[@JoshGambrell]

Just made a video on it, check most recent video :)

[@chiyungchu9463]

How can we make a big bevel ?? on 14:40

[@aliakbarzade230]

That FOV is hurting my brain! XD

[@MohamedAli-kq4ej]

Hi josh i looove your work so much so i need a help i purchased box and hardops bundle and its amazing and purchased creative bundle includes ice tools pro and cubler they are good also what do you think about it did you try ?

[@JoshGambrell]

No clue about that last 2.

[@morkaili]

Now, please show how to clean this model's mesh up and make it usable in any kind of production pipeline.

[@onjofilms]

My cutter is not showing up in a new collection. I'm using BoolTools 0.4.1 any idea why not?

[@onjofilms]

Found it. Use 'Brush Boolean' instead of 'Auto Boolean' if you are using the menu.

[@anandd9979]

why can't why can't I apply the booleans?

[@SakugaAsu]

How can you do this for faces or rigged human type models? I want to do animals as well as Megaman robots, would this help in that? Do you have any tutorials on texturing?

[@JoshGambrell]

You can’t really. Those are organic meshes and booleans would kill those.

[@112productions]

As if destructive modelling wasn’t complex enough! This is on another level. Thanks for sharing

[@antwango]

hmmmm but would you use this "non destructive" way to model a building..... coming from an architecture background would someone use the negatives to model apertures and openings like doorways and windows? i can see the positives...... and the power, but coming from architecture and working in cad, the inputting of the data to create the "cutter" is essentially me in autocad or vectorworks giving dimensions to the door frame or opening.... and you could even just drop in windows and doorways into the walls and then adjust and specify the size or type of doorway etc.... you can just delete the window or doorway and the wall is intact again... im thinking out loud..... ive obviously created buildings or cad drawings where your drawing lines and offsetting lines to create the model piece by piece or line by line and also something similar to non destructively.... very informative video, and seeing someone who is able to model something complicated quickly and show and explain as well in a short video was amazing as well as make it not look so complicated.... i understand the power and flexibility of this but its knowing when to use it and being able to plan ahead..... i can see it makes sense for "concepting" a work in progress bespoke piece of mechanical engineering where you have to adjust back and forth due to changing conditions and tolerances

[@Leevy27]

Hi Josh, at 11:41 when I add the second bevel below the Solidify Modifier, the edges are not beveled. I redo this many times but no chances to put that bevel in place. Strange is, that when I screw up the segments and the offset, the other bevel density is increasing :-(

[@FrauPlau]

Don't need both bevel modifiers

[@Leevy27]

@@FrauPlau I realized this also, but the Vertex Bevel will not be so strong as in the video.

[@nicolasibarra7718]

what version do you use?

[@JoshGambrell]

2.90.1

[@heroicpopsicle4284]

Super strange question Josh. But the default cube shader, is it different than the normal one? It seems more gray-ish and the edges almost look lit up. is this a setting or is the default shader tweaked in anyway? :o

[@JoshGambrell]

Turn on shadow and cavity in the dropdown menu in the top right next to the rendering orbs.

[@popsfreshenmeyer7607]

Great tutorial. But why does it matter to shade the cutter cylinders smooth? Is this just a visual thing or does it actually influence the boolean?

[@JoshGambrell]

if the cutters are not shaded smooth, then that flat shading will transfer over to the mesh you're cutting from - take a look for yourself ;)

[@popsfreshenmeyer7607]

​@@JoshGambrell Oh yes, I see now. I assumed the boolean would base everything on vertex coordinates alone. But I guess it also inherits vertex normals and such over to the boolean target. This boolean stuff is much more complex than what meets the untrained eye. Thanks for clearing that up :)