How to give your 3D models that 'mechanical' feel

[@JoshGambrell]

►► Get started with hard surface modeling in Blender for free - www.blenderbros.com/jumpstart

[@WolfsHaven]

Great tutorial. There are two reasons why this looks more natural. First and foremost in the real world most machining is done on a mill where the cutting is done with round bits. This will leave more rounded edges in most locations. It takes a lot of hand work to get hard edges especially in corners. That extra labor costs more money. Molded parts often have rounded edges and draft angles because it makes things come out of the mold easier. It's the nature of most modern machining. The second is safety. Most exposed edges are intentionally rounded off to prevent injuries to the users. I'll add a third, wear and tear. Over time on objects that receive a lot of use, hard edges will naturally round off over time. Exposed ones wear down and internal hard edges are hard to clean. Over time dirt and gunk will build up in those hard corners because it's hard to get out. That is why this tutorial is dead on.

[@abdullahmudassir7183]

Adding to this, concave angles are always rounded off because they become a good starting point for rust and crack propagation. Sharp concave angles don't take kindly to mechanical stresses - a lesson that was learnt the hard way by the people who designed the DC-8 airliner.

[@lablrvisuals305]

i've been bingeing your vids, this one is pretty good

[@elindis]

I like videos like this. To be honest, I'd be happy if we went even higher-level, to talk about shape design concepts in the blockout and secondary stages.

[@LuciusVulpes]

Cavity. After years of using Blender I finally know how to get that look lol.

[@gabrielegagliardi3956]

Super useful video Josh, that pop seams to be the difference between an intermediate and a professional artist

[@jessefurqueron5555]

Just curious, no mention of variable chamfers? Don’t know if Blender supports them or not; we’re a F360/Rhino/ZB shop. I like to peek in to see what ya’ll are doing in your design vids, though not a Blender user myself. Always learning/inspiration when it comes to design thoughts…moving on. So fun tidbit for readers, if you are actually (yeah like that for-real real-life stuff) manufacturing/machining something. And the following applies primarily to machining/3D printing an end product/component…casting/molding is a bit different economically and in mfg considerations (things like release/draft etc…yeah we’re skipping that here). But you might want to think about how your components or shiny-shoots thing is actually going to be made, just a tinsy bit. Kinda like you’re thinking about where your screw/bolt holes are placed and why…accessibility etc…right?🤔 Ok, for the one or two readers still with me 🤗 Fillets are more expensive to CNC, granted you might be able to buy expensive tooling for specific radii/material needs (kinda like very expensive router bits) -or- for example, you go with ball nose bits for your fillets which give you a greater control/variety of radii from one type/spec of ball mill - but at the expense if machine time; making a fillet look/feel smooth is time consuming. Chamfers on the other hand…easy peasy on tooling. Do a machine runtime sim on your model and you’ll see what I’m talking about. Almost there…almost there… So, why do I mention this? Something extra for the reader to perhaps take into consideration on your next design. Almost every Sci-Fi (federation/empire/kingdom etc) manufacturing budget has constraints, can only squeeze those space peasants so far. To that end, just like real life, use fillets on high end products or where “feel” is very important for its use, but only where you absolutely need them. Chamfer,your goto for knocking off those nasty sharp edges. Both fillets/chamfers have a role to play in how easily parts can be made to fit together. And don’t forget their use in creating shadow lines. If you want lots of dings in your machined edges (what you’re not using Iconel or unobtainium?) go w chamfers…they get bunged up more from use due to stress. There’s a lot more to it…think round tubing vs square tubing bending properties etc. there’s plenty of material (pun) out on the internet for fellow retentives. Fillets in 3D printing can be made to look nicer if you’re printer/slicer support variable height layers; but it’s “more expensive” in machine run time. Trade offs 😊 So readers, you might want to take a moment and think about who/what/where/how (e.g. a brief) will be using your creation and it’s “manufacturability” (unless you have a Star Trek replicator - hopefully not a Stargate Replicator!) and help build your object’s “character” with chamfers & fillets. Just some food for thought. I’ve always found sci-fi to come across more immersive/believable when everyday real-life details are worked in. Especially on props etc. That may be just me 😜🤦🏻‍♂️ Ok, that was way way longer than I intended. “Damnit Jim, I’m an Engineer not a doctor!l” (but ya still can’t read my handwriting 🤷🏻‍♂️) As always, YMMV, just sharing, nothing more, nothing less. Ya’ll have a good’un!

[@triple7evenn]

Great tips, I have been struggling with this for a while.

[@gabrielegagliardi3956]

Same do I, the post production "make the highlights pop" phase is incredibly important. At the end of the day you can be the greatest modeller ever but without a good post production the result is meh. Blender has probably one of the weakest renders out there, it looks more like a funeral than a render. Sometimes after the final render i put some flowers on my keyboard.

[@triple7evenn]

@@gabrielegagliardi3956 That's true, yes, but it's also important not to go overboard with the post fx cuz it can look cheesy in my opinion. I personally like to just try a few different LUTs and increase the contrast a little bit. Gets the job done for my line of work. I think it primarily depends on the style you are going for.

[@richardlionheart3935]

A lot of good info here. Opened my eyes to a few things.. thank you. :)

[@slayth6332]

I find this very useful when it comes to perfect renders as such, but Especially in video games if you take a close look at Triple-A titles, many assets look pretty even with limited geometry because the player won't be a centimeter away from the object, so with high count of geometry there will be many details that will consume much from your hardware for useless-perfect details because the player won't be able to notice for example, if you play call of duty mw3 2023, you can notice that the graphics are pretty realistic yet when you move closer to some objects, the edges aren't even beveled, they mostly use the power of texturing. just wanted to share this for people who are looking to make good game assets :)

[@najhonbanjon]

Valuable information, appreciate this work, thanks

[@arr84.design]

Another usefull new tips , thank you Josh.

[@Vlow52]

It’s more about materials. As for geometry, you better use CAD for this kind of surfaces

[@morningdrums]

Ok I have a question, how are you selecting edges so fast? I also don't have auto smooth in list where it says normals.

[@altwhisper6920]

In my humble opinion, the third example looks not so weird for me. A cylinder hole, that has reference in real tech designs.

[@DaCapitalist1]

Beautiful techniques!!! I am a huge fan of chamfering in cad and then utilizing a double bevel in blender! Looks so nice :D

[@joandelaplata816]

Hello:) I donw know why but if i appply booleans in my mac, blender crashes. Do you know which could be the reason? than you for your videos and your time

[@Eydenesys]

You can easily work on designing objects in Starfield or Star Citizen.

[@androthebot]

But bevels in concave areas happen all the time in industrial design... so what's the right way to do them then?

[@zachhoy]

and here's me just adding a bevel modifier :S

[@lockpickingmen]

It catches my attention that you are using an old version of Blender (3.4.1). Any particular reason?

[@kerhabplays]

Everybody's gangsta until cavity turned off😆

[@nullstate8117]

very good I like

[@man_art_man]

👍🏻

[@Eydenesys]

in game is so fat for the GPU.

[@monas1510]

❤❤❤

[@robertdover5185]

Don't waste your time with these guys. They give you terrible advice to sell their addons. If you do pay for their stuff they spam you with emails multiple times a day. If you unsubscribe from their emails they will delete your paid account.