This NEW Blender 4.0 Feature Will CHANGE the Way You Model!

In this video, we check out a new feature for moving objects with snap points in Blender! If you've used CAD software in the past, you're going to love it!
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[@TheCGEssentials]

Hi everyone! Let me know what you think about this new feature in the comments below! :)

[@mind_of_a_darkhorse]

Great feature! You can also setup Geometry Nodes setups as dropdown tools in your 3D Viewport! I believe it was on the ASKNK channel demonstrating this!

[@gottagowork]

Great feature, but in CAD you can also do snaps that are pretty much inaccessible to Blender. Like snap to a tangent, circle center, or ellipse focus points. These concepts doesn't exist in Blender as lines are still lines, there is nothing underneath saying "these lines represent an actual ellipse with these properties". And don't even get me started with constraints/relations: This line starts here and is always tangent to this circle. I use Solidworks as well for my daily work, not just Blender. Quality of life thing some probably don't realize: You can use shift to multi-select snap functions. I typically have both vertex and edge center active at the same time.

[@ZergRadio]

It reminds me of IronCads triball. I like the way IronCad works. Can't wait for Blender 4!

[@ChristophWerner]

Just a question, if it was not already mentioned: Why are you not using blenders 3D cursor as a temporary basepoint for snapping? It works also fast and I use it since years as a temporary basepoint... Just for curiosity. Nevertheless the new feature is a nice addition that avoids changing the cursors position for snapping purposes.

[@user-gy4xp2tu6f]

hi sir, may i please ask if you can share your dog model? for reference.

[@wjbiii]

My 20 years of AutoCAD experience demands that I point out how *scandalously* overdue this was. It's about bloody time.

[@brendan3556]

Absolutely agree

[@christopher3d475]

That's a fantastic change. 4.0 has a lot of great things, especially in the render area. But it's these small things that can really improve your life in an application.

[@TheCGEssentials]

Lol - honestly this one will affect my life the most - I'm so used to things working this way in the other software I use

[@xayzer]

Ha! FINALLY! I have been shouting from the rooftops for this feature for SO LONG! Thank you for bringing it to our attention, I was not aware 4.0 will have this feature, it's not heavily advertised.

[@TheCGEssentials]

It should be - it's a HUGE deal

[@bearsoniczsonic526]

me too, very long time, 3ds max had this since 2009

[@starby1243]

@@bearsoniczsonic526 I've been shouting from the rooftops for modifier stack (edit poly etc) like Max, hope we'll get that too one day. Never liked the Maya modeling method.

[@weightednormal3682]

You could always do this in Blender in edit mode. Only change here is doing in object mode.

[@allanr1771]

This is a long awaited feature which should be adapted to the rotate gizmo as well. It would speed modeling up tremendously.

[@darrennew8211]

You're looking for the "CAD Transforms" add-on.

[@Gadgetmawombo]

Yeah right now the workaround is to use the 3D cursor. But its a pain and takes forever.

[@RyanKingArt]

That's a great new feature!

[@matthewloynd9364]

This is a major change to the functionality of blender. I still think I will be using QuickSnap from the Blender market because that add-in allows you to snap and select the mid point of a line of even nap to an objects origin. Not sure if Blender has those features as well but still really great update.

[@widar28]

You can snap to the middle between two points when you enable snapping, grab an object, hover it over another object and when that orange circle appears you press A then hover over another point and press 'A' again, then it will snap the grabbed object in the middle between the the selected points.

[@ZenthAScar]

Previously I had to change the object origin point before snaping but now with this new feature, it's gonna be really helpful

[@adrianscarlett]

This is a massive improvement to blender work flow, especially for using it to create models for CAM. Another issue I often come across is being forced into using percentage units for some operations. For example, I frequently find myself needing to create an edge loop with a millimetre offset, not a percentage.

[@darrennew8211]

Look into the CAD Transforms add-on. It does that and all kinds of other things. The "Maker Tales" channel has a whole playlist of how to use Blender for mm-precise modeling.

[@brappineau4161]

Finally. Love your tutorials btw - finally subscribed 🤙🏻 Would also love to start seeing 60sec shorts that's sums these tutorials.

[@georgb302]

Needed this so often in the past, now we got it finally. Thank you for pointing ot out.

[@TheCGEssentials]

Yep!

[@youngloenoe]

I gotta say that CG essentials is one of the best Blender channels out there. Never disappoints.

[@TheCGEssentials]

Glad I've been able to help! :)

[@PrinceWesterburg]

Thats massive, SoftImage style snapping!!!

[@GladeForge]

This is great news. I can start using Blender as a precise software and not just "ah... that's close enough." This will be great for 3D printing, precise part models for engineering and architecture. Hoping they continue to improve this area and offer more snapping options. Autocad has the best snapping I've seen. You can select the base-point snapping type in advance: endpoint, midpoint, quadrant, center, etc, and then while you're moving, copying, scaling, or rotating you can then choose your snap-to point type mid-command so you can change your mind along the way.

[@Kyle-qn9ci]

This is something I've wanted for ages, can't wait for the full release of 4.0

[@dannyfranco199]

Few more hours!

[@widar28]

Oh man Hell yesss!!! I was waiting for an equivalent to "move with basepoint" for ages!

[@3mr3u]

Finally! Lack of this feature was reason to use other soft for tech modeling, and now I'll never ever need to alt-tab from blender again!

[@literalist.]

around 1:30 Im pretty sure its snapping to the origin which you can change by setting the origin to the back foot, though I agree the new system is a lot more convient.

[@TheCGEssentials]

I think I accidentally had it set to snap to face center or something like that

[@edwinblackman7037]

About time! Snapping was very frustrating before. Thanks Blender!

[@Picks_Productions]

Oh this looks good! Will make placing assets on virtual race tracks much easier!

[@TheCGEssentials]

Sure will!

[@sodiufas]

Doesn't have to use central point, u can just press A click point and A again another point, and it will snap in between, it works for whatever amount of points, didn't tried more then 4, though :)

[@luthiendulk9787]

Quite right, this was always frustrating, requiring awkward workarounds and checks. Great to see this new feature!

[@franciskwok3515]

Thanks for highlighting this new feature!

[@dave3301]

WOW, FANTASTIC NO MORE SETTING TO CURSOR, THANKS FOR SHARING

[@Sonario648]

Finally! Something from 4.0 that has my interest in the 4.0 series again, even though I'm more into animation than poky modeling.

[@DonEarl]

I've always accomplished this by moving my origin to a point on the object I'm moving then changing the snap setting from Closest to Active. Have also use plugin called "CAD transform".

[@Emre-lg5wj]

I am sooo exited for lighting! Cant wait.

[@Keltoi87]

It'll be good if you can also set the point you want the object to move to. Like midpoint, endpoint etc.

[@TheCGEssentials]

I would really like an improvement in the inferencing engine for sure

[@sirrodneyffing1]

Common sense basics have always seemed to be an absolute blind spot to the Blender developers (Right mouse click for years?? really??); all the simple things SketchUp nailed so well, they just can't seem to get their head round.

[@Rybz]

Wait, what you mean by this?

[@wintercatdoodle]

Blender 4.0 is coming stronger. Thanks for sharing this with us

[@EPeltzer]

It's such an obvious and useful function, which other 3D design software has had for decades. It's hard to understand why it's taken this long to implement. And not just for moving, but rotating, scaling, any kind of transform. I get the feeling some key Blender devs have a real anti-CAD workflow attitude. Most of the cool CAD kind of functions are coming from outside devs. It's a shame because software like Sketchup has some absolutely killer workflow functions like this. Figuring out how to change the object origin point so you can use that in transforms . . . cumbersome, inflexible, unintuitive. You might well want to move based on one point, rotate based on several others, and scale from yet other points. It's for instance very useful to be able to move based on points not part of the object to be moved. Like based on the dimension and direction of an edge of some other object (very common).

[@cekuhnen]

there are multiple things that are so obvious that are not implemented at blender that at times it is infuriating. sketchCrap is not a good software yet people are faster at picking it up because blender in that regards has an inferior UI and workflow if the devs would have addressed that blender would have been much more able to displace an overpaid app like sketchUp in some industries easily

[@askeladden450]

​@@cekuhnenwhat? Blender isnt even competing with sketchup, they have very different use cases. Blender isnt even cad.

[@cekuhnen]

@@askeladden450 I hope you don’t try to say that sketchUp is cad now.

[@askeladden450]

@@cekuhnen no, its a video editing software 🙄

[@cekuhnen]

@@askeladden450 good because your cad comment was amusing

[@Chronomatrix]

Such a simple but necessary addition.

[@lpanebr]

This is really a great new feature! I' m surprised you didnt mention or demonstrated the ability to set an axis and type the number to move, x12.3.

[@jarekdylewski1626]

Exacly. This is why I chose Blender over 3DS Max. Precise, controllable movement.

[@TheCGEssentials]

Max doesn't let you move an object a set distance?

[@jarekdylewski1626]

@@TheCGEssentials an object? yes. But I found it hard to move subobjects, like selected vertices, edges or faces by a certain distance in a prticular axis. Had to use helper objects. In Blender you can move any of these in the same way.

[@TheCGEssentials]

@@jarekdylewski1626 Ah - got it - I've not used Max, so I'm not ultra familiar with the differences. Thanks!

[@chesterdays2299]

This is a nice feature, and a bit faster than current methods - it all helps the workflow. But in fact the artist can be very precise in Blender anyway. I agree it takes a bit of setup with the origin, but the default snaps are nice, and there are some nice addons with a ton of functionality. Projection snapping is something I use a lot to align separate walls - reminds me of using Maya over 20 years ago - that wasn't CAD but you could still be very precise with it. But this is still most welcome.

[@cekuhnen]

this the artist can argument is wrong. blender can do things but with way more labor involved - period. and that is not ideal - as an artist I have to work fast and efficient and not slow and click intensive !

[@mrlightwriter]

@@cekuhnen If the artistc can, then the argument is not wrong. It might take more time, but it's possible. Even you said it: it's not ideal. If it's not ideal, that means that's possible.

[@Crimsin19937]

It's the little things in life you treasure!

[@mountstephen6810]

A cool addition. It's very much like part of the "CAD Transform" add on.

[@TheGuardianofAzarath]

Coming from maya myself I agree with the frustrating way blender does things be default. I actually set mine so W is now move, and activates the actual move gizmo. The other thing I hope they’ve added is a faster/easier way to change an objects pivot point.

[@evilotis01]

out of interest: how does other software handle changing pivot points? doing so has always seemed pretty straightforward/intuitive to me in blender

[@TheGuardianofAzarath]

@@evilotis01 well, i haven’t used Max in a long time, so i don’t remember how its done there, and I’ve never used c4d enough to find out, but in maya, all you need to do is select an object and hit the D key on the keyboard, that unlocks the pivot point, letting you move/rotate it to wherever you want in/on the selected object. Then once you’ve got it where you want it, you just hit the D key again to ‘lock’ the pivot in place. Zbrush is similar, you select a tool or subtool, and just above the transformation gizmo (which acts as a pivot in zbrush) there’s a padlock icon, click that to unlock it, and you can move the gizmo/pivot to where you want, then lock it again.

[@evilotis01]

@@TheGuardianofAzarath huh. thanks for the answer-i also haven't used Max in forever, and i generally stick w Blender these days bc it's free! anyway, yeah, good to know :)

[@joshhockey9]

ctrl+period.

[@SubhrajyotiAcharyyaDSB]

oh wow i NEEEEDED this a few months ago. This is truly a game changer for my work

[@TheCGEssentials]

:)

[@ohboyVisuals]

Huge boost to production

[@designfreedom3651]

Finally!!! Love to see this, along with the new ability to move in space while transforming an object.

[@TheCGEssentials]

Wait...where did they talk about the second thing? Because I would LOVE that

[@designfreedom3651]

@@TheCGEssentials It's already implemented. It's in Preferences / Keymap / Toggle Transform Navigation with Alt. Actually, with Alt you can rotate and zoom, while with Alt+Shift you can pan, all while transforming your object.

[@TheCGEssentials]

@@designfreedom3651 OMG that's fantastic - that was one of my other biggest complaints about working in Blender! Not sure why it's not just enabled by default, but I'll take it! :) Thanks!

[@bosse-1760]

As a guy who came from 3ds max. this was one of the frustrating things, but one that I still miss is the ability to set the size after placing an object

[@TheCGEssentials]

Interesting - I've not used Max so I can't comment on this, but it sounds interesting

[@marsmotion]

max had this for a while as an out growth of autocad back in the days with 3d studio @@TheCGEssentials

[@bosse-1760]

@@zubenelgennubi I didnt think of that

[@carlosmarx2380]

@@bosse-1760 you mean when adding default objects like planes and cubes? if so, i also think we need this feature. but pressing s after placing works fine too, or typing in the size in the transform or dimensions panel.

[@bosse-1760]

@@carlosmarx2380 Thats exactly what I mean

[@gabriel.lambach_privado]

Thats super cool, and i think much needed.

[@average3970]

They fixed my biggest issue with blender. Props. Near perfect software.

[@RealGaryGibson]

That's a great feature to have. Thanks!

[@gravityfuzz]

Yes. Loving how Blender is becoming CAD like. It's just logical.

[@mortengu1385]

wow... such a small improvement, that will make the whole modelling soooo much smoother!

[@TheCGEssentials]

Yes it will!

[@cgslav]

I`ve been waiting for a normal Snap in Blender for years))

[@jakemarcus9999]

Absolutely welcomed feature indeed

[@GameDev1]

Are they finally also allowing us to set the origin in object mode to the center of a selection at the click of a button?

[@Mamika_AFK]

This is great! Although I've never used CAD software, I can see why people were complaining... But this new feature will help a lot! Thanks for sharing! 😄👍 God Bless u and your fam! 🙏🩵

[@michieltieleman9462]

The "B" point is cool and all, really it is and I'll be using it plenty, but you're making it sound like snapping was broken before, which is certainly isn't. I'm sure you're aware it doesn't "Randomly snaps" but snaps to the object's pivot point because you're moving stuff in object mode. I'd be surprised if you didn't know how to get basically the exact same workflow as this new "B" method but in edit mode using the current snapping tools, most notably the combination of vertex or edge snap and either "active" (select your starting point last) or "closest" (move the mouse close to the "starting point" vertex and press G to move).

[@MrFede778]

About time! this functionality especially made me work mostly in max instead of Blender. Great video!

[@TheCGEssentials]

Thanks for watching!

[@Billionairewithacold]

So excited for this feature! thanks for the insight!

[@Billionairewithacold]

Also I discovered you when you were doing Fusion 360 tutorials! loved that and love your stuff now!

[@TheCGEssentials]

@@Billionairewithacold Thanks for following me over here! I'd love to do more with Fusion, but I just don't have enough hours in the day right now

[@trebilicious]

Is the G-B snap point only vertex snap or can you set the snap point to, say, snap to the center of a face?

[@bendvfx]

This is getting the precise movement so much easier and great to hear that, Thanks for great content like always!

[@TheCGEssentials]

It will definitely help! :)

[@elliejohnson2786]

I use a blender addon that does exactly this, so I'm glad it's now native behaviour.

[@Bob99ish]

Thanks for these videos man.

[@ApacheJay156]

It's about time. I'm surprised it took them this long to make something so essential.

[@AeiousKillhound]

2:41 like literally I need this right now ... gotta wait for blender 4.0 stable and continue with project :D

[@marcelzero3005]

When i started using blender a couple of years ago, coming from sketchup, that's the one thing that used to drive me bananas. Good to see that finally addressed.

[@MolediesOflife]

nice update, fast setting

[@mendezcreative]

great addition. resolves some of the issues of moving origin point before snap snapping geo to specific points.

[@TheCGEssentials]

Yeah I think you could avoid that completely if you wanted to

[@GymRowboat]

Nice! It would also be good if you could choose multiple snap options at the same time like midpoint and endpoint simultaneously (like AutoCad).

[@kerrykaatz7343]

Blender can do that, if I understand your statement correctly. Create 2 objects. Go to snap menu. For example, select Vertex, SHIFT-select Edge, SHIFT-select Edge Center, or any multiple Snap To. The SHIFT key, adds to your selection. Now press G and snap to any of those 3. Oh btw, the Snap Menu shows Mix after selecting multiple Snap Tos. I just learned about this, as well, within the last week or so from uh, somewhere.

[@GymRowboat]

@@kerrykaatz7343Thanks so much! I didn't realize that.

[@knight2255]

@@kerrykaatz7343 Do you have to do that for every move?

[@kerrykaatz7343]

@@knight2255 I just tried it and multiple Snap Tos hold just like any other single Snap To, so no to your question. If you want the Snap To changed, edit the Snap To to whatever you choose. There's a keyboard shortcut that toggles Snap on/off but I forget what it is. Honestly, I am just a schmo when it comes to using Blender.

[@SPQRxUSAxNUSA]

Thank God thank you for letting us know!

[@mistube]

nice snapping for shure :) looking forward to that , i dont use snapping very often because it as it is now is very dependent on what angle you view from

[@lomaxdesigns1716]

I don't want to be upgrading my Blender right now, I'm always paranoid of messing with things half way into a big project and I'm also paranoid of weird versions called "Beta". For other like-minded dinosaurs out there, I invented a laborious work around for this issue. In edit mode select the vert you want to use as your snapping origin (on the object you're moving) Select "cursor to selected". Jump into object mode and create an empty, then parent the object to the empty (Ctrl+P). Now you can just move the empty and it will snap perfectly to any edge or vert you like without a fight. p.s. Thanks for another awesome video. I legit think you make the best Blender content on KZbin.

[@codecthelios]

I agree. I use Blender and Autodesk Inventor. The hardest part about blender seems to be the controls just feel imprecise. This should go a long way

[@fredozamas]

Also coming from a cad background (architect) this is the most exciting new feature I've seen to date

[@vldvvalentin]

Blender has already been presize. You just need to change origin point to whatever vertex you want. It wasnt perfect, but it was doable. Glad they added new., easier way to choose the exact snap point. Def gonna save a lot of time on origin changes.

[@franklinsharp1092]

That is good improvement And i like your dog

[@TheCGEssentials]

Thanks!

[@metachanneleducation]

Shiiiit... I need to download it soon...and try this new amazing tools to make a better animation for my channel. thanks for your sharing brother... I love it. ❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@閔閔-j2b]

Whoa,that’s cool,I will have to move 3d cursor to the point I want and move the pivot to the cursor , it’s a big change.

[@ahmad1080p]

wow this will really become handy

[@josephvanwyk2088]

Yeah this is exactly what we all want/ Great job Blender folks.

[@andrew_d1612]

Cool, this like Sketchup. I think is a nice feature 👍🏻

[@TheCGEssentials]

Totally

[@raw_pc]

Literally can't wait any longer for 4.0 😅 it's going to be awesome!

[@sebastianmurra]

Great snapping upgrade! Just like in Plasticity. Awesome!

[@TheCGEssentials]

Right on!

[@DavidSmith-sg5lc]

AWESOME feature!!!

[@theguyfromsaturn]

I've been trying to get into Blender for years. This may be the thing that does it for me. (I also come from CAD).

[@jnggraphics]

Nice, been using quick snap addon to attain this function on previous version.

[@svivan20]

Maya has edit pivot point with D keyboard shortcut since the beginning. In blender you can map the origin command to a keyword shortcut. I have it to D.

[@Zoran_Zivic]

Thank you. As an AutoCAD user, I love this!

[@GaryParris]

good to see it being covered :O)

[@a_art_man]

Thanks a lot for information! It s awesome and strange that Blender didn’t yet tell about this

[@yochintohere]

Oh man thats so good change !!

[@AntonQvarfordt]

Unity has pretty much always had this. Maya basically has this (you can snap your pivot point to any vertex on a model - and it will use that as anchor onto whatever vertex you hover over). I didn't realize didn't have a good version of this already. It's a bit more of a "that's about time!" than a "wow what an amazing new feature!" :P

[@iluvyunie]

Ok for this I would change the geometry origin to the foot and snap to surface or just dial the numbers in.. but I guess it's a good addition

[@QuirinF]

What prevented you from using the 3D Cursor before? It does exactly the same thing. Or the origins or a combination of both? Blender hotkeys are very convenient to switch between the different modes. Maybe it's a handy workflow addition for people coming from CAD, where you'd usually have to pick a pivot for every transform. But nothing more, as the functionality has been there since forever.

[@joshhockey9]

Nothing prevents you from moving the origin to snap with, but you shouldn't have to. This fixes a real design flaw.

[@pallenda]

The main reason I have a hard time getting into Blender is the basic viewport and selection features. The stuff I hated when I shifted from 3dsmax to Maya but now love in Maya. Q/W/E/R is Select/Move/Rotate/Scale. That combined with the LMB/MMB/RMB and the... here is the key part the quick Pivot point manipulation is what makes Maya feel so much more intuitive and fast. This new feature might be a nice step for me, and I hope its as fast and intuitive as the pivot point in Maya. (Its hard to remember how it works in Maya as I use it every day at work, but never thing about how it works.) Its been a bit since I last time used Blender but there is a few other strange things for me. Frame selected being on numpad . Zooming when moving the mouse is either up/down or left/right. I hope its been changed just distance moved. Ohh and the viewport context menu that didn't show up because the shortcut was on a key mainly on US keyboard layout. :D

[@DonEarl]

First thing I did in Blender was change my keyboard shortcuts to "Industry Standard". Made the transition from Maya to Blender much easier.

[@pallenda]

@DonEarl I tried that, but following tutorials were not as convenient then. :)

[@RobertNeptune]

it took blender decades to make snap a real deal is just astonishing

[@TheCGEssentials]

Now for that line tool :p

[@RobertNeptune]

@@TheCGEssentials LOL

[@Sonario648]

Buddy. It took Blender TWO decades for Left Click to become standard.

[@plastiksurgeon9129]

EXCELLENT! I do a LOT of formatting .obj car files to 3D print. This helps a BIG deal because there are times when I need to move trim for example after scaling. I want it to go to an exact point on the car body, and I can spend a fair amount of time trying to get it in position. Thanks so much for previewing this! 👍🏾👍🏾

[@TheCGEssentials]

Yep - total precision modeling tool feature

[@thomasmulford9420]

OMG, im a "life long" max user, learing blender and have been pulling my hair out trying to figure out how to vertex snap like max! Thank you for spotlighting this new feature!

[@TheCGEssentials]

Happy to help!

[@RenzoIR144]

I complement my Rhino models with blender and that inaccuracy when moving was always uncomfortable but I installed the plugin Cad Transform and it worked perfect, I wonder with this update will I still need that plugin?

[@danialsoozani]

This is amazing!! I needed that so i got a plugin that I don't remember the name and use ctrl+shift+V to use this feature. but now it is built in! thanks a lot for letting us know about this!

[@TheCGEssentials]

You're welcome!

[@Transcriptor]

From experience of downloaded models all objects should have an empty as its parent (as well as a collision shell, materials, etc.). So snapping to this, having moved it as demonstrated would be good. The whole object assembly can then easily be managed with the empty. Sounds promising.

[@sebbosebbo9794]

a old patch from the B3d dev. Dalai is now implemented ,...great feature... 4.0 ,.4.1... will bring up so much fun and joy....great work its so cool to see all this hard work paid out from the big community and the central developer..

[@tvmasterc]

I am very excited by this as I too learned from CAD and I have to think differently when it comes to Blender.

[@DanielSamulewiczXXI]

Finally! Thanks!

[@zergidrom4572]

so its make available to temporary change origin point? looks cool

[@NZenClarr]

i encountered that kind of problem too. but i use Edit Mode and activate the vertex snap to move objects in a precise position.

[@soulcatch]

OMG, I love this!!