Using the Custom Bevel Profile in Blender - Tips and Tricks

The custom bevel profile tool gives so much power, especially when creating mouldings and columns. Here's how to use it and how to get the most from it.
Bevel Profile Short: Bevel Profile: • Bevel Profile Trick in...
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[@ravager990]

As someone still learning Blender I can't thank you enough for these videos. They are in depth with a very hands on approach and no wasting time. Your channel deserve a lot more subs ;)

[@ArtisansofVaul]

Thanks so much man. Im happy I can be of help and hopefully the subs will come 😁

[@loni_G]

It really *should* be a standard feature in Blender, but...the wonderful Hard Ops does include functionality for saving bevel profiles! It's done via the bevel modifier, and the save and load options can be found in the modifier helper section of the ctrl+~ menu. There's probably more documentation about it somewhere, but here's a little overview video about it kzbin.info/www/bejne/apzbl3iXe9RqhZYsi=bzZgvUJIMLXNQ0nr

[@ArtisansofVaul]

Legendary! I will have a look. Thats a feature I didnt know was present in Hard Ops so thanks so much for that 👍

[@tuulikk9193]

You keep proving why this is my favorite Blender and modeling channel. Will probably use a lot of your tutorials for backgrounds for my sculpting.

[@ArtisansofVaul]

Thanks so much, what a compliment 😁😁😁👍🏻

[@9b8ll]

Thank you so much. Saving bevel profiles should be a native e blender feature! I hope Blender 4.0 has something like this. Also, this technique is good for stairs, too.

[@ArtisansofVaul]

That would be fantastic if they have it sorted for Blender 4. Totally agree on the stairs

[@eitantal726]

This is something I'm working on. A video on this subject will come out soon

[@jcaites]

I got a novel solution to this that I discovered from making ornate window frames. Create a plane, and model it to the profile of your liking in Edit mode (no need for fiddling with that annoying bevel window that destroys your progress if you accidently click away). Convert to curve and then use another curve as a shape for your structure- whether it be a circle like your column here or square for a frame, and use your plane shape to as your profile. What I ran into trouble with was complex 3D shapes like arches where the curve will deform, however you can use an excellent $7 dollar add on called "Extrude Along Rails" that allows you to do so along any 3D path.

[@ArtisansofVaul]

Seems like a valid method. Now when Blender 4 is out that paid for addon is going to be pretty redundant as you'll be able to make a tool to do this that will work in a file with a click once you have it made. Its going to be AMAZING!

[@jcaites]

@@ArtisansofVaul do you mean this going to be a python scripting thing or is this an integrated feature in Blender 4.0?

[@ArtisansofVaul]

@jcaites It's an integrated feature, no scripting, just Geometry Nodes. On Monday on the Patreon (and Friday on KZbin) I'll be going through it. Been playing with it for the last few days and "game-changing" doesnt even cover it.

[@jcaites]

Great! I am still too thick to understand most of geometry nodes, but I'm hoping implementing this will be fairly simple. @@ArtisansofVaul

[@Everyday_Foreman]

Another great job of explaining something complex

[@ArtisansofVaul]

Cheers man 😁

[@louismajor4394]

Thanks for this excellent episode. Best explanations on Blender techniques in YT!

[@ArtisansofVaul]

Thanks so much Louis, really appreciated

[@OllamhProductions]

I've made some custom molding for base boards on some models, and found that to get the exact same length on handles, or different points on the same line, you can copy and paste the x and y coordinates in the custom profile section of the bevel. It makes getting things exact very easy.

[@ArtisansofVaul]

You can copy and paste them into the profile section? Where do you copy and paste them into? Cos that sounds awesome.

[@OllamhProductions]

@@ArtisansofVaul It's more to make sure the points are perfectly aligned in the custom profile. There's two coordinate fields at the bottom, so if you're wanting two points on the same axis, you can copy from one point, select the other, and then paste. It takes the guess work out of things. You can even make a notepad document with the exact coordinates as a work around to keep the same profile. i.gyazo.com/f1007f4a438c7b2f583282cd017bc4a2.png

[@unknownBoy85lover]

Worthy video 💎👌thank you 🌹

[@ArtisansofVaul]

Thanks so much 😁😁

[@unknownBoy85lover]

@@ArtisansofVaul thank you too bro ❤️✨, do a complex modeling game ready asset or weapon(like the spear throwing one you have that's pretty good and challenging workflow) please if you it's possible for you thanks 🙏.

[@j_haydar]

Thanks Vaul 🤓

[@ArtisansofVaul]

My pleasure 😁😁👍🏻

[@RoniStudio]

Thanks 👍

[@ArtisansofVaul]

😁👍🏻

[@vaclavdefender6103]

The geometry node setup would be cool!

[@ArtisansofVaul]

I was playing with it over the weekend so I think I have it to a way that works well. It just frustrating as there are some things I wish I could do but cant seem to (like extruding another vertex for an already existing curve). I will have to hunt to see if I can find a solution.

[@Visuals_by_Design]

I'm sure you may have heard by now but you can save custon profiles with hardops👍

[@ArtisansofVaul]

You can (but you also can't 😉). It can save some profiles but they need to use only some of the profile tools, you can't save the ones using the "handles" to form the curve. So it's quite limited.

[@Visuals_by_Design]

@@ArtisansofVaul That's odd, I've just done that, I'd upload a screenshot but I don't think I can on here can I?

[@homborgor]

“Pretty happy with that, in fact, no I’m not” - every blender user ever Very nice tutorial, I usually make all my bevels separate (I’d make a rough version of what I want and do custom bevels on each edge) but now I actually understand how it can be used to quickly make complex shapes I know this is gonna save me a ton of time. Really is a shame there’s no save feature for the bevels, I might have to refresh my brain on python and make a script for that.

[@ArtisansofVaul]

🤣 Too true. Following some comments I have a couple of ideas so I'm going to do a follow up on ways that we can get around the saving bevel profile issue

[@homborgor]

@@ArtisansofVaul that would be cool, I’ve also seen from other comments that hard ops can save them which I had no idea about

[@ArtisansofVaul]

@@homborgor Yeah I didn't either so I will play around with that and cover that method and another way I think should work for if you dont have Hard Ops (which may be better 9f it works as it has a visual representation)

[@eitantal726]

"Cascading insets" is how I go about replicating such profiles. Then I use beveling to convert corners to round corners. Would be great if there was an 'import' button that lets you import an existing curve, into a profile, as well as a 'save' button

[@ArtisansofVaul]

I totally agree on the import button. I mean in theory if that existed you'd just have the curves in the asset browser, draw them in and hit the import button. Though having saved ones would be cool.

[@user-hy8zn3jf6w]

Just found out you can copy and paste one profile curve to another (just hover over the curve area and ctrl+c or ctrl+v), so while it's not the most elegant solution, you could save your profile on a dummy cube with a bevel modifier...

[@robertshaer6603]

If I'm thinking this through correctly - you can then add this/them to your asset browser for easy access in future

[@ArtisansofVaul]

Oh really?! That would be awesome. Do you mean in the bevel profile itself? Or can you do it on a curve object?

[@styloo_]

you can't save the profile??

[@ArtisansofVaul]

I haven't found a way to other than the trick I mention here (which isnt exactly the best)

[@orcd0rk]

Are you using some special settings to make your clay look that good? Everything has such high contrast and I feel like I'm constantly having trouble visualizing my material while working with it because of a lack of light effects. Thanks for all the fantastic videos!

[@ArtisansofVaul]

I am but its all settings you can change manually. Ive got a video on my settings here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fZSxeY1_gbCfaassi=F5j0i-xLwTSvQXQH

[@orcd0rk]

@@ArtisansofVaul Thanks for the fast response! It'll be nice to not lose track of topology at bad lighting angles.

[@ArtisansofVaul]

@@orcd0rk 👍

[@MrSunamo]

Great video. I wonder if it's possible to save a custom bevel to the list of presets so it can be easily reused in another project?

[@ArtisansofVaul]

That would be amazing. Unfortunately I don't know the answer at this point but I'll see if I can find something

[@eitantal726]

HardOps might have an ever-scroll function that lets you scroll thru different profiles. That's something I came across while looking at the code, I don't know if it's working or not, but it's a great idea

[@GuillaumeGdr]

Great video as always ! still no way to save the custom bevel ?

[@ArtisansofVaul]

I know! So frustrating.

[@GuillaumeGdr]

@@ArtisansofVaul looking for an addon or solution, at least I found this : You can create an object with a bevel modifier and use the custom profile of the modifier to save the curve with a simple ctrl C ctrl V and then use it for your custom bevel as you want. I think I'll save objects with custom bevel in the asset browser to use the profile when needed for edit mode beveling.

[@Revenant483]

Thank you for a really cool tutorial ΛₒV! I was wondering how to make custom bevels and this tutorial is awesome. I appreciate you showing this feature!

[@ArtisansofVaul]

Thanks as always Rev 👍

[@eitantal726]

how did you get the flutes in the cylinder? boolean ops?

[@ArtisansofVaul]

Its just making the shape, radial array and then boolean. Its so much cleaner than the "sub d" method which makes a huge amount of unneeded geometry.

[@eitantal726]

​@@ArtisansofVaulTo be fair, booleans add geometry too, if you apply them. Not only that, the geometry they add is not suitable for a sub-d workflow. I'm of the opposite opinion: sub-d workflow has considerably less geometry. Case and point: A circle. An octagon will give you a circle with as much detail as you want

[@ArtisansofVaul]

@eitantal726 Oh it depends on what you're doing. But in the case of a pillar like this to get the rounded shape on the end of the fluting requires more geometry (this is after the subD is applied) than if you didn't have it. I should preface this that I'm talking about from a 3d printing point of view where any sub D must be applied meaning you get a lot of additional vertices on even straight edges that otherwise wouldn't be there and isn't needed.

[@dubwork]

would be cool if we could bevel the corners of the box, one can use a fillet of course but the result is not the same when using a bevel with 2 cm on a corner, the edges are parallel, with fillet not.Unfortunately, there is no modifier to convert this in to a mesh like in 3ds max and continue non-destructive

[@ArtisansofVaul]

I'm not quite sure what you mean...? You can bevel the corners.

[@cekconi1773]

👍👍👍

[@ArtisansofVaul]

😁😁

[@keithmathews4605]

Could you not make a curve to the shape you want for the bevel profile... give it a thickness... then simply subtract the shape from the desired piece via a boolean modifier? I am EXTREMELY new to Blender, and I may be coming up with a completely ridiculous "solution" that does not actually work, so please forgive me for tossing this comment out without actually trying it. Still, at least in my head, it feels like this would work... kinda-ish. I don't know. Anyway. I'll go back to sitting quietly in the corner.

[@ArtisansofVaul]

You could for sure so it's a great suggestion 👍🏻 (it's actually a bit easier to do with Geometry Nodes I'd say) but it still will take longer than having something you can just bring in. Though through some comments and a few tricks I've just made a video on how you can effectively "save" and import the profiles. The video is up on the Patreon and will be up here on Friday. For someone new to Blender you seem to have a good handle on this so no sitting in the corner from you please 😁

[@ComplexTagret]

Omg... Wouldn't it be easier to just draw a curve + screw modifier (and mark as asset for further usage) instead of 13 mins of this? )

[@seilah8]

Yes, but that is not the point here. The thing here is that he was explaining about a feature that it's part of the Bevel, as the name implies. People may be interested in that option (Profile Type - Custom) and may not use it because they don't know how it works and just that option. He is just showing in detail how that feature works, he's not saying that you should use it everytime you bump into this kind of situation. A person may now use this option, even if very little, or not based on the info acquired because no he/she knows how it works, its pros and cons and can now make a more informed decision.

[@ArtisansofVaul]

While I agree for use on a cylinder that would be a good option but it will not work on every shape 😂. This will work on much more complex shapes and is sometimes needed, thats why the bevel profile exists and why it has been covered. And as highlighted at the end I think it would be a massive benefit to the function if it could work off a curve.

[@ArtisansofVaul]

@@seilah8 Thanks man. Very clear summary and I wouldn't have been able to word it half as well as you have. Really appreciated. 👌