How can I create this shape in Blender?

Question

I've been literally trying to get this right for a couple hours on Blender but it seems like I get stuck every time.

This is what I'm looking for, but time and time again I've been stumped.

And a quick note, I have to add this boolean difference to it when it's sculpted out:

But when I go to sub surf it, this happens and it becomes very difficult to add loop cuts around them to fix it, actually they don't even show up at all and using the knife tool is too difficult.

Here's a cruder but see through version of the shape I'm looking for!

I know this is probably asking for too much but for all you Blender daredevils out there, a freshmen college student in product design calls for your help!

Answer 1

You can do this with the bevel tool.

Start with a cube, in edit mode (TAB) select the edges you want to make round:

press CtrlB to use the bevel tool and set the parameters for Amount to 1 and Profile to 0.5

Remove doubles (press the Spacebar or press Ctrlv->Remouve Doubles)

To make the first shape you describe extrude these faces:

For the second shape you'd need to make a cut before extruding:

Answer 2

I would recommend the following workflow.

• Start with a UV sphere.
• Delete all but two octants (leave the top right, front and back). To do this, select the equatorial and meridian edge rings (AltShift RMB) and use the Rip tool (V), then mouse over each octant and use Select Linked (L).
• Extrude (E) the bottom ring down to create a long half-capsule ring (upside-down "U").
• Extrude the long ring out a bit, then create a face at the boundary with the sphere.
• Extrude the top part of what used to be the long ring out a bit more.
• Fill remaining holes with faces.
• Bevel interior edges, if desired.

Here's a demo (warning: large gif may be slow to load; consider viewing this gfycat video instead).

You mentioned that you wanted to add subsurf. I would recommend against that, in this case. Instead, just use a sufficiently high-resolution UV sphere that everything is smooth already, and add a slight bevel to the edges. (I didn't really do this in my demonstration; you could be more careful.) See iKlsR's answer to "How can I make sharp geometric 3D models look more realistic?" for more information.