4
$\begingroup$

I have a cylinder that I have used the Boolean Modifier to take out some shapes. This has caused multiple faces to be generated.

I have tried to reduce the amount of faces on a cylinder with dissolve faces and a few other options, but can't get to the point where I can bevel the edges of this cylinder easily.

Is there a way to achieve this?

The shape in question

$\endgroup$

1 Answer 1

6
$\begingroup$

I would remodel it for better quad topology. There's a pretty nifty built-in addon called LoopTools. Enable it via menu Edit > Preferences > Add-ons > LoopTools

enter image description here

  • Add a circle Shift+A > Mesh > Circle with 32 vertices
  • Press i to Inset a deep inner circle then LMB to confirm
  • Press Ctrl+R and scroll forward to add Loop Cuts then LMB to confirm
  • Delete the other half of the geometry and fill in the half circle
  • Then add a Mirror Modifier on the X-axis
  • You can easily shape the mouth by moving a few vertices
  • Select the mouth area and press i to Inset Faces then B to turn off Boundary then LMB
  • Select a sqaure area where you want the eye to be and RMB > Loop Tools > Circle
  • Press i again to inset to add a nice Face Loop then LMB to confirm
  • Now you can select the Edge Loops of the mouth and eye and press Ctrl+B to Bevel
  • Optionally in Object Mode, RMB > Shade Smooth and add Subdivision Surface Modifier

enter image description here

Now you have prettier topology and smoother bevels

enter image description here

If you tinker around you can also come up with prettier topology without ugly N-Gons by starting with quads from a Plane object and forming it into a circle then moving around vertices.

enter image description here

$\endgroup$
11
  • $\begingroup$ This looks great! The only problem I have is when I press i to inset faces the second time — on this step: "Select the mouth area and press i to Inset Faces then B to turn off Boundary then LMB" The inset faces feature insets every individual face, not all of them together as it does in your gif. Is there a way to group them together that I'm missing? $\endgroup$
    – Lxxj
    Jul 31 at 14:49
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Press 'i' again to alternate between individual and not. Or in the pop up window, uncheck the 'individual' option $\endgroup$
    – Cornivius
    Jul 31 at 15:50
  • $\begingroup$ @Cornivius This doesnt work, and I'm not sure why... Same with the pressing B $\endgroup$
    – Lxxj
    Jul 31 at 16:02
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Ror rigid bodies ngons on a flat surface are workable, you just need to divide them so they are convex (so that a straight line connecting any two points within the ngon will never go outside the ngon), then you inset those ngons to create a buffer of quads, and preferably inset again to have a double buffer of quads. Then Subdivision Surface + smooth shading won't be affected by ugly triangulation of ngons, and angle-limited bevel should leave ngons alone as well. $\endgroup$ Jul 31 at 16:22
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @HarryMcKenzie oh, quad based topo is definitely better, just saying ngons are often good enough :P. With ngons it can be tricky to do this double inset, whereas with quads the entire space is available for bevel/subdiv. $\endgroup$ Aug 2 at 6:32

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .