9
$\begingroup$

How can I make this shape using a cylinder and not a cube? It is going to be a table chair leg so its not completely flat.

enter image description here

I'm not that experienced in blender yet and I've tried a few techniques across the web described for other objects but none have worked thus far so I'm at a stand point.

Thanks!

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
2
  • $\begingroup$ If you happen to be very concerned about the aesthetics of the bottom of the chair leg, then consider proportional edit to fine tune any of the suggestions below. $\endgroup$
    – atomicbezierslinger
    Commented Jul 18, 2017 at 13:53
  • $\begingroup$ Nice solutions below. One alternative is to create a UV sphere of the same diameter as your cylinder and with the same number of longitude lines as the cylinder has edges around its circumference. Cut the sphere in half and take the end face off your cylinder, then move the edges flush and merge duplicate vertices. I'm not a blender pro, though, and you've already got an accepted answer so I'm not making this into what might be considered an inferior answer. I guess it depends on whether you want the bottom beveled or truly rounded. $\endgroup$
    – Darren
    Commented Jul 18, 2017 at 17:51

5 Answers 5

Reset to default
6
$\begingroup$

If I understand correctly then you want a cylinder with a rounded end - I would use a Bevel modifier for this.

Create a Cylinder (Add/Mesh/Cylinder). Go into Edit mode (Tab) and select all the vertices at one end. Press N to open the properties panel and in the Transform section under Edges Data, set the Mean Bevel Weight to 1.

Go back to Object mode (Tab) and open the Modifiers panel in the properties panel at the right-hand side (the spanner icon). Add Modifier and select Bevel. In the Limit Method set to Weight (so it only affects those edges on which you've set the Bevel Weight), set Width Method to Depth, increase the Segments to, say, 4, Uncheck 'Clamp Overlap' and adjust Width until you get the desired depth of bevel. You can also change the Profile if you like to get a differently shaped bevel.

Bevel Settings Bevelled Cylinder

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
0
10
$\begingroup$

The Round Cube Method

In addition to the other answers here, which are totally sufficient for addressing your case, I'll just mention that you can also attach a Round Cube to a Cylinder if the vertex count of the circumference matches.

The benefit of doing this is that you get a nice evenly-spaced quad mesh that can be textured and deformed elegantly, without any pinching pole at the tip.

In order to add a round cube, first enable the Extra Objects add-on for meshes.

Add the round cube by pressing ShiftA.

Add a Round Cube

Delete half of the round cube (X) and add a cylinder while still in Edit Mode. Rotate either the cylinder or the round cube so that their vertices align.

Delete half of the round cube and add a cylinder while in Edit Mode

You can perform a Loop Cut (CtrlR) around the cylinder to form a holding loop that will keep your cylinder's edges straight up to the point where they join the round cube hemisphere.

Once the vertices that form the outer edge loops of the cylinder and round cube are overlapping and selected, (Border Select B should suffice) you can Merge them from the Specials Menu (W > "Remove Doubles"). Adjust the Merge distance as needed from the Operator Panel.

Merging the vertices of the cylinder and round cube

And here is the result:

enter image description here

For your particular case I don't feel this is necessary - beveling the bottom of a cylinder is faster. But it's handy to know how to do this, for times when you're making something larger and more noticeable, or when topology is important. Sometimes it's good to think outside of the UV sphere. ;-)

Finally, here is a shading comparison with round cube topology versus UV sphere topology:

Comparing topology

Note the triangle fan shading artifact that results when a UV sphere is used, and how this is not present when a round cube is used.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
2
  • $\begingroup$ Use a perfect Poly-Sphere for the job are usually better. Rounded Cubes doesn't have equal edges on the hemi-sphere boundary. Except Poly-Spheres Always come in with segments of 4^n. The Poly-Sphere that works on any amount of segment hasn't been developed yet. $\endgroup$
    – TeaCrab
    Commented Jul 20, 2017 at 18:02
  • $\begingroup$ @TeaCrab By "poly-sphere" do you mean an icosphere? I'm not sure I understand what you mean. My understanding of the term "poly-sphere" is: any sphere made up of polygons (as opposed to NURBS). A round cube is one kind of polysphere; an icosphere is another. As far as a sphere that works on any amount of segments, that's a topology problem, not a problem of feature development. If by "works on" you mean can be resolved to quads, that's not possible if the cylinder you start with has an odd number of segments. The cylinder would need to be changed. $\endgroup$
    – Mentalist
    Commented Jul 21, 2017 at 8:40
8
$\begingroup$

To do it very fast you may use a bevel tool. enter image description here

Add a cylinder with a triangle fan. Go to Edit Mode and select very bottom edge loop with Alt+RMB. Press Ctrl+B and drag the cursor up or down to set the bevel's height. Use Mouse Scroll to set the number of segments.
enter image description here

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
3
$\begingroup$

I recommend you create a UV sphere, cut half of it off, and then extrude the equator.

modeling a grain silo

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
1
  • $\begingroup$ This is sort of like what Darren suggested, except with a more efficient workflow. $\endgroup$
    – Mutant Bob
    Commented Jul 20, 2017 at 17:26
1
$\begingroup$

Loop Cuts and Proportional Edit

enter image description here

Various stages of editing in order. Left to right .. top to bottom.

  • Cylinder Triangle Triangle Fan Top.
  • Edit Mode
  • Center Top Vertex Removed
  • Loop Cuts with excess for visibility or mistake.
  • Scale top Lock Z toward center. More loop cuts
  • Merge inner ring at center
  • Proportional Edit Top with Sphere Fall Off
  • Feel free to improve procedure
Improve this answer
$\endgroup$

You must log in to answer this question.

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