Look, I've been doin' pipes via lines and beziers my whole 7 years, and it wasn't until I wanted to make a Y-shaped pipe that I googled this. HOLY hell you made my life SO MUCH EASIER man.
Like 20 years I last time fired up Blender! That looks easy and perfect what im planning, sure Will probably rewind this video 537310 times while learning! Missed my target by a lot! learned this trick in a hour! Great video! basically first time blender user!
Another thing to check out, the built in plugin, extra objects. Under add mesh, it adds a menu called mechanical. In there it had options for 5 different pipe joints. Not sure if it's in 2.80 yet or not though. I was also going to mention using spin, but then saw you mentioned it. It is a good option I think, but you have to keep setting the cursor where you want it.
Many thanks.Been looking for a good way to do pipes. Need to run a bunch of pipes along a surface in a group and have them branch off to different endpoints. Life saver!
If I consider, what crazy workarounds there are on youtube with this theme..... Which don't work for me. This is so great, especially with the spin tool. Thanks.
One of the biggest things I miss from Max in Blender is the Spline tools. Only using Blender a month or so but the way I've been creating pipes is by extruding verts(snapping them to xyz and 90 degrees) beveling the corners and converting mesh>curve. It looks like the Speedflow addon fixes all these hacks with the Tubify tool, but it isn't ported to 2.80 yet.
@@ghostriley22 zure, it's the adjust curve tool, once youve converted the line to a curve, just hit q and adjust curve, it doesnt do exactly what was specified but it was kind of an example of shortened pack of tasks
@@CRogers I know what you meant. The cross-section is not a circle, because sub-div (Catmull-Clak) on a square does not results in a circle. Also a lot of unnecessary geometry. We have to wait for everything nodes.
@@daniele.7913 it's not a perfect circle, no. It's definitely close enough for ornamental pipes, however (even close up it's hard to tell). It's also a wicked-fast way to make pipes and saves a lot of work (and waiting for a "real" pipe modifier). The extra geometry can be dialed up and down with the subsurface modifier, so not sure if that little extra circle precision is worth all the extra trouble. You can always apply the geometry and dissolve the extra bits if it really matters. obviously, the more accurate your circle the more geometry that incurs, so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
About curves, You don't have to manually reduce the topology after converting them to the mesh, there is a "shape tab" inside the curve properties panel called "Resolution preview U" that allows you to control the subdivision level of your curve
6:54 Ah, finally, you get to the point of what’s new and improved in 2.8. Is the 2.79 version that hard to use? I never thought so ... Particularly since it only takes the view orientation and 3D cursor position to initialize the spin origin and axis; once you start tweaking the settings, you can change these values independently of the cursor position and view orientation, and vice versa.
Great video! I've already tried using the spin tool but I didn't know how it works. Thanks for going over this and showing other examples that are ok even if they're not as efficient/effective. The pipe merging tip was good too.
Also, use Bevel "Percent" mode. If you use the shear tool to get your corner, put straight edge loops where you want your elbow curve to end. Then Bevel with percent at 100% and increase the segments. Then merge by distance. That's another way!
This makes Blender 2.80 look more and more awesome. I think the Spin Tool is perhaps the best one to use for the bend in pipes. That said, there is a tool I use in another free modeling program, which to me is much easier to use, and it gives great results. The program is called Wings 3D, and the tool I am speaking of is called the Bend Tool. It does require that sufficient edge loops be in the area of the bend, but once it is set per your parameters for the bend, holding Ctrl will make the pipe bend by 1 degree steps, or holding Shift will make it bend by 15 degree steps as you drag the mouse left or right. The setup is simple to do, and when the operation is completed, you get a nice looking even bend. I thought that Blender had a similar tool for such operations. Could you explore this and let us know if 2.80 does have it? My reason for asking is because while I like Wings 3D for what it does have, the program has no Boolean Operations feature, so creating pipe intersections in Wings 3D becomes a rather hit and miss type operation. Not very efficient. I have figured ways out to do such intersections, but Blender's Boolean Operations feature makes much quicker work of it. Thanks.
Like you said, I think probably the gold standard for accuracy is probably going to be the spin tool, and it's not too complicated to use. Frankly, having watched a couple of examples of the bend tool in wings, it seems pretty unwieldy to me, so it's probably just a case of getting used to a different workflow! That said, for the kind of effect you're describing, I can think of two possiblities to do something vaguely similar in Blender, but neither are particularly optimal. The first is to use proportional editing: add your required geometry with ctrl-R, and with the top loops selected and proportional editing turned on and set to "linear", rotate the loops into position (you'll probably need to set the 3d cursor appropriately to get the effect you want), and use the scroll wheel to set the proportional editing radius to include the geometry you want to bend. That's probably a little imprecise however, since it might be pretty hard to match the proportional editing radius to your geometry; you'll also be limited to a single rotation step, since once it's curved the distance between the geometry will be uneven and the linear falloff of the proportional editing function won't spread evenly through your curve. the advantage is that if you have geometry above the bend, you can rotate it with the top loop and preserve it's relationship with the rest of the mesh. The other option would be to separate the geometry you want to bend into it's own object (or select it with vertex groups) and then use the Simple Deform modifier set to "bend". You'll almost certainly need to add an empty to get the orientation and rotation centre of your bend correct. It's a bit kludgey, and for simple pipe bends it's massive overkill, but it can be a useful trick to have up your sleeve.
1:38 Why not create it as a mesh to begin with? Use the Spin function to create the bend from a simple circle/polygon of some desired number of vertices. Then extrude from each end of the bend to create straight sections as long as you like, with minimal addition of extra vertices.
Thanks for making this tutorial it was great to watch! But 2.8... what slows me from switching to it is I don't understand what 2.8 is doing with plug-ins. I'm lost on that and the only reason I haven't switched yet. Can you guys do a tutorial on that too? My apologies for bringing up a change of topic like this.
There was a pipes joint addon in old versions of blender. It was later put in add mesh mechanical. Now blender 2.8 doesn't have mechanical section in the add menu. How can one find it if if they want to model pipes and gears?
I like that you show the challenges of building a good pipe. But when you want to learn something it can be a good thing to end the video with a clean example of “So let’s build a good pipe from scratch.” Otherwise the viewer is thinking: “But but how do I build the pipe while skipping the mistakes? Start with a curve, pull out one bit and the use shear?”
You should do a tutorial for animating cables and wires. I have to do this for work using the Curve modifier, but sometimes the assets need to be imported into Unity, and it does not recognize modifiers.
@@leecaste It doesnt seem to work. The modifier is what allows the wire to move along the curve smoothly. I can bake the animation, but not the modifier, so when applied it throws it all out of whack. I dont really know how else to desrcribe it lol
how to make branches..like arteries in the body and roots of a plant. I am not able to do it effectively. can you pleaseeee help. I found one tool but its for cinema 4d. its called nitroveins. i want to do something like that in blender. thank you.
Nice you forget when using bridge loop tool to make a corner 90 degree pipe to set smooth with F6. For making a T bone use intersect knife tool and make a top loop. Pressing G twice lets you rotate a edge loop. First delete edge loops then add subdivision. There is also a pipe joint addon for blender 2.79. Thanks for the 2.8 tutorial but it can be done in 2 79
The many ways demonstration is really cool, but I do miss the option to see what you are clicking XD Cannot find how to perform the blue fill or what to look it under. Still, thanks for this video, it's great. =o) Edit.. found it, it's filling a hole using F in edit mode :D and noooow it worked to spin.
So i'm having a bit of a problem with the spin tool, have reinstalled blender from fresh several times and tried experimental builds but here goes; In the spin tool where there are selections for X Y & Z next to the steps select at the top left of the screen, i am not getting those options, i click spin tool, and it only allows me to spin on 1 axis, without the options even appearing for the other axis. Can anyone assist?
not 10 seconds after typing this did i discover it is in the menu when you type "N" in the 3d view and select the small "tool" tab. Keeping my foolish post up for posterity as it has changed from this old build.
Holy moly 11 years in blender and still didn't know you could make a curve with bridge edge loops. Blender keeps surprising me every time
Look, I've been doin' pipes via lines and beziers my whole 7 years, and it wasn't until I wanted to make a Y-shaped pipe that I googled this. HOLY hell you made my life SO MUCH EASIER man.
Please do more of these tips, I wish I had learned this a few months earlier. Thanks for the tips.
I was going to complain that 10 minutes was not fast, but the whole video had very valuable information. Thanks!
Like 20 years I last time fired up Blender! That looks easy and perfect what im planning, sure Will probably rewind this video 537310 times while learning!
Missed my target by a lot! learned this trick in a hour! Great video! basically first time blender user!
Another thing to check out, the built in plugin, extra objects. Under add mesh, it adds a menu called mechanical. In there it had options for 5 different pipe joints. Not sure if it's in 2.80 yet or not though.
I was also going to mention using spin, but then saw you mentioned it. It is a good option I think, but you have to keep setting the cursor where you want it.
I got Extra Objects for 2.80 from github.com/sobotka/blender-addons (as well as loads of other 2.80-ready addons).
Best recommendation ever! That plug in saved a ton of time, much appreciated :)
So glad 2.8 is a stepping stone to get away from the abundance of outdated tutorials.
Outstanding explanation, but dude, nothing can beat curves and you know it )
I'll race ya 😉
Really though, curves are great! Just depends on the situation.
That's the tutorial I needed. Switched from Maya to Blender since 2.8 to have a free alternative. The Blender UI is on point. 👌
If only I'd seen this when I started a few months ago, I'd have saved soooo much time! Thank you.
Every time he does anything: “But wait- There’s more”
hi
@@mcg1007 hi
Many thanks.Been looking for a good way to do pipes. Need to run a bunch of pipes along a surface in a group and have them branch off to different endpoints. Life saver!
I did not know you could boolean like that within a mesh. that's awesome.
If I consider, what crazy workarounds there are on youtube with this theme..... Which don't work for me. This is so great, especially with the spin tool. Thanks.
thank you a ton! i watch 5 other tutorials last night trying to fix a problem and you solved it in a few minutes flat! ;)
It's great to see more tips coming out for Blender 2.8. Thank you for this.
If I have watched this earlier, it would have saved me hours!
Glad you found it eventually!
@@cg_cookie Thanks!
LOL spin would have been my first choice. It's very useful for various things!
One of the biggest things I miss from Max in Blender is the Spline tools. Only using Blender a month or so but the way I've been creating pipes is by extruding verts(snapping them to xyz and 90 degrees) beveling the corners and converting mesh>curve. It looks like the Speedflow addon fixes all these hacks with the Tubify tool, but it isn't ported to 2.80 yet.
that's not a hack, the tubify tool just executes exactly what you just said in code, HardOps does that as well.
@@tom_paul_3d Yeah mate, what I meant by hacks was all these crazy methods and steps shown in this video to do something so simple.
@@tom_paul_3d Can you specify the hardops tool you are talking about
@@ghostriley22 zure, it's the adjust curve tool, once youve converted the line to a curve, just hit q and adjust curve, it doesnt do exactly what was specified but it was kind of an example of shortened pack of tasks
But blender does have splines.... He just showed it in the video...
Actual solutions at: 5:50
Well done stretching this video to past 10 mins
Really great pipe tutorial.
A pipe modifier would be nice. :)
Also, knife tool with angle constraint and cut through is very helpful for pipes. I made a video showing this.
There is one. Its called the skin modifier.
@@CRogers Yes and no. There is no option to control the resolution.
@@daniele.7913 add a subsurface mod, and check smooth shading in the skin modifier. crogersmedia.com/samples/pipe_cube_skin_modifier.png
@@CRogers I know what you meant. The cross-section is not a circle, because sub-div (Catmull-Clak) on a square does not results in a circle. Also a lot of unnecessary geometry.
We have to wait for everything nodes.
@@daniele.7913 it's not a perfect circle, no. It's definitely close enough for ornamental pipes, however (even close up it's hard to tell). It's also a wicked-fast way to make pipes and saves a lot of work (and waiting for a "real" pipe modifier). The extra geometry can be dialed up and down with the subsurface modifier, so not sure if that little extra circle precision is worth all the extra trouble. You can always apply the geometry and dissolve the extra bits if it really matters. obviously, the more accurate your circle the more geometry that incurs, so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Sick. I had been using bridge edge loops, but the spin tool is actually super useful. Cheers!
Extremely helpful. I had no idea you could boolean mesh parts inside edit mode.
Spin tool is much more intuitive now, definitely my go-to for pipes
About curves, You don't have to manually reduce the topology after converting them to the mesh, there is a "shape tab" inside the curve properties panel called "Resolution preview U" that allows you to control the subdivision level of your curve
good stuff man, thank you!
please make more of these videos!
Finally some content instead of the lazy "classics"
Okay but Ian Hubert's "Lazy Tutorials for Lazy People" friggin rock
Thanks for all your amazing tips :D it's always entertaining to mess around with tools on the days I dont have any actual project inspiration.
Nice video! I can't believe I never played with the spin tool before. Thanks!
This was exactly what I was looking for right now, thanks for this
Perfect sir. Thank you so much.
Bro you're the best, thank you
6:54 Ah, finally, you get to the point of what’s new and improved in 2.8. Is the 2.79 version that hard to use? I never thought so ...
Particularly since it only takes the view orientation and 3D cursor position to initialize the spin origin and axis; once you start tweaking the settings, you can change these values independently of the cursor position and view orientation, and vice versa.
Great video! I've already tried using the spin tool but I didn't know how it works. Thanks for going over this and showing other examples that are ok even if they're not as efficient/effective. The pipe merging tip was good too.
Also, use Bevel "Percent" mode. If you use the shear tool to get your corner, put straight edge loops where you want your elbow curve to end. Then Bevel with percent at 100% and increase the segments. Then merge by distance.
That's another way!
make sure when you " bridge edge loops" that the desired ede you want to connect is selected using the line selecting in edit mode
I learned so much from this tutorial!! Thanks for sharing!
Nice. I was chopping bagels in quarters and extruded them.
This makes Blender 2.80 look more and more awesome. I think the Spin Tool is perhaps the best one to use for the bend in pipes.
That said, there is a tool I use in another free modeling program, which to me is much easier to use, and it gives great results. The program is called Wings 3D, and the tool I am speaking of is called the Bend Tool. It does require that sufficient edge loops be in the area of the bend, but once it is set per your parameters for the bend, holding Ctrl will make the pipe bend by 1 degree steps, or holding Shift will make it bend by 15 degree steps as you drag the mouse left or right. The setup is simple to do, and when the operation is completed, you get a nice looking even bend.
I thought that Blender had a similar tool for such operations. Could you explore this and let us know if 2.80 does have it? My reason for asking is because while I like Wings 3D for what it does have, the program has no Boolean Operations feature, so creating pipe intersections in Wings 3D becomes a rather hit and miss type operation. Not very efficient. I have figured ways out to do such intersections, but Blender's Boolean Operations feature makes much quicker work of it.
Thanks.
Like you said, I think probably the gold standard for accuracy is probably going to be the spin tool, and it's not too complicated to use. Frankly, having watched a couple of examples of the bend tool in wings, it seems pretty unwieldy to me, so it's probably just a case of getting used to a different workflow!
That said, for the kind of effect you're describing, I can think of two possiblities to do something vaguely similar in Blender, but neither are particularly optimal. The first is to use proportional editing: add your required geometry with ctrl-R, and with the top loops selected and proportional editing turned on and set to "linear", rotate the loops into position (you'll probably need to set the 3d cursor appropriately to get the effect you want), and use the scroll wheel to set the proportional editing radius to include the geometry you want to bend. That's probably a little imprecise however, since it might be pretty hard to match the proportional editing radius to your geometry; you'll also be limited to a single rotation step, since once it's curved the distance between the geometry will be uneven and the linear falloff of the proportional editing function won't spread evenly through your curve. the advantage is that if you have geometry above the bend, you can rotate it with the top loop and preserve it's relationship with the rest of the mesh.
The other option would be to separate the geometry you want to bend into it's own object (or select it with vertex groups) and then use the Simple Deform modifier set to "bend". You'll almost certainly need to add an empty to get the orientation and rotation centre of your bend correct. It's a bit kludgey, and for simple pipe bends it's massive overkill, but it can be a useful trick to have up your sleeve.
Thank you very much dear friend, it was very helpful
Thanks for saving my time
very helpful and thank you
😍 Man, this are really useful hints and it is a huge time saver, compared to fiddle it out myself. I am so glad, I found your UA-cam channel!
1:38 Why not create it as a mesh to begin with? Use the Spin function to create the bend from a simple circle/polygon of some desired number of vertices. Then extrude from each end of the bend to create straight sections as long as you like, with minimal addition of extra vertices.
Thanks for making this tutorial it was great to watch! But 2.8... what slows me from switching to it is I don't understand what 2.8 is doing with plug-ins. I'm lost on that and the only reason I haven't switched yet. Can you guys do a tutorial on that too? My apologies for bringing up a change of topic like this.
is just me or someone else feels like the voice is speed up?
great video
i put the playback speed to 1.5, its even faster. perfect.
Thank you for this video!
How will CGCookie be handling the update to 2.8? Will you all be updating some of the older tutorial series?
Oh my. Im switching to 2.80 today
Super useful, thank you
Additionally, for the bevel at 10:00 also select the edge loop around pipe to allow a cleaner bigger bevel, :)
thank you helped me so match
thank you very much great videos :)
There was a pipes joint addon in old versions of blender. It was later put in add mesh mechanical. Now blender 2.8 doesn't have mechanical section in the add menu. How can one find it if if they want to model pipes and gears?
I have seen the mechanical section by enabling add mesh:extra objects add on
Thanks for this amazing content I learn lot things to your channel.
Seems like Blender 3.4 does not work with Face>Intersect (Boolean). It shows "No intersection found". Is using a modifier better?
Thank you so much!
Very usefull, many thanks =)
Brilliant man. Thank you!
I like that you show the challenges of building a good pipe. But when you want to learn something it can be a good thing to end the video with a clean example of “So let’s build a good pipe from scratch.” Otherwise the viewer is thinking: “But but how do I build the pipe while skipping the mistakes? Start with a curve, pull out one bit and the use shear?”
hello, pls when I applied curve to mesh as You, it does not create a mesh, only turns the original curve into edges, don't you know where is problem?
I'm trying to intersect cut with 2 different size cylinders but I can't seem to crack it. Is that even possible?
How do you get blender to show the angle you're rotating at when you press r?
You should do a tutorial for animating cables and wires. I have to do this for work using the Curve modifier, but sometimes the assets need to be imported into Unity, and it does not recognize modifiers.
Why don't you bake the animation into the geometry and export it as alembic, or does it need to be rigged?
@@leecaste It doesnt seem to work. The modifier is what allows the wire to move along the curve smoothly. I can bake the animation, but not the modifier, so when applied it throws it all out of whack. I dont really know how else to desrcribe it lol
I'm not a blender user, I'm afraid I can't help you with that, sorry.
Hi, great video, how did you snap part of the pipe?
Hey, you can snap elements by setting the snapping type to vertex in the header, and then holding Ctrl when you move things.
how to make branches..like arteries in the body and roots of a plant.
I am not able to do it effectively. can you pleaseeee help.
I found one tool but its for cinema 4d. its called nitroveins. i want to do something like that in blender.
thank you.
Love how nothing every works like it doesn in tutorials
Thank you.
thank you
thank you so much
very nice
That was cool.
Nice video! You can fix the bevel issue of 5:30 with the "Percent" option tho!
3:20 that bevel is still f*cked lol
YES
6:57
Choosing an axis to rotate on.
I dont have that bar thing up there how to get it?
Ah yeah the default changed to hid it. You can either enable Show Tool Settings in the View menu or find the same settings in the sidebar.
Nice you forget when using bridge loop tool to make a corner 90 degree pipe to set smooth with F6.
For making a T bone use intersect knife tool and make a top loop.
Pressing G twice lets you rotate a edge loop. First delete edge loops then add subdivision. There is also a pipe joint addon for blender 2.79.
Thanks for the 2.8 tutorial but it can be done in 2 79
wich theme is this? good Vid aswell^^
THANKS!!!
Спасибо, было круто :)
Особенно классно что все показываться.
2:12 Or you can use edge-select mode and select just those edge loops you want to dissolve away.
The many ways demonstration is really cool, but I do miss the option to see what you are clicking XD Cannot find how to perform the blue fill or what to look it under. Still, thanks for this video, it's great. =o) Edit.. found it, it's filling a hole using F in edit mode :D and noooow it worked to spin.
Hey how do I choose the axis on which the spin tool work on? In the 2.8 release I don't have the menu on the top like they have in the video.
Could you not just boolean 2 tubes and a sphere and would get similiar results ?
Please show that in a video.
A tool like SketchUp's "Follow Me" would be awesome to have in Blender.
that's true! I hadn't remembered that much about Sketchup since switching to Blender. But that was a nice feature.
So i'm having a bit of a problem with the spin tool, have reinstalled blender from fresh several times and tried experimental builds but here goes;
In the spin tool where there are selections for X Y & Z next to the steps select at the top left of the screen, i am not getting those options, i click spin tool, and it only allows me to spin on 1 axis, without the options even appearing for the other axis.
Can anyone assist?
not 10 seconds after typing this did i discover it is in the menu when you type "N" in the 3d view and select the small "tool" tab.
Keeping my foolish post up for posterity as it has changed from this old build.
Pipe bends usually have a small internal radius, not sharp 90 degree corner
Pipe Joint addon?
6:06 Works in 2.79.x, too!
9:13 This sort of works in 2.79.x as well. Needs a bit of patching up afterwards.
Alt+R > Remove doubles
Done.
alt>R? isn't it W? Or has that changed in 2.8?
@@tom_paul_3dI'm talking about the roll tool, it has always been Alt+R, with default settings and controls
@@azagwen ooooh! I thought you meant the remove doubles specials menu, my bad, yeah, alt r is the spin tool
@@tom_paul_3d yeah, spin, always forget the exact names.
How to diagonal ?
"move this over" wait what did you just do lmao, that was so fast I couldn't even see
Same.
ty :')
2:40 You could have avoided that by choosing a suitable radius of curvature for the bend (relative to the bevel thickness) to begin with.
Why did you censor "unfuse"?
8:45 how do you snap to the highest point?
Im asking the same, did u find an answer?
@@mki6990 i don't even remember the problem, sorry it was more than a year ago, maybe 2 😀
Which is, command for Mesh Context Menu ?? 5:54
Hi, Do you have the model in a git repository?
Coooool