Hard surface tutorial in Blender - cut, cloth, grid and screw

Dear CG Thinker, welcome. Are you a hard-surface enthusiast but lacking inspiration? Or maybe you've just  bought Fluent and would like to practice! You are on the right place  for a hard surface modeling tutorial with Blender and the Fluent add-on! Just before getting started, I  show you my Fluent preferences: I use the circular menu and I  don't use the click-hold option. Don't forget that the keys are  displayed at the bottom of the screen, so you can't miss anything I do.  We agree on the b

asics, generic! Display the grid on the floor with a  right-click, choose the shape tool and draw an L. Once finished, shift left-click to validate  the shape and move the mouse to add thickness. Next, we add a First bevel.  We want a straight shape, so I click to bring up the menu  and choose the "straight" option. I use the menu, but for long time users, I'll let you use the shortcuts  specified in brackets on each button. Validate this adjustment and  continue with a "Second bevel", which wil

l also be straight. Click to  display the menu then click on "straight". You'll notice that this isn't quite what we want.  As a reminder, this is the objective. The trick is to modify the value of the limit angle. Increase  this value to around fifty for correct effect. I find the model a bit thick, so  I'm reducing it before moving on. We finalize the basic shape by adding a  bevel using the F key menu. Once again, the bevel isn’t exactly where we want : it's  about of angle limits. In this ca

se, I modify to 30 degrees. One last thing about the bevel:  I find it a bit wide, so I'm reducing its size. The basic shape is done, the fun can begin. Let's move to the side and call up the  INSET tool. Click on the top of the face, a little below the bevel and draw a thin  rectangle. Click to validate the drawing, move the mouse to the left to start cutting  and press V to cross the whole model. Please remember that : the core of my add-on  is to be non-destructive. So if you're not happy wit

h your cut, don't delete it! don't  escape, don't Ctrl+Z, just edit it. You can use the g key to move the object, you can  press TAB to enter edit mode and use the S key to modify its dimensions. In short, there's  no reason to delete the shape and start again. We'll continue with the other  part of the L with a slice. If you display the grid, you can  see that it extends over the face, but I'd like it to be drawn only on the face I've  clicked on, so I deactivate the "extend" button. I keep my

new object selected, press  the F key and call up the tool for adding screw heads. I'm now in edit  mode, select the face and press enter. I click to bring up the menu, click on "change",  I choose a cruciform head then the type 0 head. You can see that for me, the screws are  immediately in the right place and size. This may not be the case for you, you can use the  MOVE and SCALE buttons to adjust them correctly. Use the "I/O" button to push the  screw heads inside the plate. We're done with t

he screws. We're moving  on to a new rectangular cut. I display the grid and draw a rectangle whose top and  bottom edges are close to the previous cut. The following technique is what I call cut  the cutter. We will cut our object which itself does the cutting. I hold down the Shift  key and click on the little pencil, which will relaunch Fluent on the object we were editing.  This avoids having to exit and relaunch Fluent. Let's display the grid by right-clicking on  the surface and draw a cen

tered rectangle using the central point of the  grid and using the Shift key. Next, we proceed with an "array" adjustment.  Use the red dot to activate the tool on this axis in order to adjust the spacing between  repetitions. Press the C key to switch to adjusting the number of repetitions. Reuse the C  key as many times as you want to switch between adjustments. Left-click to end actions along the  axis, then use the middle button to validate. Next, we move on to a "slice" in the  orthographic

view. If you're new to Blender, know that you can select the orientation  of your view with the 1, 3, and 7 keys, and if you combine them with the CTRL key,  you'll go to the opposite views. For example, the 1 key set the front view, and the  CTRL + 1 combination set the back view. Use the "slice" tool in the "Fluent" menu  and select the "shape" tool. Click halfway up the grid that you just created, then  hold down the Ctrl key to ensure that the line is straight and continue your  drawing lik

e me. You will notice that I keep the Ctrl key pressed throughout  the operation to use the snap system. The only adjustment we're going to add  is a "first bevel" to round the corners. Next, we add a grid. After  displaying the famous Fluent blue grid, draw a rectangle like this and quit. Fluent's grid tool requires selecting a Boolean  object beforehand. To display Boolean objects, you can either use the keyboard shortcut you  have set in the preferences or use the pie menu, where you will fin

d a button in the top section. Once the object is selected, press  the F key to call up the grid tool. The first step is to choose the  type of grid. I will keep it simple and use the diamond pattern grid. We make some adjustments like the size of the grid using the "scale" button. You  can also modify the position of the grid, more or less inside the cut. Feel free to take some liberty with the tutorial. Try other adjustments,  try other grids, have fun and let's continue. We are going to creat

e a support for our object, which will be an opportunity to use  the "plate" tool. It's very simple, just select the face and press the enter  key. Adjust the thickness and exit. Now I propose a manipulation that will certainly  interest you because it is a common case. Select the bottom part of the object, use  the cutting tool and display the grid. Use the circle tool either by clicking  on the button or using the C key. Here's a great opportunity to discover  the new tool that was added in th

e 2.2.0 update of Fluent: the frame. On launch, you'll start by adjusting the depth. By calling up the  menu, you can adjust other parameters, such as the frame width. Finish by adjusting  the offset to bring the frame closer to the cut. I find the cut look like low poly.  In Fluent, there's a handy tool that allows us to avoid having to adjust resolutions  object-by-object. Press the F key and click on the gears. Here you can set the general  resolution of your model. By default, they are quite

low. I suggest you set 32 as  the minimum cylinder resolution. The result seems much more correct. Now let's  have a look at the duplication tool. Display Boolean objects,  select the last one created, press the F key and call up the duplication tool. Move over the object and left-click to drop a copy of your object. Right-click to exit the tool. How's that for handy? You'll have understood, that the idea of  this tutorial is to use several tools, and we continue with the use of pipes. Press th

e CTRL key and click in  the cuts to position the pipe ends. I start by adjusting the size of the pipe, the  radius, so that it fits into the cut. The next adjustment changes the pipe's trajectory. I  choose it to follow the shape of the object more closely. I find the bends too wide, so  I reduce their radius. I think it’s nicer. Here's how to add a few rings. To do  this, go to the extra section of the menu, then the "Ring" button and finally  the "add" button. You can use the menu to move the

ring or change its length. I continue with the addition of a new ring, which I position elsewhere with a  different length and I create an array. If you wish to return to another ring, press the R key to move from one ring to another.  You'll see that the selected ring moves. I've kept the best for last, because otherwise you would already be gone. It's  time to cut for our fabric panel. Use the cutter and press the "face inset"  button. Select the top face and press the "i" key. By moving your

mouse, you'll be  able to make this inset face. Left-click to validate the shape and press enter  to complete the operation. The selected face has been transformed into a "Fluent"  object, allowing us to cut and add a Frame. Now comes the moment you've been  waiting for. Keep your object selected, press the F key and call up the  cloth panel tool. Select the background face and press enter to enjoy  the simulation before your amazed eyes! Okay, I'm making a big deal of  it, and I don't know abo

ut you, but for me it's always a  pleasure to see the simulations. A final touch for detail and practice. Stand here  and make a simple cut in the center of the face. Using the "array" tool, click on the  axis and move the mouse to set the gap, then use the C key to set the count. If you didn't get it the first time, now, I  hope that's understood. Use the left mouse button to confirm operations on the axis  and the middle mouse button to confirm. Display and select the Boolean object we've just

  created and go to the other side of the object. Use the F key and call up the duplication tool  to place a copy of this object on this face. If the object is not properly  oriented, use the R key to rotate it. Well, there you have it, a good hard surface  modeling exercise that allowed us to use a vast array of tools. In fact, I did the math  for you: we used 4 different cutting tools, 5 different adjustments for cuts,  screw heads, pipe, rings on pipe, grid and fabric panel. All in all, we  c

licked about twenty different buttons. I hope you didn't just watch me,  but that you also practiced and are happy with what you produced.  Feel free to share your creations on social networks and on the discord I'm  always glad to see what you've produced. Don't forget to subscribe, the bell  and all that. See you next time, and don't forget: we get tired  of everything except learning!