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I just started using Blender and I'm trying to cut a plane in equal squares and have each square be its own separate object. My main goal is create the plane and add a displace and decimate modifier to create a low poly terrain. By cutting the plane in equal squares I'll be able to tile them in a 3D maze game I'm working on. If anyone know a better way to approach this it would also be greatly appreciated.

Chebhou
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Danny Viver
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2 Answers2

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Manual and slow approach

  1. Select the object and go into edit mode, using Tab
  2. Subdivide the plane into any number of smaller faces using W -> S repeatedly
  3. Click face select face select or do Ctrl + Tab -> F
  4. Proceed to select each face in the plane, the press P + Enter to split the plane into separate objects

UPDATE: Automatic and fast approach

Instead of having to go through each face manually, you can do everything in one sweep like this:

  1. Instead of starting with a plane, create a Grid object with Shift + A -> M -> G. Then go into edit mode, using Tab.
  2. Select all faces with A and do Ctrl + E -> D (edge split). Now all of your faces are disconnected.
  3. Select all faces with A and do P -> L. This separated all the faces by loose parts, into separate objects.
p2or
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Ulf Aslak
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  • Thank you, this exactly what I was looking for. Sometimes It's the simplest things sometimes that hold us back. – Danny Viver Apr 27 '15 at 09:00
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    Glad I could help! Please accept my answer if you found it useful. I was in your position a year ago and what made the biggest difference for me was getting familiar with the hotkeys. For every hour you spend studying the program I swear you save yourself 10 hours of wasting time figuring stuff out. I would recommend Blender Guru's cheat sheet to begin with, it has a lot of essentials that will get you far. – Ulf Aslak Apr 27 '15 at 09:10
  • I couldn't agree more. This is only my third day using any 3D modeling program. I have already taken all the Lynda.com tutorials and a bunch of youtube tutorials. Thanks for the Blender Guru's cheat sheet recommendation. – Danny Viver Apr 27 '15 at 10:11
  • I updated the answer to solve the problem in one step without having to go through each face manually! – Ulf Aslak Apr 27 '15 at 11:09
  • @Chebhou Thanks, I updated the answer to reflect your suggestion. – Ulf Aslak Apr 27 '15 at 11:41
  • @ poor @UlfAslak Wow much faster, but now I ran into another problem. After I applied the Decimate and Displace modifiers, to get that low poly look, and after I followed your steps, it seemed to remove the low poly. Is there a work around to this? – Danny Viver Apr 27 '15 at 12:49
  • @poor @ UlfAslak Here's what I mean by removing the low poly look after the separation. Before and After – Danny Viver Apr 27 '15 at 12:58
  • Even though I understand what you mean, I'm not quite sure how you get "that low poly look", so I can't reproduce the steps and come up with a solution for you, BUT my best guess is that you have forgotten to apply the modifiers before you go through my steps. – Ulf Aslak Apr 27 '15 at 13:18
  • You're right, I didn't apply the modifiers. If I hit apply I won't be able to separate in even squares. Does that make sense? – Danny Viver Apr 27 '15 at 13:32
  • Yes that makes sense. You want the resulting objects to contain two triangle faces, and be sort of "bent" squares? In this case you should apply the modifiers, and then manually select the edges that you want to split on and then edge split them, but that kind of beats the purpose of this neat approach. – Ulf Aslak Apr 27 '15 at 13:38
  • Okay, so the only way I can seem to get this to work is after applying the decimate and displace multipliers is to use the knife tool to cut squares. Then following your steps to edge split and separate by loose parts. I only have one question, is it possible to snap the knife to the grid? – Danny Viver Apr 28 '15 at 15:51
  • A user over at r/blenderhelp made this little video showing his method of slicing up the mesh without changing the topology after you apple the decimate modifier. – Danny Viver Apr 29 '15 at 21:47
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To subdivide the plane :

  • select the plane and switch to edit mode .
  • Press W then click Subdivide .
  • You can number of cuts in the tools panel .
Chebhou
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Knuckles209cp
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  • Yes, I already did that. I have also used the displace and decimate modifiers to create the look I'm going for. My question is now, how do I cut that plane into a bunch of small squares and have each square be its own object. Is that even possible? I would need to save each square individually as well. – Danny Viver Apr 27 '15 at 08:40
  • Yes . You can select all faces you want to seperate and press P > Selection. The amount of time it takes is depended on what you have – Knuckles209cp Apr 27 '15 at 08:55
  • Ah, I see. Thank you, this has helped me a lot. – Danny Viver Apr 27 '15 at 10:10