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I'm trying to align an object (a cylinder in my case) to the 'center' of the nearest face. I attached a gif image of what I got working so far which aligns the center of the object (and it's rotation) to the normal of the nearest face using snapping but I can't get it to snap to the exact center of the face.

I need to do this to make even 'holes' on each face where they are always in the center of the face (y and z direction in my example).

You could think of this like I'm trying to use the 'center' control for text and how it aligns text to the center. I'm looking for the same effect for that cylinder on the nearest face.

It's critical it's accurate (I can't just hand place it), since I'm using this model for 3D Printing.

How do you do this?

enter image description here

Joseph Astrahan
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  • I don't think there's any direct way to do it, see here: https://blender.community/c/rightclickselect/d1fbbc/ – moonboots Jun 21 '20 at 05:25

2 Answers2

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In Edit mode, select the faces that you want to have the center snapping enabled to. Then, press Ctrl+F ( you can also use RMB if you're in face select mode), and select Poke Faces.

enter image description here

That will put a vertex in the center of each face. You can then take your second object, grab it, and snap it to the vertices with Align Rotation to Target Enabled.

enter image description here

stphnl329
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    Smart solution :). You can then use Limited dissolve to turn the triangles back into quads. – jachym michal Jun 21 '20 at 05:32
  • I had to choose snap with 'center' before it worked for me, but it did work :). Great solution! – Joseph Astrahan Jun 21 '20 at 08:05
  • .. or Ctrl-Shift-B bevel the new center-points (maybe with Loop-Tools > Circle ) to make the holes.. but IMO, @JosephAstrahan would be better off modelling the holes, under an Array modifier. – Robin Betts Jun 21 '20 at 09:09
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@Stphnl329 has answered your question, but there's an alternative route to making your holes, which is quicker than punching them out, and less destructive. (You can continue making adjustments up to a later stage)

Supposing you want to make 24 holes..

enter image description here

Start with a cylinder with 4 * 24 segments, and select a slice 4 segments across on the Y axis, delete the rest.

enter image description here

On your slice,

  • CtrlX dissolve the edges around the center
  • Poke the cleared face
  • CtrlShiftB bevel out the middle vertex
  • GG ease the surrounding vertices out a bit. (You can do this symmetrically by numerically entering the slide factor). Don't scale. That would disrupt the curvature. For perfection, you would rotate.
  • (Shipped Add-On) Loop Tools > Circle ensure the central face is circular, and delete it.

enter image description here

Recreate the cylinder with an object-offset Array modifier, based on an Empty at the origin, rotated by 360/24 degrees in Z. Ensure 'Merge' and 'First and Last' are checked.

enter image description here

Assign Solidify, Bevel (by angle), and Subdivision Surface modifiers.

enter image description here

Robin Betts
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    in that case I think the Simple Deform modifier (Bend mode) would have been more convenient than the Array Object Offset, much less steps ;) – moonboots Jun 21 '20 at 18:47
  • @moonboots You mean .. no arc-section required... and you can work in the flat with translations, not rotations? Good point. I guess I was kind of expecting Joseph to want to work with a section of his existing geometry, to get a match, but even then, your way and scaling to snap would be OK., and we even have a Weld modifier. I must have a lingering terror of faffing around with the 'Simple' Deform axes/offsets. – Robin Betts Jun 21 '20 at 19:22
  • Wish there was a way I could accept 2 answers, thanks again for this great idea. – Joseph Astrahan Jun 22 '20 at 02:58
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    @JosephAstrahan No problem.. check out Moonboots' comment, that may be an easier route for you. – Robin Betts Jun 22 '20 at 07:21