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How can I get a correct bevel on a corner joining three existing bevels? Is there something to do before creating the edge bevels?

Corner bevel

The whole object in an earlier state: Whole object

See also my previous question.

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t_w
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  • Hi, not finished yet ? ; )... have you tried a grid fill here ? ... or probably better : spin one of the vertical edges – lemon Aug 11 '16 at 10:07
  • :) I watched a tutorial on it, but can't get it to work. Blender will either say "Select two edge loops" (in case the edge loops touch each other) or "Loops are not connected by wire/boundary edges" (in case I omitted one edge bevel). – t_w Aug 11 '16 at 10:23
  • This is "practical matter".. you should upload your file – lemon Aug 11 '16 at 10:31
  • I uploaded it. I couldn't make sense of the spin tool for now. – t_w Aug 11 '16 at 10:39
  • No offense here, but you have some really weird topology there. What is the purpose of this model? Animation? Still image? Printing? – metaphor_set Aug 11 '16 at 11:12
  • 3D printing. It's the top of a MIDI keyboard key. – t_w Aug 11 '16 at 11:13
  • Depending on how much accuracy you are aiming for, Blender might not be the right Software to construct the base model. That's simply because Blender's intent is not that of a CAD Software. Grid fill won't definitely work here, no matter if you have the same amount of polygons on each side of the grid. I'm trying to deconstruct your mesh into something that can be worked with in Blender, now... – metaphor_set Aug 11 '16 at 11:40
  • I'm looking forward to it. Keep in mind that the top surface was taken from a deformed icosphere. – t_w Aug 11 '16 at 11:42
  • Yeah, that's only one of the problems ;-) – metaphor_set Aug 11 '16 at 11:50
  • @t_w,... I stay on my opinion : http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/60239/how-to-round-the-edges-of-this-object/60333#60333. Consider that this approach can give both the good global shape and the bevel... – lemon Aug 11 '16 at 18:28
  • @lemon: Isn't it an approximating approach? It doesn't seem like you're able to put in the exact measurements on some point. – t_w Aug 11 '16 at 20:13
  • I have seen nothing here so far that was not approximating. If you can give exact measurements, I am ok to try with it – lemon Aug 12 '16 at 05:12
  • Here are the reworked model with my measurements included (UV sphere also included), images and sheets with measurements of the key. Previously, I tried to find someone helping with the modeling, but it didn't work out. – t_w Aug 13 '16 at 04:29
  • @t_w, I have a result, but also some questions about the sheets. But this is not the place here to discuss about 'specific realization'. Can you contact me in chat so that we can discuss about all this ? Thanks – lemon Aug 13 '16 at 08:42
  • I have too little reputation too create a chat, and I didn't see one that you created. Are you okay with misusing this one? – t_w Aug 14 '16 at 17:47

1 Answers1

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Information

Blender is not intended to create accurate models in a way that CAD/CAM software does. Its main purpose is to create 3D models for photorealistic rendering, rigging and animation.

Your model seems to have curved surfaces over several different angles. While those also could be done in Blender, their purpose is just that of sole visual representation and not of accuracy.

Construction of the Base Mesh

When constructing the base mesh, you should always start with the simplest form possible and start adding details. It can be compared with sculpting rock or wood.

In the case of your model I started with shaping a Bezier curve to match the upper shape of the key, converted it into a mesh (Alt+C - Curve to Mesh), extruded the vertices down and arranged them to match the basic side mesh of the key.

creating the base shape for the side

After that I created the top and the sides by extruding the correspondig vertices until I got this. (As you see, I don't bother with the curved surfaces right now, this should be done later.)

base mesh for the key.

Beveling

In the next step we are going to bevel all edges at once, that should be beveled. This creates the corner bevels as well.

First, we select all edges, that should be beveled, then we use the spacebar menu to open the bevel tool, so we can tweak the settings.

beveling

The advantage of this method is that we do not have to bother with corner beveling. The disadvantage (depending on the original piece, that should be replicated) is that all edges are now eqally beveled.

The blend file below contains the base mesh for the side on layer 2 and the beveled key on layer 3. The latter is not intended to be a final model, its purpose is to demonstrate the method. The key mesh also lacks the bevel at the bottom. If you want to have that area beveled as well you will have to start over from the mesh on layer 2 and include the edges into the process.

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  • Thanks! Your answer is giving me some insight. You're right, the edges should be beveled at once. – t_w Aug 13 '16 at 00:28
  • Unfortunately, I can't vote at the moment. I'll consider accepting it later. – t_w Aug 13 '16 at 00:42
  • Accepted for "Blender is not intended to create accurate models in a way that CAD/CAM software does", as I did it with OpenSCAD, now. – t_w Apr 12 '17 at 22:42