Subdivision modelling may seem difficult and abstract, especially if you are new to 3D. Perhaps because, traditionally, it involves extruding planes in 3D space. So you have to envision the shape or design beforehand, and then recreate it by building a rough outline with flat geometry.

Another issue is that subdivided geometry, which is nice and smooth, looks nothing like the low poly quad mesh that one has to create in order to run subd modifier on it.

Subd tends to be a slow process, too.

This is why I love boolean workflow, it is fast, efficient, way less abstract and far more intuitive. However, there are limitations to what you can do with booleans, especially if your goal is to achieve something supple and smooth, with wider bevels.

Another problem are boolean connections, especially on curved surfaces. They can cause a topological headache and troublesome shading that will require some additional work, or perhaps same more advanced techniques like shrink wrapping or normal data transfer.

So why not combine both techniques together? This is exactly what we will show you in the video below. We will start with a cube, then we will slice it with booleans, and finally prepare the topology for a subd modifier.

It is a fun and easy process and it will teach you a few things:

How to model using booleans with subd in mind
How to retopologise mesh
How to quickly create a shape you want
How to create supple and soft look to your hard surface model.

This process is super quick, especially if you work with addons like HardOPS and Boxutter.

To see how it is all done, simply click the link below:

[WATCH]Hard Surface Tutorial for Blender - BOOLEAN to SUBD Workflow.

cheers,

Blender Bros

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