As I watched you create the lock geometry, I couldn't help but wonder if creating the blockout with a cylinder (with an extruded bottom) and doing a Boolean subtraction might be faster?
Indeed that could be a faster approach. However out-of-the-box booleans are slow to the workflow in Blender. It's a little better with 2.8 but still having to add a modifier to get the boolean operation involved is slow in general. There's a lot of addons out there that make booleans a one-click solution so if you're using one of those, yes I'd say that could be faster.
Even if we're talking about shaving seconds off the workflow, I like that you're thinking about different ways. There's always many ways to skin a cat in 3D/Blender and it's best for each artist to figure out what's best for them and their workflow 👍
Ah. I wasn't sure if you were saving Booleans for another tutorial; and you're right about many ways to get things done. I bought HardOps a long time ago, though have yet to utilize it (MeshMachine might be better in this instance). I just wanted to make sure I had a good understanding of native Blender tools....before delving into add-ons.
I had been pausing your videos here and there, as I tend to lag behind at times. But I actually found it more productive to just watch you work for a few minutes at a time....then go to work myself. I'm not an absolute beginner to 3D; but it has been years since I made anything tangible (and that was using TrueSpace, then Lightwave), and I'm fairly new to Blender itself. I've been putting off delving into it too much, until the release of 2.8. Good stuff so far! I look forward to your future courses; I feel like I'm getting good value for my money here.
I think I might add some hinges and handles to the chest, down the road......
I just wanted to make sure I had a good understanding of native Blender tools....before delving into add-ons.
That's a good idea if you ask me. Though hardops and mesh machine are two of the best Blender addons in existence right now, so they're pretty safe to invest in. Some of the more obscure ones can be tricky. Like if development stops on it one day and it can't be used anymore but you depend on it. That's a bummer.
I will definitely cover booleans again with 2.8 at some point. But yes, for this course I opted to keep it simple and avoiding booleans seemed simpler 😅
Good stuff so far! I look forward to your future courses; I feel like I'm getting good value for my money here.
Thank you, Keith - that means a lot!