Blender Basics · scottaferguson.org

Lesson 10: Bevel modifier

About 12 minutes · Blender 5.2.1 LTS · Mac Mini + Magic Mouse

What Bevel does

Real products have rounded edges. Sharp edges catch light in an unrealistic way and look like a toy. The Bevel modifier cuts a small rounded edge along every edge you choose. It is the most useful tool for making things look manufactured.

Real screenshot from the Blender manual Bevel modifier panel with Amount, Segments, and Profile settings
What to look at: Amount is how far the rounding reaches, and Segments is how many steps the curve has. One segment is a sharp chamfer. Three segments look round.

Image: Blender Manual by the Blender Documentation Team, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Shared unchanged.

Steps

  1. Tool Add a cube with Shift + A, then Mesh > Cube. menu path unverified in 5.2.1
  2. Key Press S, X, type 2, Enter to make it wider. Press S, Z, type 0.6, Enter to make it flatter. This starts to look like a phone stand.
  3. Menu Click the blue wrench tab in Properties. Click Add Modifier, then Generate > Bevel.
  4. Check The sharp corners now have a small round edge.
  5. Mouse Double-click Amount, type 0.1, and press Enter. The rounding gets bigger.
  6. Mouse Double-click Segments, type 3, and press Enter. The curve becomes smooth instead of a flat cut.
  7. Key Save with Cmd + S as phone-block.blend.
Why it stays editable: the Bevel is a modifier, so you can change Amount at any time. Only press Ctrl + A on the modifier when you want to make it permanent.

Project: phone block

A wide, flat block with rounded edges, useful as a phone stand. Save as phone-block.blend.

Finished: flat block, rounded edges
Finished product: the edges are soft instead of sharp. Your proportions can differ.
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