Creating professional domed caps

Question Modeling

Hey guys this feels like a super fundamental thing that I cant get my head around.. How on earth do I take this end cap from a flat face to properly curved cap. I started with a UV Sphere, shaped it and got rid of the end vert. Tried filling with a grid fill but realised its flat and hard to dome, and now I'm back to an N-Gon which I flattened to eliminate the slight trench in the middle. I just want a nice rounded end point... 

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  • Omar Domenech replied

    Usually what people do is subdivide a cube with the SubD modifier, either level 1 or level 2, depending on the resolution you need. Apply the modifier and run the tool of "To Sphere" Which is Shift + ALT + S and that way you get a sphere with nice quaded topology/ 

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  • Dwayne Savage(dillenbata3) replied

    Instead of the manual to sphere I use the cast modifier. Set shape to sphere and factor to 1. You can also take the mesh you have and use grid fill then select the vertices you want to cast to sphere and assign them to a vertex group.(Ctrl+g in edit mode) Then Select that vertex group in the cast modifier. You can adjust the radius and factor to get different effects. 

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  • Martin Bergwerf replied

    Hi Sam,

    You can also look at the HUMAN Course, specifically: https://cgcookie.com/lessons/modeling-the-eyes , starting from ~12:55 Kent shows a method to do this.

    (Meshes and Spheres aren't friends and will often need 'hacks' to give an acceptable result.)

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  • thehomme replied

    Here's another way. I know way less than Omar and Dwayne so my way is maybe a bit less pro and more hacky. You can add a Quad Sphere with a free add-on 

    • Go to Edit > Preferences > Add-ons.
    • Search for "Extra Objects" and check the box to enable Add Mesh: Extra Objects.
    • In the 3D Viewport, press Shift + A > Mesh > Round Cube to add a quad sphere.
    • Adjust its segments in the operator panel (bottom-left) for detail. 



    Select and delete bottom half verts

    From here you can bridge the edge loops to another existing piece of geometry 


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  • Sam Edgar(AngelAzrael) replied

    Seems that Omar's method is unfortunately the best way. any attempt to join another body and merge verts just results in lumps and bumps

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  • thehomme replied


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  • Sam Edgar(AngelAzrael) replied

    Think I'm basically happy with it now after way to much micro-tweaking and unnecessary fiddling lol. The only problem I'm seeing now is that with the quad based sphere method obviously you get the leftover corners of the cube reflected as N-poles (I'm crying at this point) which yes you can move or redirect the topology away from but tbh I can't find a better place to put them there's not really an area they won't affect that I can see where to put them. Anyone got any idea of how to eliminate this little bit of pinch? Or should I be less concerned seeing as I'm putting fuzzy textures over the top?

    Now I look at it I'm also not so sure the reflections of those rear bumps look to healthy either what do u guys think?



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  • Martin Bergwerf replied

    Hi Sam,

    You are rigght, that doesn't look too good...BUT:

    If you're going to put a fuzzy Texture on it, you can almost certainly leave it as it is now.

    In critical situations, you could also  try Shrinkwrapping it to a smooth curved surface,, or use a Data Transfer Modifier.

    (And can you do me a favor and not use the term N-Pole here again.)


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  • Sam Edgar(AngelAzrael) replied

    Is there something I don't know about that term

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  • Martin Bergwerf replied

    As far as I know, it's not an official term, but some completely unnecessary and ridiculous terminology, that one silly person tries to promote.

    Reminds me a bit of that guy that says: "Pi is wrong, we should use Tau instead."

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  • Martin Bergwerf replied

    Let me get this clear, The Topology guide that this is taken from is not bad!

    The problem have with this, is that every mention of nose and extrusion poles that I could find referred directly or indirectly to the same article.

    And yet he says: "...is often known as...", instead of something like "...what I like to call...".


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  • Omar Domenech replied

    Meshes are always going to pinch, we just find a tolerable place for it and call it a day. Or hack it with the data transfer. Seems where your mesh is pinching is not where the pole is, which is strange. It may not me pinching at all, it's just that that's the shape of the mesh there and that matcap is a bit of a prankster. Try using other viewport visualizations that are not that extreme and see how it looks. 

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  • Sam Edgar(AngelAzrael) replied

    yeah the reflections are off I think just cause of the shape there is a slight pinch though on those poles but they're basically not noticeable when the camera isn't moving though so we ball

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  • thehomme replied

    hmmm...  I'd be using a lattice modifier on an extended sphere to get this shape 

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