It looked like a small practice model. But it taught me many important Blender basics. This simple object improved my confidence a lot.
This post is part of my daily learning journey in game development.
I’m sharing what I learn each day — the basics, the confusion, and the real progress — from the perspective of a beginner.
On Day 44 of my game development journey, I built a fidget spinner in Blender to practice modifiers and materials.
What I tried / learned today
I modeled a fidget spinner using basic shapes and relied heavily on the Array Modifier instead of duplicating parts manually.
Using the array helped me:
- Keep spacing perfectly equal
- Maintain symmetry
- Make changes faster
I used a Subdivision Surface Modifier to smooth the model and make it look more polished.
For materials, I:
- Applied a wooden texture to the three wings
- Added metal material to the center balls
Mixing materials instantly made the model feel more realistic instead of flat.
What confused me
At first, I was confused about:
- Array count and rotation values
- How modifier order affects the result
- Why shading looked rough even after subdivision
- How to assign multiple materials to one object
Small mistakes caused big visual issues.
What worked or finally clicked
I finally understood that:
- The Array Modifier works really well for circular objects
- Subdivision Surface needs clean topology to look good
- Materials must be assigned in Edit Mode to specific faces
Once I fixed normals and used Shade Smooth, the model looked much better. Small details made a big difference.
One lesson for beginners
- Practice with simple objects
- Apply scale before using modifiers
- Array modifiers save a lot of time
- Clean topology improves shading
- Simple textures can still look good
Slow progress — but I’m building a strong foundation.
If you’re also learning game development,
what was the first thing that confused you when you started?
See you in the next post 🎮🚀
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