# Blender 3D: Noob to Pro/Creating a Simple Hat

|previous=Detailing Your Simple Person 2
|subcat=Basics
}}
```
In this module, you\'ll create a hat for your simple person. Along the
way, you\'ll learn how to use the Spin tool and use layers.

\_\_TOC\_\_

## Creating a Generatrix

For future convenience, you\'ll create the hat as a new object in the
scene containing the simple person. If you haven\'t created the simple
person, either go back and do it now or else download the pre-made model
from
.

Start by changing layers to layer two, then add the basis for your hat:
![](Blender-2.5_layers.png "Blender-2.5_layers.png")

1.  Make sure you\'re in Object Mode (so that a new object will be
    created).
2.  Click  on the second little square,
    this will make the viewport display layer two. (The top row is for
    layers 1 to 10, the bottom for 11 to 20, so layer 2 is immediately
    to the right of layer 1; layer 6 is across the space from layer 5.)
3.  Go to orthographic front view by pressing
    , then
    .
4.  Create a mesh circle at the cursor, by activating the 3D View
    window, pressing  +
     and choosing *Mesh → Circle*.

The new mesh object doesn\'t actually have to be a circle. You could use
any sort of mesh object here because you\'re about to reshape it into a
custom 2D mesh (called a )
that describes the profile of your hat. More precisely, the generatrix
describes one side of a vertical cross-section through the hat. You\'ll
want your generatrix to have a slope; it should be higher on one side
(which will become the top of the crown) than on the other (which will
become the brim).

1.  The newly-created mesh should be selected. If it isn\'t, select it
    by clicking  on it.
2.  Press  to edit the mesh.
3.  Activate Vertex select mode.
4.  Press  until all vertices are
    selected.
5.  Press  to erase all vertices.

![](Blender3DNoobToPro-SimpleHat-Profile.png "Blender3DNoobToPro-SimpleHat-Profile.png")
Now draw your generatrix, starting with the brim and sloping upwards
toward the top of the crown:

1.  Make sure you\'re still in orthographic front view.
2.  Press  to create the first
    vertex.
3.  Press  to one side of that
    vertex to extrude another vertex, connected to the first by an edge.

(If this doesn\'t work, make sure you are in vertex select mode.)

Keep adding vertices until you\'re satisfied with the shape of your
generatrix. You can always undo using
 or go back and adjust the
positions of particular vertices using the grab tool.

The mesh is then spun around an axis perpendicular to the viewplane. You
want to spin around a vertical axis, so press
 to switch to top view.

## Spinning the Hat

!The spun hat, drawn as wireframe in orthographic front
view.
Now, let\'s actually spin the hat:

1.  Move the 3D cursor to the vertex you want to spin around by pressing
     on it. You can also use the
    snapping tool for positioning the cursor more precisely by pressing
     after selecting that specific
    vertex. *Cursor to selected* positions the cursor.
2.  Press  to select all the vertices. The
    Spin control only spins vertices that are selected.
3.  Press  to activate the Spin tool.
    -   The Spin tool is also available in the Tool Shelf under *Add*\
        If you spin the hat in front view, your hat will be flat. You
        have to spin the hat in top view.\

You should now see 90° of a generatrix! To spin your hat all the way
round, press  or look in the Operator
Panel just below the Tool Shelf. There should be an input slider named
*Angle*, change this value from 90 to 360. There should also be a slider
called *Steps*, increase the value from 9 to 15.

If your hat has a large hole in the center, you must have accidentally
moved the 3D cursor away from the vertex you picked in step 1. Try
again.

Remember that if you spin an object 360° there will be a double row of
vertices at the row of vertices you spun. To fix this, press
 to select all vertices, press
 and select *Remove Doubles*. Note that
this will only work in vertex select mode.

You may also want to merge the vertices at the top of the hat. Do this
by selecting all the vertices at the top with
 and pressing
+ → *At
Center*. You may have to do this twice as some vertices might be beneath
each other.

Note for AMD windows users that \"Radeon Software\" using  ALT+R  as
default key for \"Overlay Hotkey\" which blocks key in Blender. You can
change hotkey in \"Radeon Software\" preferences.


You have more than one 3D View window, so Blender is asking which window
to perform the spin in. Click  on the
window that is showing top view. 

## Smoothing Your Hat

!The finished
product!{width="400"}

You\'ll probably have noticed that normal hats aren\'t usually as
faceted as yours! To change this, first press
 to go back to Object mode then change
the shading to *Smooth* (available on the Tool Shelf). If there are
unexpected black marks, try recalculating the normals.

1.  Switch to Edit mode and open the Mesh menu in the 3D View Header.
2.  *Normals → Recalculate Outside*.

Next, add a Subsurf modifier to the hat and set the subdivisions to two,
as you did in
.

1.  Click on the modifiers tab (wrench icon) in a Properties window.
2.  *Add Modifier → Subdivision Surface*.

Save your work. You\'ll need this scene for the next module.

## Additional Resources

-   <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mPtxa_MEPA> Ira Krakow\'s Hat
    Creation Video Tutorial, based on this page.

