Blender Basics · scottaferguson.org

Lesson 8: Array modifier

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

What Array does

The Array modifier makes copies of an object and places them in a row. You change one number, and every copy updates. Fences, steps, teeth, and tiles are all arrays.

Real screenshot from the Blender manual Array modifier panel showing Fit Type Fixed Count, Count 2, and Relative Offset Factor X 1.000
What to look at: Count is how many copies you get. Relative Offset > Factor X sets the spacing. A factor of 1.000 places copies side by side, touching. Larger numbers add a gap.

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

Steps

  1. Tool Click a cube to select it. If you don't have one, add a cube with Shift + A, then Mesh > Cube. menu path unverified in 5.2.1
  2. Menu In the Properties panel, click the blue wrench tab. Click Add Modifier, then Generate > Array.
  3. Check Two cubes sit side by side, touching. Count shows 2 and Factor X shows 1.000.
  4. Mouse Double-click the Count box, type 5, and press Enter. You now have five cubes.
  5. Mouse Double-click Factor X, type 1.2, and press Enter. The copies now have a gap between them.
  6. Check Five blocks in a row with even gaps.
  7. Key When you're happy with the row, hover over the Array panel and press Ctrl + A to apply it. This makes the copies permanent. Ctrl+A on the modifier is from the manual; confirm on your Mac
Why 1.2 and not 1.0: Factor X is measured in multiples of the cube's own width. 1.0 means touching, and 1.2 leaves a gap about one-fifth of the block's width.

Project: block row

A row of five blocks with even gaps, like a fence or a set of steps. Save as block-row.blend.

Finished: five blocks, even gaps
Finished product: five matching blocks. The gap between them is the Factor X you typed.
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