Bevel
Rounded or chamfered edge
Also known as: Chamfer · Edge bevel · Bevel modifier
Definition
A bevel replaces a sharp 90-degree edge with a small chamfer or rounded strip of faces. Real objects rarely have perfectly sharp edges, and a bevel catches light as a thin highlight that makes a model read as solid, finished and believable. Bevels also help baking, because they give the normal map a smooth transition to work with. In Blender the shortcut for a bevel is Ctrl+B, or you can use the Bevel modifier.
In production
Use wider bevels on large objects and smaller ones on small props, and keep the width consistent across a set so it looks like the same world. Game assets often combine geometry bevels on the silhouette edges with normal maps for the small ones. In Maya the Bevel tool does the same job. Too many bevels raise the polygon count for little visual gain on distant or small props.
Tools that use Bevel
See also
Hard Surface
Mechanical, geometric subject matter
Weighted Normals
Smooth shading that keeps crisp edges
Edge Loop
Continuous ring of edges
Normal Map
Per-pixel surface detail
Low-Poly Model
Game-ready mesh
Subdivision Surface
Smooth mesh from a low-poly cage
Apply Scale in Blender
Fix stretched bevels and uneven modifier results
Extrude
Pull new geometry out of a selection