Blender for Scientists - Getting Started in Geometry Nodes

Geometry nodes are a ridiculously powerful tool in Blender for making simple and complex objects and scenes. In many ways they are basically little programs for creating a target model.

In this tutorial I cover many of the essential basics of getting started with the new geometry nodes system in Blender 3 (and onward). I also discuss some best practices and review why this workflow is transformative for accessing common figures. Note: In Blender 3.5 significant changes were made to the layout/organization of geonodes. These changes are largely to improve organization but it is definitely easier to find specific nodes by use the search function rather than following along with tutorials that use versions 3.0 to 3.4.

As with procedural materials, geonodes allows for handing off beginner friendly versions of assets to both newcomers and experts. The nodes generated in this tutorial and its shorter version are both available on gumroad at the link provided.

Links from this tutorial:

The CGFigures Asset Library:
A compilation of most of what I've released/will release in one CC0 package:

0:00 Intro
1:30 The Geonodes Workspace and Modifiers
2:54 Node Types and Socket Types
5:20 Basic Navigation and Adding Nodes
6:30 Creating the base and geometry nodes workflow
8:20 Exposing and Labeling Parameters
10:12 Setting up the Grid and Placing Pillars
13:47 Organizing Nodes with Frames and Groups
15:30 The Pros and Cons of Instanced Objects
17:33 Scattering Other Objects in Our Nodetree (Molecules)
20:05 Placing and aligning objects on a surface
22:26 Another way to scatter with an offset
24:23 Exposing the final parameters for the molecules
25:35 Setting Materials and Shading in the Nodes
28:20 Quick demo of the final node tree
29:23 The real power of geonodes - booleans and selections
31:43 Future tutorials and recommended resources for learning more
33:05 Geometry nodes summary
35:13 Patreon Supporters and Conclusion

For more CGFigures content checkout the links below:

[BradyJohnston]

A very nice and comprehensive intro GN, nice work :)

[SamMorell]

Always look forward to Joe's Blender tutorials . . . beautifully produced both visually and scientifically. The same for Brady Johnston.

[mystery_guy]

thanks CG, this tutorial is quite good, I'm going to do the next one now. Love your approach to training.

[JohnWesleyDavison]

Great video and props for listing the other great creators.

[LuminousLab]

Aaaand my to-do-list for gn tutorials just got longer :)
Thank you for sharing!

[akoho]

Incredibly useful content, thanks a lot!

[ItsWesSmithYo]

I definitely should have done more homework in my calc 1 class, but this was awesome for the scientist in me;) 👍🏽🖤😎🙌🍕

[shallowandpedantic]

Very informative and much appreciated.

[jizhang]

Thanks for sharing this tutorial. Subscribed your channel immediately.

[quenchedst]

Great tutorial. How would you do a icoparticle with the new geometry nodes? Getting the atoms to appear ordered like in a CdS quantum dot is proving difficult.

[rrppkl]

Thank you for creating this tutorial! May I ask why is it that when I add a mesh primitive cube @5.25, I only end up with the a cube node with a "Size" variable? I don't see variables for X, Y, Z, and Vertices X, Y, Z.

[sakalsingla]

Hello Sir, Let me know about the construction of the monolayer WS2 (TMDs). Can you explain how can i set it? Thanks

[alpatel]

Hi, Is there any way to make borders of cube visible?

[zzww]

very confusing not good for beginners. messy and complex