Array in a Circle with Blender

Blender's Array modifier lets you repeat an object any number of times. I only recently discovered this can be in a circle - previously I have done that with Geometry Nodes, which is far more complicated.

In A Line

The Array modifier's most obvious use is to repeat an object in a row. You want a row of identical houses? Create one (as a single object!), and add an Array modifier.

Want a brick wall? Create two (one staggered above the other), and add two Array modifiers, one in the X direction and one in the Z.

You can do this as a "Relative Offset" or a "Constant Offset". With relative offset, the distance between each one is determined by the item size in that direction multiplied by the value. With constant offset the item size does not matter - except that the size transform is applied after the modifier, so it can feel like it does.

If you need a specific spacing, constant offset can be better; just remember to apply scale first ([CTRL]-A and then S).

On A Curve

You can apply a second modifier to have your line of objects follow a curve. In this case you might want to set the length to be the length of the curve too - set Fit Type to Fit Curve.

In A Circle

You could use the above technique to put objects in a circle, but there is a better way, which is to use Object Offset. What this does is uses the transforms of a second object and applies them to each copy.

You can use any type of object, but conventionally you would use an Empty, as this is not rendered. In this example I am using an Empty cube.

My original is on the left. The first copy is the one in the middle, as is the Empty. Because the Empty is the offset, the centre of the first copy will always be exactly on the centre of the Empty. The Empty is rotated 20° and twice the height, and therefore so is the first copy.

The second copy is to the right, using the same offset and same rotate and the same scale, but doubled.

Add enough copies, and you have a circle.

However, a better approach is to have your object centred on the Empty, but with the actual vertices off to one side.

In this example, the object is at the origin, so its centre is the same as the object, but the vertices have all been moved down the X-axis.

Each copy is also centred on the Empty, but rotated 20°. This method has the advantage that it is orientated around the centre of the circle.