At the end of this step, we should have two opposite centers solved on the cube as shown below:

We think the best way to start building centers is by building those matching strips, and putting them all on the correct face. With even cubes, you can just match them up anywhere, but odd cubes you will base your work off of the center piece of each face.


Center 1:

To complete our first (black) center, we used the following sequence:

y' U' 3r / 3U' L' d2 3b / 3d' F' U r' F2 r F l' / L d' 3d' r'

The slashes separate the sequence into the moves for each individual strip, and below we will describe the intent of each individual move.

First, the y is just a cube rotation to make the next moves easier to perform, U' places the 1x2 block so 3r can complete the entire strip on top.

The next move, 3U', places the 3rd piece of our second strip on the R face. Then L' places the piece we use in the 2D layer, and then d2 puts the final piece of the strip into place. 3b places this new strip next to the strip we already built on top, completing 2 strips on the top of our cube.

3d' makes a nice 2x1 block on the F face, just missing its 2 corners. F' U are setup moves to line up the extra corner in the top layer with the block on the front face. The next 3 moves complete the strip, and we recommend you take special notice of this pattern because it occurs frequently, and is a great trick to have in your repertoire. F l' are the final two moves to put the third strip into place.

L postitions the edge on the Left face for matching the corner to it with the D' move. 3d' matches the bottom and top 2 groups on the back face, and r' puts it into place, completing our first center!

This center is usually pretty easy to complete since we don't have any other completed centers to worry about messing up. Our next center will take more moves to complete because of the new restrictions resulting from the solved face. Remember there are many, many ways to complete any center, and you have six to choose from, so try and make your life as easy as possible by choosing easy starts and familar patterns.


Center 2:

Now since we have finished the black center to start, we will finish its opposite (yellow) center next, and our next sequence starts with x2, putting the completed center on the D face. How we chose to build each strip is shown below, but with less detail than above. Try and walk through the sequences backwards and forwards and see for yourself what each move is doing.

Yellow Strip 1: F' R 2U 3u 3b' U2 3b
This completes a strip on the L face and puts it into the top. Notice how parts of the bottom solved center come out of place, but are quickly restored at the end after we store the new strip in the U layer.

Yellow Strip 2: L u'd F2 u d' U2 3b' U2 3b
This is an interesting pattern. We switch the yellows to a verticle arragement with the L, then transfer our two outside edges to the front face; F2 repositions them so the deep-cut moves will make another line on the L face. The last 4 moves place the strip in the top. Notice again the technique used to put this strip in.

Yellow Strip 3: 3D y' r U2 r'
This pattern is very easy, we drop in the final piece of the strip, do a cube rotation to make the placement friendlier for the hands, replace an unfixed line with a fixed one with the r, U2 to save it, then r' to restore our bottom center.

Yellow Strip 4: 3D L' 3u' u' L' u' U' l' U2 l
This final strip should be pretty straight forward after the previous examples, so see if you can figure out what each move is doing.


Centers Step One: Solve Opposite Centers
Centers Step Two: Solve Adjacent Centers
Centers Step Three: Solve Final Two Centers
Solution Step Two: Solve Edge Groups
Solution Step Three: Solve as a 3x3
Solution Home: Solve the V-CUBE Start Page