4x4x4 Rubik's Cube

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4x4x4 Intro

4x4x4 Notation

4x4x4 Centers

4x4x4 Edges

4x4x4 Final Solve

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CENTERS

To solve the centers I begin by picking a color and making a 1x2 block which I move to the Top. Now I can move all the layers except l and r to make another 1x2 block out of the remaining center pieces and move that to the Top to complete the center. If you have pieces on the Bottom, rotate the 1x2 block on the Top so it is out of the way when you rotate the l or r layers to move it to a side adjacent to the top.

Next I complete the center opposite of the one I started with using the same method of creating 1x2 blocks. When doing this, remeber that you can move any layer other than l and r. Once you have your first 1x2 block and you need to move it to the Bottom, rotate the appropriate slice to place it. Your first center will now be messed up. To correct this rotate the entire Bottom layer a half turn followed by a reverse of your first move. The applet below will show you what I mean. Assume you solved the white centers first and now you are working to solve the yellow centers.

l_D²_l'

Once you have the next 1x2 block of yellow ready, align it with the 2 you placed earlier and repeat the same type of move. The example below picks up where the example above left off.

r'_D²_r

Now pick your next color and form a 1x2 block. You shouldn't have to worry about messing up the Top or Bottom centers and you don't need to move the l or r slices to complete the remaining centers. After completing a 1x2 block I move it into the u layer. That allows me to move other pieces through the d layer without disturbing what I already have. You should be able to complete your third center without any problem.

When moving on to the fourth center you need to be sure of two things:

(1) Do not solve the opposite of the third center. Your fourth center needs to be adjacent to the third center. This will leave the last 2 centers adjacent to each other which is easier to solve than with them opposite each other.
(2) Make sure you are putting the fourth center on the proper side. Up until this point you haven't had to worry about what color goes where. You solved two opposites and then one adjacent side. No matter what colors you chose you could rotate the cube to fit the required color scheme. Once you place the fourth center it must line up with the layout of your cube.

For example, if your cube has the following opposites white-yellow, red-orange, blue-green, then you don't want to put any of these colors adjacent to each other (Point 1). And you also don't want to put the colors such that the corner pieces won't line up later on (Point 2). For my cube, when white is on Top and red is on the Front, the blue centers are on the Right face. If I solved my red centers third, then I have to be sure that my fourth center is either blue on the Right or green on the Left. Otherwise my white/red/blue corner will be lined up with the green centers and my white/red/green corner will be lined up with the blue centers making it impossible to solve the cube without swapping the centers around. If you don't discover this until later you will have to destroy your solved edges to fix the centers and start the center solving all over again.

To solve the remaining centers you can use one algorithm repeatedly. It might be a slow approach but it works without destroying any previously solved centers. See the example below. Here we are going to take the blue center piece on the Front face and move it to the Right face (or move the yellow piece on the Right face to the Front face, however you like). Although at first glance it appears we are swapping the blue and yellow centers, note that the blue center actually moves to the bottom-right corner of the Right center, not the bottom-left corner where the yellow piece was. You can use this algorithm at any time to pieces like this without disturbing any of the other centers. The final center solution is shown in this example.

(Dd)'_F_(Dd)

Now that the centers have been completed you can move on to Solving the Edges.