Adding Extrusion

Extruding is one of the most common modeling tools to help us shape and build geometry for our mesh object. You can use extrusion to shape and form a rig to the desired shape. And so in this guide, I'll show you different extrusion methods and how to fix the mesh afterward.

Example of a Character Preset made with extrusion

Manual Extrusion

In this example, I'll show you how to extrude the tie in this model and make it 3 dimensional using the manual extrusion method.

• Select the mesh you want to extrude, set it to local view with /, go to Edit Mode, and select the faces you want to be extruded to.

Select the faces you want to extrude

• Press Alt+E and click on the Extrude Faces Along Normals option. After that, you can just move the mouse to extrude or use the Offset setting in the operator panel. Also, enable the Offset Even setting to improve corners.

Alt+E and click on the Extrude Faces Along Normals option

Use the Offset setting to set the amout of extrusion

Enable Offset Even to improve corners

Solidify Extrusion

In this example, I'll show you how to give thickness to this suit model using the solidify modifier.

• Select the mesh, go to the Modifier Properties tab, click on the Add Modifier button or use Shift + A while your cursor is on the Modifier Properties tab, and add a Solidify modifier.

Add Solidify modifier to the mesh you want to extrude

• On the solidify modifier. Set the Offset setting to -1 or 1 depending on if you want to extrude the mesh inward or outward.

Use the Offset setting to extrude inward or outward

• Use the Thickness setting to set the extrusion thickness. Also, enable the Even Thickness setting to improve corners. Optionally, enable the Only Rim setting if you want to remove the inner faces.

Use the Thickness setting to set the extrusion thickness

Enable Even Thickness to improve corners

Enable Only Rim to remove the inner faces

• When you're done, you need to apply the solidify modifier. This is so that it won't cause any deformation issues. To apply it, select the ⌵ icon on the panel header, and then select Apply. Note that it is recommended that you move the modifier above as the first stack before applying it so it won't cause any issues.

Apply the modifier afterwards

Mesh Crease & Smoothing Fix

After doing an extrusion, you might encounter warping and smoothing issues on the edge of your mesh. Here's how to fix them.

Mesh warping from SubSurf modidifer

• Go to Edit Mode, select the edge with the warping issues, and then use the Mean Crease setting in the Sidebar > Item. This make sure that those edges are always sharp even with the subdivision surface modifier on. Also, don’t crease every edge and only crease the outside edge. This way parts that do need to be smooth are always smooth.

Select the edges with warping issues

Add edge crease to make sure that the mesh does not warp when the SubSurf is active

• After that, right-click, and then select Mark Sharp. This is to fix any smoothing issues by marking those edges sharp.

Select the edge in edit mode, right-click, and select Mark Sharp

Mesh UV Fix

After doing an extrusion, you might find texture issues like this in the mesh after extrusion. Here's how to fix it.

Mesh texture issues after extrusion

• Go to the UV Editing workspace and select the faces with the texture issues.

Select the faces with the texture issues

• In the UV Editor, move the selected faces UV to the correct pixel.

Move the selected faces UV to the correct pixel