I am trying to extrude faces of a cylinder along local normals. 3dsmax can do it easy, couldn't find how to do it in blender.
The extrude region option extrudes it as shown in the first example. I want it done like the 2nd example.
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Sign up to join this communityI am trying to extrude faces of a cylinder along local normals. 3dsmax can do it easy, couldn't find how to do it in blender.
The extrude region option extrudes it as shown in the first example. I want it done like the 2nd example.
It looks like you want the Extrude menu (AltE).
There are several ways to activate the Extrude region operator:
There are two ways to get this result:
Press AltE and select Region (Vertex normals)
Select Extrude region (Vertex Normals) from the extrude drop down at the top of the Add section in the Tool Shelf
You can also two operators to get the same result:
There are a couple ways to activate the Extrude Individual operator:
Press Alt+E > Extrude individual faces.
Press the button in 3D view > Tool shelf (N) > Tools > Mesh tools > Add > Extrude Individual
Note that in blender, the Local orientation is based on the rotation of the object. The above methods use the normals of the extruded geometry, however if you want to extrude along the objects' local orientation you must do something slightly different:
Set the transform orientation to Local in 3D view > Header:
With the geometry you want to extrude selected, press E and then Esc to cancel the transform. If you are in face select mode you will notice you can see the indicators for faces where the new faces have been created:
Press SShiftZShiftZ and move the mouse:
Shift locks the axis that is specified, so if the other key pressed is Z, it will scale only on the X and Y axes.
Pressing ShiftZ twice ensures that the objects' local orientation is being used. Global orientation is always used by default (first keypress), and then the orientation specified in the header is used after the same axis constraints are specified again (second keypress).
Note that you can also use this technique for extruding along the Normals the same as the first methods, just select Normal as the orientation in the header instead of Local.
This is an answer to MrFlamey's question since I don't have 50 reputation to post a comment.
To extrude faces along face normals, as opposed to vertex normals, extrude the polygons with Mesh -> Extrude -> Region, move them with Mesh -> Transform -> Shrink Fatten and hit S key to make offset even.
Easy way: Select the ring of faces, goto Mesh > Extrude Individual Face (as shown in other answer) then press ESC then use ALT S to scale the out.
If you don't press ESC you will scale faces, if you press ESC you will only scale along normal i.e. extrude out.
An alternative is to use the 'Solidify' modifier. This will also do the same as extrude region (vertex normals), although you will get more control, and will be able to change the parameters later.
However, I'm still unsure if there was a way to extrude faces along face normals, as opposed to vertex normals, as Solidify uses vertex normals. This means that if you Solidify a box with a thickness of 1.0, the sides of the box will not actually be 1.0 unit thick, however, if you do the same to a sphere, the sides will be almost exactly 1.0 unit. This is because the displacement is calculated from the original vertex position to the new vertex position along the normal of the vertex, not the face. Using extrude individual faces will use the face normal, but the extruded parts will not be continuous. I would LOVE to see a way to extrude objects along face normals that avoids odd deformation and gives a continuous surface with consistent thickness on all kind of object shapes, regardless of how angular the corners are.
The best answer I've seen yet on this topic is to press space and enter "Extrude And Move On Individual Normals", as seen here:
Thanks eobet!!!! Problem solved...I literally have no idea why you're not the number 1 solution
This is the top Google result on this question, but I don't see the best answer I've seen yet on this topic, which is to press space and enter "Extrude And Move On Individual Normals", as seen here: