# Blender 3D: Noob to Pro/Modeling tips

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This is not really a tutorial, but a list of handy tricks you will
probably use a lot when modeling.

1: Extrusion: To extrude, press  in
edit mode with the vertices selected, move and click to place the
extrusion. You\'ll basically need this for every model in blender,
without it, most models would be really hard to create.

2: Set Smooth: Enabling smoothing on the face of a mesh will create a
smooth gradient between it and the faces around it. To enable smooth
shading on a face, select the faces you want to smooth and then go to
*Mesh → Shading → Smooth Faces*.

3: Merge by Distance: Sometimes when editing, you might accidentally
create duplicate geometry or have small holes in your model. To clean
these up, select your entire model (or part of it) and then go to *Mesh
→ Clean Up → Merge by Distance*. The Merge Distance variable when
performing this action determines the maximum distance between vertices
for them to be merged.

4: Topology Flow: One of the most important things to keep in mind while
modeling is the topology of the model. Topology is the arrangement and
flow of the edges and faces that make up a mesh. Generally, you want to
make your model with quads (faces with four edges) so that it is easy to
perform actions such as loop cuts or ring selections. This isn\'t to say
that triangles and faces with more than four edges shouldn\'t be used,
but quads are preferable.

Example use of these techniques:

Topology Flow:
<https://web.archive.org/web/20210423191525/https://topologyguides.com/loop-reduction>

If you want to add more handy techniques, please add them.

