Which Modeling Technology Will Work Best?

Author: Daniel Kreimer

Author: Daniel Kreimer

All the standard primitives can be converted into NURBS surfaces by going to the Modify panel, clicking the Edit Stack button and choosing Convert to NURBS Surface. This only works if no modifiers have been applied to the primitive. If you can dream it, you can build it using NURBS. The primary benefit of the NURBS method is that it has the modeling and editing flexibility of a Polygonal model, but it does not rely on complex meshes for detailed surfaces. In this respect, it is much like using a Patch surface. You can model simply using curves to define surfaces. Those surfaces look rather low-detail in the viewports but can render at a much higher level of complexity. Many animators use NURBS to build characters. This is primarily because NURBS can give you both smooth, contoured surfaces and keep mesh detail relatively low. Characters tend to be very complex so using NURBS can significantly increase performance versus the same model in polygonal form. Car manufacturers seem to be in love with NURBS modeling. Have you noticed how many smooth-looking cars are on the road these days? Much of this is due to the fact that they are adopting CAD design packages that model with NURBS technology. Although your 3D program is capable of conceptual modeling objects like cars, there is currently no way to export NURBS data from that kind of applications. This means that the benefit of NURBS is lost as soon as the model is exported-this includes exporting to a format that supports NURBS, such as DWG. When speaking of shortcomings of NURBS models, it is difficult to point out serious problems. NURBS models, for all intents and purposes, work in almost every situation. However, there is one area where NURBS just can not compete with polygons simplicity. NURBS models are designed to be complex eventually. If you build a foundation based on complexity, you can rule out any type of simple modeling. For instance, if you model a box, copy it, and then convert box to a polygonal mesh and the other to a NURBS surface, you might be surprised. The polygonal mesh is eight faces. The NURBS box is 34. That means that a simple model like a box has already over four times as many faces. Aside from the complexity issue, you could point to the fact that it is very difficult to extrude sections of a NURBS model at right angles. For the most part, NURBS models want to have curvature. That means that even if a model looks like it has right angles, close inspection shows that it does, in fact, have some smoothness around the edges. About the Author:

Daniel has been writing articles for nearly 4 years. Come visit his latest website over at http://blackoutblindsdeals.info/ which helps people find the best Blackout Blinds and information they are looking for Blackout Blinds.

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