NURBS Modeling in Maya 3D 2012

1. What are NURBS?

• NURBS stands for Non-Uniform Rational B-splines
• Method of mathematically describing curves and surfaces for 3D applications.
• NURBS produce smooth, complex  & organic forms
• NURBS are made of a rubbery surface that can be mold
• NURBS curves are the preferred surface type for:
• Industrial and automotive designers
• Animators: Smooth motion path
• You can Construct 3D models using NURBS primitives & NURBS curves.

2. NURBS Primitives

To create NURBS Primitives go to  Create> NURBS Primitives or use the Surfaces Shelve

• NURBS Primitives are made of patches.
• A patch is plane; all NURBS primitives are made out planes.

For example, a NURBS cylinder, sphere, torus and cone are a plane rolled up. The Double line edge is where the patch rolls around and connects. To see the plane that makes up the primitive change the end sweep angle in the Channel Box.

The NURBS Cube made out of 6 disconnected patches. When moving or transforming a NURBS cube you must select all the patches, you can use the outliner to do this.

3. NURBS Primitives Components

To display and select a NURBS components right click and hold on the NURBS primitive.

• Control Vertex: CVs control the shape of the surface
• Isoparms: Isoparms are lines running along the surface in the U and V directions
• Surface Patch: Ptches are the area enclosed by four adjacent isoparms