CGTalk - very basic problem doing nurbs modeling with maya

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sh4dow

01-03-2005, 10:56 PM

hi!

since i've done quite a few tutorials by now i've tried to do some things on my own but nearly every time i use nurbs the same problem always occurs - i revolve/loft/extrude something and of the resulting surface is often open on both ends (if you think of a more complex pipe for example) - and i just want to add some sort of "cap" which has a smooth transition to both ends. now please don't think about the pipe example too much i'm talking about holes that can have any form. but i simply can't believe that there isn't there some functionality built-in like the one for example to close curves - i just don't find it... please tell me that i'm right and there is one and where i find it. and if not - what's an easy way to add such an ending to a surface?

thanks in advance :)

jbo

01-04-2005, 07:58 AM

if i understand your question correctly, there is no easy way. unless you convert to polys. here's the not easy way... what you could try is to break up your surface into 4 surfaces, so you have 4 isoparms around the hole you're trying to fill... they you can select them and use the boundry or square tool. you'll then, most likely, have lots of tweaking to do to get continuity across the new surface and the original 4. this is called patch modeling... it's very difficult and time consuming to learn, and many people would tell you (myself included), that at this point in time, it's simply not worth it. most studios have converted to poly/sub-d, and it's only a matter of time before the others do. if you're mainly interested in organic modeling, i would say don't waste your time... if you want to do cars and such though, many still swear by NURBS as they do offer a greater degree of precision.
-jesse

sh4dow

01-04-2005, 10:18 AM

thanks - i've just tried it out and now understand what you mean by saying it's not an easy way ;)

actually i just try to learn every possible modeling method... i've done some things using polymodeling and now i wanted to do something using nurbs. but since you said it's not really necessary i'll move on to subdivision modeling...

polywrangler

01-10-2005, 05:33 PM

Hard to say what exactly U R after without seeing your model, but I believe what you are looking for is selecting your "pipe" / cylinder model, make it a periodic surface, select the end isoparm surrounding the open edge and do a surfaces>planar. You will then need to attach the surfaces to achieve the smoothing between the pipe and the cap. Not very difficult or time consuming if you ask me.

gmask

01-10-2005, 05:39 PM

You probably need 4 splits around the opening so that you can stitch a nurbs patch (only has 4 sides) to each of the edges resulting from the 4 splits.

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