importance of NURBS modeling

[Psyk0]

I'd say they are more useful for CAD, CAM and CAE, to create precise models. They're also used in movie FX (not sure to what extent), but for games i wouldnt touch nurbs with a 10 foot pole.

ILM's modelers built Grievous' rigid surfaces using Maya and Power animator, then turned to ILM's proprietary organic modeling software, I-Sculpt, to fashion the fleshy bits fused to the machinery. While the model's rigid surfaces were almost entirely polygonal, the finished version also incorporated several organic parts sculpted with NURBS.

With ILM restructuring its pipeline around Zeno and Maya, one of the company's primary goals is to stop relying on NURBS and instead fully embrace the more stable subdivision surfaces, especially for creature construction.

Honestly, what matters most is artistic skills and a killer portfolio showcasing what you can do, if there is a need to use NURBS then i'd assume your employer would give you some time to get more proficient with NURBS. Just like switching from Max to XSI or Maya...even with the best technical knowledge it doesnt mean you can create ART ;)

[el diablo]

I just wanted to get an opinion on the importance of NURBS modeling in view of gaining employment as a 3D artist?

Well there are 3 aspects of being a modeler. There is the artistic, technical and the combination of both. As to NURBS modeling gaining acceptance to a studio it depends on the specifications to what the NURBS models need to be. I mean this, I made a landscape in NURBS or I built a multi-patch NURBS model of a character and maintained C1 continuity between patches. I know of several studios that rely on the modelers to deliver multi-patch NURBS models and many studios transitioning/requesting an all SUBD pipeline. Adapting is the key.


I'm confident with polygonal modeling, of both the box and the point to point variety, also Sub-d modeling, but I just can't get into NURBS modeling. One area that really frustrated me about NURBS while I was covering it in the book I'm using was 'Socking'.

I suppose NURBS modeling is more suited to certain situations where polygonal may be suited to another area, but my question really is, if I was aiming to get proficient enough in modeling to consider a career, is it important that I am equally confident with NURBS?

Regards

For me the only benefit to strictly SUBD modeling is that you can do resolution splits without pushing the flow down the model without adding extra patches. Basically it simplifies complex shape modeling. Personally when I build models I have the flow set before I start. Doing it in SUBD alloys you to have an over-organic process of building a models mesh and no flexibility to procedurally change resolution. I know some people would bark at what I just said but they have no idea of all the departments I have just helped by doing it this way. If you build it in a way where the model can be procedurally build forward and backward, you can track every point of a model. For instance if you build an extremely low cage for a furred character based off every control curve for the hair plugin/dso you can can control the instancing better. Now take that mesh and subdivide it once and build the control mesh for the rig. Take that subdivided model and subdivide it one more time and build the beauty/hi model. Pipe the beauty/hi model as a tangent space offset/blend to the subdivided rigged model and your final output will be the hi res result. At the same time you can dump every model from medium to lo and procedurally build them from the hi you already have. This is just an overly complex example to how NURBS are powerfull.....

[olson]

From a VFX point of view I've seen NURBS used very infrequently. For animation NURBS can be somewhat useful for large terrain and a few other niches here and there depending on the look of the project. Its good to know the basics of modeling NURBS but on the other hand I wouldn't loose any sleep over it. Cheers!

[el diablo]

From a VFX point of view I've seen NURBS used very infrequently. For animation NURBS can be somewhat useful for large terrain and a few other niches here and there depending on the look of the project. Its good to know the basics of modeling NURBS but on the other hand I wouldn't loose any sleep over it. Cheers!

is that because Real Flow prefers triangulated polygon meshes. I believe you can derive one from NURBS. My point is that NURBS are more structured than polys ie: ST space, Implicite Surface built in, etc. NURBS are powerful for the advanced user. Usually the novice calls them shit. The pros use them in building, look ups, procedural shader calls...I could go on for ever... NURBS will never die....

[Shuggs]

I have no idea what NURBS are. I'm a Lightwaver, so the only thing we're offered are Sub-Ds. I've always been concerned about this, and have been trying to learn another software, but the time spent on projects, studying for tests, etc. prohibits me from learning another program right now. I would love to get into XSI, but I know the learning curve for that is severe, and I would need to dedicate several months to get comfortable in it.

But I've also come to the conclusion that employers will higher you because of your skill, and will take time to let you get comfortable with NURBs or whatever if you've never used them before. It's just another modeling method to learn. The same rules, theories, and principles still apply ( I would assume) to modeling. The method is the only thing that changes. I also use