Hi, a very stupid Q...

[playmesumch00ns]

Yup, polygons are much easier -- in general -- for character modelling than NURBS. NURBS are pretty much dead for characters, but at the end of the day it comes down to personal preference, so spend time with both.

[Matt Leishman]

well, nurbs are dead, unless of course you're a modeler at PDI/Dreamworks or Dreamworks Animation Studios. I interviewed for a job as a modeler there just in February, and they use exclusively nurbs (from what their staff of modelers told me).

[mark_wilkins]

Many of the big studios still use NURBS, because they've got lots of in-house software that deals well with such geometry.

Moving to subdivision surfaces can require a lot of engineering if you have a ton of custom software, and if the tools you're using with NURBS surfaces are sufficiently strong then the benefits of subdivision surfaces aren't necessarily worth the switch.

Without an excellent NURBS stitching solution (like if you're using Maya out of the box) the cost/benefit of subdivision surfaces looks a lot more attractive. However, subdivision surfaces are much harder to texture, because you have to provide well-behaved texture parameters over the whole surface. With NURBS, if you model correctly, you get this for cheap. With subdivision surfaces, especially with complex models, you may just have pushed the work from one department to another.

At this point I'd say it's probably best to use both. Because out-of-the-box stitching solutions for NURBS geometry kind of suck, many studios, particularly mid-size and smaller, are switching to subdivision surfaces. At work we use NURBS. At home, I'd almost always use a subdivision surface for my own projects, just because it gets me farther faster and doesn't require tools I don't have.

-- Mark

[trthing]

Hi Mark,

What would be:

a- the 3D package with an excellent stitching solution

b- the suggested workaround for Maya out-of-the-box NURBS modellers/users (since it has a less than optimal stitching solution)

Thnx

[stickyblue]

dude just try them all , people , companies uses Nurbs , subd-s , polys ... so what ? .. if you dont like polygons , go for nurbs or give it a shot to the subds ... its all up to you at the end , you can do everything wtih any of these methods . yes it is true that you might encounter problems with any of them but there are always solutions for those problems .

so just go and try then decide

[DeathBrain]

Originally posted by Rioluany
but I see lots of ppl use polygon to model charactor. Is it easier using polygon to model?

Just a tips to build your 3D character :
Try not to separate your character objects while creating (like hands, head, etc) :)
All of body parts must be started from one polygon, so there will be no switching problem :thumbsup:

[mark_wilkins]

To answer your questions trthing:

a) I don't know of any great stitching software that's not proprietary. I do know that several studios have great in-house stitching software.

b) The workaround for your own projects is to use subdivision surfaces. However, if you plan to work at a larger studio, it's best to learn a variety of techniques so that you can adapt to whatever they need, because their tradeoffs may not be the same as yours at home.

-- Mark

[trthing]

@ Mark:

So, although I understand that it "might" work out with NURBS or something else on an individual level (no studio work on the horizon), you, based on your experience, feels like NURBS should be left for the big dogs with proprietary stitching solutions?
Individual or small/medium studios should then put their bets on sub-Ds and/or poly modeling for characters (any preferences there?)?

Would you stick to your rationale even while talking about not-so-complicated characters?

Are these proprietary stitching solutions based on Scripts or plug-ins?

Thnx again for your clarifications

[Rioluany]

woow, lots of ideas... Thanx. One more question. when i model a character using nurbs, I have problem to stitch several surfaces together without tiny gaps. it takes me a lot of time to fix it... can you guys tell me some tips about stitching surfaces....or any stiching plug-in...

[PROVIDE3D]

We *DO* really love NURBS !

http://www.provide3d.com

Martin

[DeathBrain]

Originally posted by Rioluany
can you guys tell me some tips about stitching surfaces

This one is amazing (http://www.mtmckinley.net/tut1.html) :)

[Rioluany]

Hi, DeathBrain
Thanx. It is great!!!! Really amazing stitching solution!!
Cool.....
I stitiched my first human model following by the tutorial. My Model just looks great..
many thanx........

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