NURB Surface Trimming??? HELP!!!

[tachy0n]

AFAIK, you can't trim by surface curves, only by projection, so you will have to approach this differently...

Unfortunately NURBS in XSI are, to put it politely, a bit on the weaker side. You might be better off just modeling the whole thing in Maya/Studio and exporting it to IGES which XSI can read.

[cpiboontum]

Softimage|XSI User:

Wow... that is really interesting that you cannot form an object from trimming surfaces with XSI. So if I understand this correctly, I must make a valid surface already with valid NURB Curves outline. I really like Softimage alot and giving it a test run. I am in the middle of making a decision to which software package I am going to be going with for the long run. I am very impressed with MAYA 5 and Softimage XSI 3.0. The thing I really like about softimage XSI is the realtime rendering capability but MAYA has the modeling and special FX capability. But I am going to give about 4 for months before I make the purchase. The real test for me to be able to model a highly detail car in Softimage as I can with Alias|Studio. Do you have any suggstions on where I can obtained a good tutorial on modeling car in Softimage|XSI.

I appreciate you time.

One more questions. Do you always have to turn NURBS suface into Mesh after you have completed modeling the object?

Thanks and looking foward to hearing from you guys.

Best Regards,

VISuAL3DFX

[Atyss]

Well, I'll put is simple. If you are strictly looking for a nurbs modeler, forget about XSI right away. Instead, take a look at Softimage|3D. Much cheaper, and much more functionality for nurbs modeling. Plus, you have mental ray (though an older version than in XSI), a solid interface, and lots of effects not even present in XSI (though some scripts provide a similar functionality).


Cheers
Bernard

[StefanA]

I would like to add that you can never get such great control over surfaces in XSI as yuo can with Alias|Studio.
I'm guessing that you are a industrial designer, or at least trained as one. I too would recommend that you use another modeller for this. And if you are used to Alias|Studio.... don't even think about old Softimage|3D :) You will only be frustrated. You can use something as Rhino3D or anything else...

On the other hand. You can make a car without using Nurbs. You can use Sub Division surfaces and you can also convert all Nurb geometry to polygons. This is if you don't have to use this for actual blue prints later.

Polygon modeling is also something you should look into since a lot of companys are looking for just that when they are buying models.

For surface modeling I find Rhino3D to be an awesome modeller with just as much control as you have in Alias|Studio. This might be a cheaper buy for you if you need a modeller that handles that stuff

http://www.rhino3d.com/

It can also export to most packages (including Softimage). I recommend that you turn the model into a mesh when you are finished though.

Anyway, I hope I've "helped" a little bit :)

best regards

.stefan andersson

[Renderman_XSI]

good to see more IDer around.

I like Studio Tools, and have used it before. I agree with Atyss, if you are looking for a NURBS modeler like ST, SI | 3D has awesome set of tools. However you can model a car in XSI with Subdivision surfaces, and they are really really fast (bar none). Though XSI doesnt have support for .STL data type yet.

Another option is to take a look at SolidWorks. Its a ID tool, you dont have to worry about polygons,NURBS,subdivisions. It also has an option for MR. Though the materail editor leaves much to be desired:rolleyes: . Anyway, SolidWorks 2004 is due out later, and has support for nVidia cg shader that would give you realtime feedback of the 3D solid materails when your modeling.

hope that helps.

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