Nurbs vs mesh

Support Modeling
1

I have a short question that I’m sure has a longer answer, what are the advantages to using a Nurbs surface or curves opposed to using mesh objects?

2

much more precise control with Nurbs surface then Mesh using propor edit
but also wait till we get the New Nurbs tools with the GSOC project
that should be a lot more powerfull

happy bl

3

Oh I see, I was thinking that people liked them for saving memory or some other graphics related topics but now I see what they can do atleast in the 2d setting, pretty nice.

4

Nurbs are outdated for things like character animation and do not have a plus when dealing with that. Where it does shine is design work. Check http://www.rhino3d.com Rhino Nurbs modeling application and it’s gallery to see where it shines.

5

Mesh editing has come a very long way and NURBS has not been developed much in that time. In Blender especially since subdivision surface is so easy to use in the modifier form there is no great advantage in using NURBS to model surfaces. And the editing disadvantages are considerable - just yesterday I noted that there is no remove doubles command… yet it’s quite easy to create doubles with extrude. So In general NURBS - not a substitute.
But you can create a smooth surface easily with very few points. And the order is adjustable, whereas with subdiv the ‘order’ is fixed - although the crease setting sort of does the same thing… And finally NURBS are fun to work with!

6

Let’s say: in Blender there are not many reasons to use NURBS.
In general, however, NURBS are a superior tool for industrial design, engineering and manufacturing because of their precision and unparalleled surface continuity. Perfect booleans, fillets, chamfers and blends are another plus for NURBS.

7

one of the major strength for Nurbs surfaces is

Geometric continuity with following specs

Positional continuity (G0)
Tangential continuity (G1)
Curvature continuity (G2)

see wiki

for complex 3d shape I find these much easier to control smooth gradient in 3D
which is almost impossible with high precision using propor edit mode

happy bl