NURBS SoC and Beyond (Jonathan deWerd)

[jimmy.b]

So importing Nurbs with Shader (Maybe even Filestruktur) would be super interesting for me.
the rhino fileformat is a great start, but at least Iges should also be supported. FBX is also able to store Nurbs, right?
Maybe the Fbx importer could be nurbs enabled?
Keep up the good work-

Jimmy

[jimmy.b]

Hi JJOONATHAN,
Im a prof Designer and Surfacemodeler, and I love the Idea of having Nurbs imported in Blender!
Great for reference and rendering! Im not sure about actual nurbs editing- maybe to complex?
Rhino format is great, as it can handle mesh and nurbs data, has a proper layer + grouping system and some basic shader/color abilities. So good filestrukture.
But you need at least to be able to import Iges, and maybe Step, as these are the main exchange Formats for all Cad-programs.
Does FBX support Nurbs surfaces? FBX seems to be quiet powerfull too.
Keep up the good work!
j

[jimmy.b]

Is there anything new that we can test?

[AlexMcKonst (AlexMcMK)]

@jjoonathan"

Hi! I’m the guy who has been working on the NURBS project. Good news: I am a few weeks into the semester and it is looking like I will have time to continue doing meaningful work on this, just not as quickly as in the last few months (from your perspective, things might even seem to happen quicker, since I am transitioning from behind-the-scenes work to easily visible work).

I wanted to make a new thread where I could post updates and reach everyone who was interested at once rather than one-at-a-time through email. I just got merge-ready builds working on {mac,windows,linux} using {cmake,scons}, so I have actual binaries for you. Temper your expectations – there are still enough bugs and missing features that I doubt these will actually be useful, not yet. However, for some workflows the NURBS enhancements are getting close to useful and for this reason perhaps some of you might want to play with the preliminary builds

------ Warning for Artists -----

You should probably be using subdivision surfaces instead, especially in light of the OpenSubdiv support Sergey is working on, which will be feature-complete in Blender long before NURBS. NURBS surfaces are primarily useful for designers, engineers, and people who have to have to work with CAD/CAE programs (they are more mathematically friendly, which can be important for simulations & such). Invest your time and effort wisely.

------ Latest Build -----

Features as of 9/13/2014:

• What you see here
• Analytic Normals
• N-Gon Tessellation in convert-to-mesh operator
• Trim support (1 major bugfix until “1.0” – triangle artifacts in some trim curves)
• UV Trim Editor
• Rhino Import (1 minor feature, rotation surfaces, needed before “1.0”)

Downloads:
Git: testbuild branch, commit 48eac582c846bd75f6083740509ed75cfa8a3f19
Linux 32-bit: https://mega.co.nz/#!dpszDZxa!3y27friF8oh0hMjkQX8-o3Z6ZQ-pC59wEVdhLWi6HPE
Linux 64-bit: https://mega.co.nz/#!Y59CTLSD!EcG-AyNgyvLGgQx1bvGnLSSfYtj9WjHyFb_x2Mp99BI
Mac 64-bit: https://mega.co.nz/#!dpszDZxa!3y27friF8oh0hMjkQX8-o3Z6ZQ-pC59wEVdhLWi6HPE
Windows 64-bit: https://mega.co.nz/#!IglinAjC!HBtXQwPDvp-qOk0iJ6MyHWKrr4GkPAfzvblO2hafF1g

------ Short-term Todo List (hopefully ~1wk each) -----

• Merge the stable work
• Rotation Surfaces (the little task that keeps getting kicked down the road due to big tasks)
• Fix the tessellation bug (I’ve figured out what to do, “just” have to code it)
• .3dm export (especially for meshes)

------ Long-Term Plans -----

• STEP support
• Curve->NURBS construction (modifier stack, perhaps?)
• Coving Support (ability to stitch edges together)
• Bevel+Chamfer
• Bezier Quilt support (edit with points ON surface, not points above surface)
• Native ray-traced NURBS support in Cycles
• Geometry Shader tessellation for NURBS surfaces in editor

Let me know what you think of these priorities, particularly if you might like things switched up. I can’t promise anything, but the order isn’t super important to me, so it’s worth asking.

Cheers,
Jon

HI!
Why are the links not working?

[RickyBlender]

Tried the win 64 SVN
and got an error that I don’t have
VCOMP120.DLL

how come ?
and where can I get that DLL

thanks

[cekuhnen]

I am curious where this will go to. Right now my students would love to be able to import CAD right into Blender without meshing for their renderings and do all this in Blender.

[tungee]

Its dead like all the Nurbs stuff before:no:

[RickyBlender]

Just got PM from him!
told me he would be back inside a few weeks
and if possible try to get it into Master

give him time he is busy studying i think!

happy bl

[jimmy.b]

Hi guys, Im also very courious on how this developes, of course this is a lot of work, specially if your busy studying or doing your every day job… so we all should be patient. But its actually nice to hear from time to time that Jonathan is still working / or continueing to work on this
As mentioned earlier, for me (just like Claas) it is also more impotant to get a nice and solid Nurbs importer, to be able to use cad data for rendering or as reference for further modelling inside blender.
Actual Nurbs modelling and editing would be a Bonus… but not as important.
So thanks for your effort- and let us know if you have something to continue testing.

Gruß J

[Sackadoo (fastload64)]

@jjoonathan"

------ Warning for Artists -----

You should probably be using subdivision surfaces instead, especially in light of the OpenSubdiv support Sergey is working on, which will be feature-complete in Blender long before NURBS. NURBS surfaces are primarily useful for designers, engineers, and people who have to have to work with CAD/CAE programs (they are more mathematically friendly, which can be important for simulations & such). Invest your time and effort wisely.

I always wondered.

[jimmy.b]

happy new year!
Anything new?

[jimmy.b]

Ok, So is nurbs dead again?
So sad… at least an importer would have been nice…

[jpb06]

When “somebody” isn’t a fan of some technology, that technology does not take off in Blender. Dear jimmy.b, let the dead rest.

[theApe]

@jpb06

When “somebody” isn’t a fan of some technology, that technology does not take off in Blender. Dear jimmy.b, let the dead rest.

Well, “somebody” allowed NURBS to be one of very few paid projects for GSOC2015, even though it´s been tried and failed before, but that project never produced anything tangible, so who´s fault is it, really?

[m9105826]

@jpb06

When “somebody” isn’t a fan of some technology, that technology does not take off in Blender. Dear jimmy.b, let the dead rest.

You really need to let this “Ton is responsible for everything” idea go. This has nothing to do with him. The GSoC developer disappeared and left a pile of code that is functionally useless for Master inclusion, and no one else has the time or desire to work on the tool. It’s as simple as that. If you want to get mad at anyone, get mad at the coders who take Google’s money and run after promising to stick around for fixes and review until their project is in Master.

[BeerBaron]

@m9105826

If you want to get mad at anyone, get mad at the coders who take Google’s money and run after promising to stick around for fixes and review until their project is in Master.

How about you get mad at nobody? Summer of code is not meant as a hub to churn out production-quality code at a bargain rate, but as an educational project with the strong possibility of failure. Users in particular aren’t owed anything and shouldn’t be getting their hopes up as soon as some project is announced.

To expect a GSOC developer to implement what no other FOSS developer has implemented for Blender in over a decade - within the timeframe of a summer project - is absurd. To expect them to stick around and continue as a volunteer effort (even if they “promise to”) is hopelessly optimistic.

Developers really should be able to find better use for their time than devaluing their own work by giving it for free to the unwashed Blender masses. Just my two cents.

[jpb06]

@m9105826

The GSoC developer disappeared and left a pile of code that is functionally useless for Master inclusion, and no one else has the time or desire to work on the tool.

Wasn’t he mentored? had not to to report every week? other tools have been left in non-trunkable state and they have been assigned to some developer and made ready. I know, you don’t make cartoonish semi-anthropomorphic critters with NURBS, you use NURBS for irrelevant tasks like architectural and industrial design renders.

Anyway, I have completely buried any hope of seeing working NURBS in Blender and I was suggesting the poster to go beyond the bargaining stage in the grieving process.

[Dani]

BearBaron +1

I think Jonathan did a surprisingly good work in documenting his process and choices - which seem to be good choices BTW, always aiming quality.

Daniel

[cekuhnen]

@jpb06

you use NURBS for irrelevant tasks like architectural and industrial design renders.

Irrelevant? Not everybody is doing character modeling. NURBS as a tool itself is pretty fantastic and beats SubD in many areas if you know how to use both for the right task.

[Therahedwig]

@cekuhnen

Irrelevant? Not everybody is doing character modeling. NURBS as a tool itself is pretty fantastic and beats SubD in many areas if you know how to use both for the right task.

… he was being sarcastic.