Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 5.46
Finishing the top part of the NURBS pump
Figure 5.47
The finished pump
As you can see, there is quite a bit of lofting, attaching, and detaching between surface
patches in patch modeling. The key to becoming good at it is to be able to line up isoparms
easily and cleverly and to be able to attach them again smoothly. This type of modeling
isn't for the faint of heart, and it takes a lot of practice to get used to this technique. You'll
make a lot of mistakes along the way, but that is how you'll learn the most! It's easy to see
how this kind of modeling is useful for making organic shapes such as faces.
Using Artisan to Sculpt NURBS
Imagine that you can create a NURBS surface and sculpt it using your cursor the way
hands are used on wet clay to mold the surface. You can do just that with a Maya module
called Artisan—and without the mess!
Try This Artisan is basically a 3D painting system that allows you to paint directly onto
a surface. By painting on the surface with the Sculpt Geometry tool, you move the CV
points in and out, effectively molding the surface.
1. In Shaded mode (press 5), maximize the Perspective window (press the spacebar)
for a nice big view. Create a NURBS sphere, and open the Attribute Editor. In the
sphere's creation node (makeNurbSphere1), set Sections to 24 and Spans to 12. The
greater the surface definition, the more detailed the sculpting.
2. Select the sphere, and choose Edit NURBS Sculpt Geometry Tool r . Clicking the
Options box opens the tool settings. You'll need those almost every time you paint
with Artisan to change brush sizes and so forth.
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