Maya 2020 fundamentals - modelling the real world
Get halfway through a model and find it's an unworkable mess? Can't add edge loops where you need them? Can't subdivide a mesh properly? If any of this sounds familiar check this course out.
# 1 29-08-2004 , 08:42 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 2

continue somehow with nurbs, or ... ?

after trying one or two other techniques, ive started to model a car in 3d by extruding each of the outlines of the 3 axis, then union-ing the resulting extrusions.

the result is what i wanted visually (top pic), apart from the fact that when i try and convert to poly or sub-d, the edges then "jump out", as though all the edges are unrestrained (bottom pic). ie jagged edges extend from all the edges of the current surfaces. im new (obviously) at this so im guessing there might be several possible solutions .. im hoping i can either stitch the nurb edges together somehow to prevent them going jagged when theyre converted, or get around the whole nurbs stage by just using polys and applying a boolean to those - although ive tried the former, as well as doing booleans to polys and there is either no visible change, or the pieces involved all vanish, i presume there are issues with incomplete overlap or somesuch.

sorry if its already been covered .. half the problem is not knowing what to look for.

anyway, if someone could offer some insight into how to proceed using this sort of technique, as well as any work arounds, id very much appreciate it. im aware of course that there are other tutorials out there for making cars, ie making each piece separately, or making one big poly and tweaking, but id prefer to pursue something along these lines if possible, as i think its quite beneficial to proportions etc to define all the main outer profiles right from the beginning. maybe someone with a lot more experience than me has already come up with a way of doing just that? quite likely ..

user added image


Last edited by rusty; 29-08-2004 at 08:51 PM.
# 2 29-08-2004 , 11:30 PM
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Technical Director
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 2,988
Well, to make your mesh cleaner, select your curves, and go Edit Curves > Rebuild curves > Option box. Go to Edit > Reset Settings. Then make sure the parameter range is set to 0 to # spans. Then click on rebuild. If it screws up, you can skip this stage.

Then when you made you surfaces, go to Modify > Convert > NURBS to Polygons > Option Box. Go to Edit > Reset Settings. Now set the tessilation method to control points. Click convert.

It will look different.

Then just combine the geometry, and merge the edges. If you want a clearer view, view Kurt's Cartoon Dog Tutorial Part 2.

Hope this helps.


Imagination is more important than knowledge.
# 3 30-08-2004 , 04:41 AM
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 2
when i do step one, with everything selected, i get;

"error: nothing was selected to build. you must select nurbs curves or curve on surfaces"

when i do step two, i get the second pic (ive seen the dog tutorial - thats the way i was doing it)

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