NURBS 1-5

Today I experimented with Nurbs and compared them to polygons. Below is some screenshots and conclusions to my findings.

The sphere to the left is made from polygons and the sphere to the right is made from Nurbs. As you can see suing NURBS is a more efficient way of creating curves. This is because in 3D work the Polly count is highly important. This is because an object with a high poly count will have slower loading speeds than an object with a low poly count. This issue is not so bad in videos because the video is rendered before it is presented to the user or viewer, but an object with a high polygon count will require a longer render time, due to more detail and a wider range of visible angles and pixel colors.

This issue is then amplified if the object is to be animated live in a game. This is because a high polygon count can cause game play lag and again slow loading depending on the processor of the users computer. In order for a game to be successful it must be playable by as many customers as possible this means creating a game with minimal requirements. By creating models with a low poly count owners of common computers, old computers and top quality gaming computers can enjoy the product. And more customers means more profit.

As my final peace of work is going to be a rendered video rather than a live active character in a game I don't need to worry about the polygon count too much. However after this module is complete I do plan to embed the video within a flash game. This means I can still benefit from a low poly count due to lowering the file size of the video. This will help me by lowering download time for the game in which the video will be contained. Because of this is it moderately important for me to be careful with my polygon count and try to minimalism polygons when possible, meaning the use of NURBs for curves may be in my interest.

This next image demonstrates the flexibility of objects created by NURBS. As you can see again the NURB shape on the right contains a lower poly count but a higher quality curve and more unique controls. The controls available in NURBS is unique and easy to use, however they are slightly restrictive compared to polygons. The best way to describe these differences is by comparing how the systems work for the rendered outputs. For example polygons are like rasterized bitmap images, with each pixel having its own variable unique properties and colors. Where as NURB renders are more like vector graphics created by mathematical geometry. Overall this means NURB's are fast and effective for smooth curves, they have fast loading speeds, a low polygon count and may require high quality textures in order to appear realistic. Where as polygons can have higher texturing detail, can be used to creating a wide range of shapes with sharp edges, generally have more polygons and generally have a larger file size.

This image displays some of the controls and possible shapes that can be made with NURBS.

This image displays how the CV's, Isoparms and Pathes can be altered to manipulate a NURBS object.

This image demonstrates how the surface editing tool can be used to manipulate NURB objects.