- NURBS is a type of curve-based modelling that's used very widely in industrial design. So many of the man-made objects that we use in our daily lives, were probably designed using some form of NURBS. And so if you're creating a model in 3ds Max that fits that profile, that's some sort of man-made object, then NURBS may be a good approach for you to take. It could be a good modeling modality for you to explore. In an intro course, we really only have time to scratch the surface of the NURBS toolset, but in this chapter, we'll take a quick look at how you can constuct NURBs objects and edit them, and also set up their tessellation properties so that they will render nice and smoothly.
I've got this modernist end table here, and the base was built using very simple NURBS tools. Let's take a quick look at this so we can learn a little bit about how NURBS work in 3ds Max. I'll select it and go into the Modify panel, and you'll see that there are three Sub-Object Types listed here. Surface, Curve CV or Control Vertex, and Curve. And the object is listen as a NURBS Surface. But sometimes you might actually see a situation in which it says NURBS Curve up here at the top, but actually includes a surface, which is kind of paradoxical.
Basically in 3ds Max, there's only one type of NURBS object. And it may be labeled as a Curve or it may be labeled as a Surface. And it could potentially include a Surface Sub-Object, or a Curve Sub-Object, or both. Currently, we have all of the above here. There's a Surface Sub-Object, and if I select that and then click the object, we'll need to be in wireframe to see it. If I hit F3, you'l see that we get this red outline here. Those are the isol lines of the Surface.
Those are the areas where the Surface has minimal curvature. All right, then we can try another one of these. There's Curve. And these are the actual curves that make up this surface. I'm going to switch back to shaded mode with F3. We can click on those and you can see those individual curves. And if I move those around, I can control the shape, as you can see here. So the surface is dependent upon the curves. I want to do that. The curves themselves are made up of control vertices, just like Bézier spline is.
We go to Curve CV. Then we can select individual points on those curves, and again, edit them to change the shape of the object. I want to do that. That's a basic introduction to how NURBS work in 3ds Max. Next, we'll look at building up a surface from a series of surves.
Author
Released
5/22/2015Note: This course updates our 3ds Max 2015 Essential Training to work with the 2016 interface and file formats.
- Navigating the interface and viewports
- Understanding the Modifier Stack
- Modeling with polygons and subdivision surfaces
- Freeform sculpting
- Modeling with splines and NURBS
- Linking objects in hierarchies
- Modeling for motion graphics
- Framing shots with cameras
- Creating and editing keyframes
- Controlling lights and shadows
- Building materials
- Texturing with bitmaps and procedurals
- Painting objects with Viewport Canvas
- Rendering a sequence
- Adding special effects with mental ray
Skill Level Beginner
Duration
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Introduction
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Welcome1m 2s
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Using the exercise files1m 4s
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1. Getting Started
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Setting preferences4m 58s
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2. 3ds Max Interface
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Controlling the grid display5m 16s
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Navigating in viewports6m 2s
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Using hotkeys5m 55s
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Transforming objects7m 26s
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Choosing shading modes6m 30s
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Configuring viewports7m 23s
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3. Modeling Basics
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Creating an image plane6m 1s
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Creating primitives7m 4s
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Working with Scene Explorer3m 48s
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Understanding dependencies5m 23s
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4. Polygon Modeling
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Working with subobjects5m 59s
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Welding vertices6m 47s
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Choosing a transform center4m 22s
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Detailing with QuickSlice4m 56s
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Using soft selection4m 9s
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Using Paint Selection5m 21s
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Joining elements with Bridge4m 39s
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5. Subdivision Surface Modeling
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Adding the Symmetry modifier2m 59s
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Roughing out the proportions5m 12s
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Adding features with Extrude2m 53s
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Welding the seam2m 4s
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Baking subdivisions4m 35s
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6. Free-Form Modeling
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Sculpting with Paint Deform6m 33s
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Setting Paint options3m 46s
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Controlling Brush options5m 11s
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7. Spline Modeling
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Creating a line2m 21s
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Moving a pivot point1m 37s
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Using axis constraints6m 14s
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Extending a spline4m 8s
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Snapping an Arc primitive2m 23s
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Rounding corners with Fillet1m 28s
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8. NURBS Modeling
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Understanding NURBS2m 48s
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Converting objects to NURBS3m 32s
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Creating NURBS curves4m 24s
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Cloning subobjects3m 13s
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Creating a U loft surface3m 29s
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Rebuilding curves3m 18s
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Grouping objects4m 2s
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9. Hierarchies
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Linking objects4m 12s
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Using the Schematic view3m 8s
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Locking transforms2m 57s
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Avoiding problems with scale7m 55s
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10. 3D Motion Graphic Design
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Creating a Text primitive4m 25s
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Applying a Bevel modifier3m 48s
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Instancing a modifier2m 13s
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Editing text splines6m 12s
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Viewport clipping1m 16s
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Controlling level of detail3m 44s
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Editing polygons6m 57s
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11. Layout and Camera Basics
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Merging scenes1m 43s
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Managing display layers5m 13s
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Creating a target camera5m 42s
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Enabling Safe Frames3m 23s
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Adjusting Field of View3m 48s
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Using a free camera6m 48s
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12. Keyframe Animation
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Choosing Set Key Filters2m 11s
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13. Controllers and Constraints
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Understanding controllers2m 53s
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Assigning a Link constraint2m 27s
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14. Lighting Basics
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Understanding CG lighting5m 56s
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Correcting gamma5m 11s
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Choosing a shadow type2m 56s
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Optimizing shadow maps7m 4s
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Optimizing area shadows6m 9s
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Creating Omni fill lights6m 16s
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Using the Light Explorer3m 20s
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15. Materials Basics
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Working with scene materials4m 49s
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16. Mapping Textures
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Applying 3D procedural maps9m 29s
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Tracking scene assets7m 32s
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Projecting UVW mapping3m 3s
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Using Real-World Map Size3m 50s
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Mapping a bump channel2m 24s
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17. Rendering Basics
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Choosing a renderer5m 29s
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Choosing Quicksilver options2m 29s
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Rendering image sequences6m 10s
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18. Rendering with mental ray
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Tuning Final Gather6m 24s
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Conclusion
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Goodbye22s
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Video: Understanding NURBS