Free Friday Tutorial #7: Maya NURBS tips and tricks

# 1 26-02-2011 , 10:14 PM

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Free Friday Tutorial #7: Maya NURBS tips and tricks

Maya NURBS tips and tricks. SimplyMaya Free Friday Tutorial on Vimeo

Modeling with NURBS based geometry in Maya is something that a lot of beginners struggle with and in this tutorial we show you how to model a sandal entirely with NURBS using modeling techniques from Rhino. Working with the CV curve tool to create the initial curves for the model we move onto lofting surfaces, rebuilding geometry and changing the parametrisation of surfaces to prevent the strange results that can sometimes occur when working with NURBS in Maya. During this process you’ll get a lot of useful tips for how to approach NURBS modeling and learn why it’s important to rebuild curves and surfaces to get geometry that flows well, as well as how to work with the round tool for NURBS. We also take a look at some of the things to look out for such as empty nodes that can be created from slicing and cutting operations during the modeling process.

NURBS Based Geometry
CV Curve Tool
Creating, Editing & Rebuilding Curves
Periodic & Open Curves
Reversing & Rebuilding Surfaces
Cutting & Slicing NURBS
Booleans Difference
The Round Tool

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# 2 26-02-2011 , 10:32 PM

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Location: Bolton - UK

Posts: 2,457

Very nice tut, but do people still use nurbs - been in 3d now 10 years only ever used them once for a uni project (nurbs modelling part of the course) and have never really found a use for them.

Again thx for the free tuts - a very welcome add on to the site

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# 3 27-02-2011 , 02:15 AM

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Join Date: Feb 2010

Location: Australia

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I use them a bit tweety....although you dont have to...for pipes and stuff. Or awkward shapes then convert to poly. They are still a powerful tool Im told...especially for accurate shapes...I want to learn more. I started a gladiators helmet all in NURBS...I was suprised at what you could do!! LOL sadly the damn tut was broken so I couldnt finish it.

cheers bullet

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bullet1968

"A Darkness at Sethanon", a book I aspire to model some of the charcters and scenes

Last edited by bullet1968; 27-02-2011 at 02:19 AM.

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# 4 27-02-2011 , 07:26 AM

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Very nice tut, but do people still use nurbs - been in 3d now 10 years only ever used them once for a uni project (nurbs modelling part of the course) and have never really found a use for them.

Again thx for the free tuts - a very welcome add on to the site

Originally Posted by tweetytunes

Maya still has a whole menu set dedicated to NURBS for a reason but it seems to be in need of some updates and you have specific apps where they work better. Whether NURBS are worth learning as a modeler would depend on what part of the cg industry you intend to work in I think, have a look at the video and article it explains it fairly well.

https://cadjunkie.com/choosing-a-3d-package/

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# 5 27-02-2011 , 11:12 AM

The Nurb Herd
Join Date: Oct 2007

Location: London

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i used them at work the other day.

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# 6 04-03-2011 , 05:41 PM

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Join Date: Oct 2010

Location: india

Posts: 1

.....gud tutorial.......m in std 10th...nd have been doing animation on my own in spare tym for last 2 yrs........i find all the usefull properties of nurbs and subsdiv in polygons.....would be gr8 if you introduce some new tips n trics over polys........ user added image

......we hv the pwr 2 create
anything out nothing.....so enjoy ur
pwr.........

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# 7 06-03-2011 , 11:43 AM

Lead Modeler - Framestore
Join Date: Feb 2003

Location: UK

Posts: 6,287

Yeah they stil get used.............though alot less than years back. Problems with seams and knots put alot of people off. As they tended to need alot of attention. Maya corrects to a point but after that anything more would required a bit of brute force through a script or two....but that was years back

Subds were like the saviour of them because they were in between a poly and a nurb, robust and easy to uv but organic with the smooth surface algorythm and not the other way round as mentioned above

Jay

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# 8 10-12-2011 , 02:51 AM

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Join Date: Dec 2011

Posts: 12

I applaud this tutorial, and the knowledge here; but I have to say, if you have access to Rhino, use that instead. Sooooo much simpler and more intuitive.

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Free Friday Tutorial #7: Maya NURBS tips and tricks

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