2/13/11

Hard Surface Modeling: The Wheel Rim

This week we started off our car project with the wheels.  The surfaces that you see below are NURBS surfaces.  NURBS stands for Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines, which is a fancy way of saying, "A surface that is defined by four mathematical boundaries."  Every NURBS surface can be infinitely subdivided to whatever resolution is desired at the time of rendering.  However, because they are based on uniform parameterization, they are incredibly difficult to texture.  They are well-suited for generating large surfaces that need to look mechanical or manufactured, rather than a random organic texture that you'd see on something like a tree.  Usually 3D modelers will start off with NURBS surfaces, then convert them to a polygon surface for texturing.  It's just one way, in a large amount of ways, to start off with creating a model.



The reference I decided to use was a rim from a 2005 Hyundai Tiburon, I think.  I found multiple views of it.  Next week, I will begin slicing things up and finishing the model.




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